The states most dependent on the federal government are who you'd least expect

One of the overriding philosophies of the Republican Party is state sovereignty - the federal government's influence should be minimized and states should be allowed to broadly govern themselves 

"The Washington machine that gobbles up our freedoms and invades every nook and cranny of our lives must be stopped," Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) said during his presidential launch speech in April.

It's a theme that many of the now 16 Republican presidential candidates will stress on the trail - including the eight current or former governors in the field as of Tuesday.

But a recent study by personal finance resource site WalletHub reveals that red-state economies are far more dependent on funding from the federal government than blue states.

Using data from the IRS, WalletHub ranked all 50 states on four key metrics: return on taxes paid to the federal government, federal funding as a percentage of state revenue, the number of federal employees per 1,000 residents, and the number of non-defense federal employees per 1,000 residents.

By and large, they found that people in red states enjoy greater returns on their federal-income tax - and that federal funds make up a greater portion of their state's revenue.

Source: WalletHub

Here are the complete rankings:

Source: WalletHub

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