The average Social Security benefit across the country can vary pretty widely, and that variance has as much to do with the types of benefits being received as it does how much or for how long a worker may have worked.
Some of the factors that impact a person’s benefits include:
- Whether they are receiving disability, retirement or survivor benefits
- How much the worker who earned those benefits earned
- How much additional income they may have
Social Security benefits, also known as Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI), provides roughly a third of the income for most of the retired people who receive it Without it, many people in the United States would struggle to survive.
Yet as the coronavirus pandemic puts stress on Americans, some of the efforts implemented to help the economy could actually hurt Social Security beneficiaries. For example, cutting payroll taxes to 0% removes Social Security’s main revenue source and further defunds the program.
In total, the Social Security Administration pays out benefits in the billions. In 2018, the last year for which data is available, Social Security beneficiaries received more than $84 billion in total benefits More than two thirds of those were retired workers.
We took a look at Social Security data for 2018 and broke down the average monthly benefit received by beneficiaries in every state. These data include benefits for retirees, survivors and the disabled.
Here are the total number of recipients and the average monthly Social Security benefits in every U.S. state:
Image Credit: mtpockit/iStock.
1. Alabama
Total monthly recipients: 1,143,125
Average monthly benefit: $1,286
Image Credit: DepositPhotos.com.
2. Alaska
Total monthly recipients: 101,402
Average monthly benefit: $1,292
Image Credit: DepositPhotos.com.
3. Arizona
Total monthly recipients: 1,349,458
Average monthly benefit: $1,386
Image Credit: DepositPhotos.com.
4. Arkansas
Total monthly recipients: 696,936
Average monthly benefit: $1,250
Image Credit: iStock.
5. California
Total monthly recipients: 5,962,804
Average monthly benefit: $1,330
Image Credit: DepositPhotos.com.
6. Connecticut
Total monthly recipients: 681,765
Average monthly benefit: $1,496
Image Credit: .
7. Colorado
Total monthly recipients: 874,819
Average monthly benefit: $1,372
Image Credit: DepositPhotos.com.
8. Delaware
Total monthly recipients: 213,246
Average monthly benefit: $1,472
Image Credit: Smyrna, Delaware by Mr.TinDC (CC BY-NC-ND).
9. Florida
Total monthly recipients: 4,626,156
Average monthly benefit: $1,353
Image Credit: Ebyabe .
10. Georgia
Total monthly recipients: 1,830,266
Average monthly benefit: $1,317
Image Credit: iStock.
11. Hawaii
Total monthly recipients: 271,236
Average monthly benefit: $1,368
Image Credit: Art Wager.
12. Idaho
Total monthly recipients: 346,243
Average monthly benefit: $1,323
Image Credit: vkbhat / iStock.
13. Illinois
Total monthly recipients: 2,243,286
Average monthly benefit: $1,377
Image Credit: ibsky.
14. Indiana
Total monthly recipients: 1,350,417
Average monthly benefit: $1,392
Image Credit: iStock.
15. Iowa
Total monthly recipients: 647,462
Average monthly benefit: $1,362
Image Credit: DepositPhotos.com.
16. Kansas
Total monthly recipients: 552,973
Average monthly benefit: $1,389
Image Credit: Ian Ballinger .
17. Kentucky
Total monthly recipients: 989,575
Average monthly benefit: $1,253
Image Credit: iStock.
18. Louisiana
Total monthly recipients: 907,733
Average monthly benefit: $1,212
Image Credit: Sean Pavone/istockphoto.
19. Maine
Total monthly recipients: 344,482
Average monthly benefit: $1,260
Image Credit: Deposit Photos.
20. Maryland
Total monthly recipients: 1,001,230
Average monthly benefit: $1,438
Image Credit: Getty.
21. Massachusetts
Total monthly recipients: 1,273,360
Average monthly benefit: $1,382
Image Credit: DepositPhotos.com.
22. Michigan
Total monthly recipients: 2,209,084
Average monthly benefit: $1,412
Image Credit: DepositPhotos.com.
23. Minnesota
Total monthly recipients: 1,032,697
Average monthly benefit: $1,414
Image Credit: DepositPhotos.com.
24. Mississippi
Total monthly recipients: 668,877
Average monthly benefit: $1,232
Image Credit: sfe-co2 / iStock.
25. Missouri
Total monthly recipients: 1,293,897
Average monthly benefit: $1,322
Image Credit: DepositPhotos.com.
26. Montana
Total monthly recipients: 233,801
Average monthly benefit: $1,296
Image Credit: 12019 / Pixabay.com.
27. Nebraska
Total monthly recipients: 345,725
Average monthly benefit: $1,357
Image Credit: DepositPhotos.com.
28. Nevada
Total monthly recipients: 536,855
Average monthly benefit: $1,347
Image Credit: Getty.
29. New Hampshire
Total monthly recipients: 305,855
Average monthly benefit: $1,432
Image Credit: Ultima_Gaina / iStock.
30. New Jersey
Total monthly recipients: 1,625,600
Average monthly benefit: $1,501
Image Credit: Madison, New Jersey by Doug Kerr (CC BY-SA).
31. New Mexico
Total monthly recipients: 436,551
Average monthly benefit: $1,258
Image Credit: Courtesy of Sante Fe Indian Market Website.
32. New York
Total monthly recipients: 3,627,340
Average monthly benefit: $1,389
Image Credit: Eloi_Omella.
33. North Carolina
Total monthly recipients: 2,098,741
Average monthly benefit: $1,348
Image Credit: Sean Pavone / iStock.
34. North Dakota
Total monthly recipients: 133,773
Average monthly benefit: $1,301
Image Credit: DepositPhotos.com.
35. Ohio
Total monthly recipients: 2,356,367
Average monthly benefit: $1,320
Image Credit: User:OHWiki .
36. Oklahoma
Total monthly recipients: 789,288
Average monthly benefit: $1,292
Image Credit: DepositPhotos.com.
37. Oregon
Total monthly recipients: 871,988
Average monthly benefit: $1,365
Image Credit: HaizhanZheng.
38. Pennsylvania
Total monthly recipients: 2,825,178
Average monthly benefit: $1,391
Image Credit: weaver1234.
39. Rhode Island
Total monthly recipients: 225,493
Average monthly benefit: $1,366
Image Credit: DepositPhotos.com.
40. South Carolina
Total monthly recipients: 1,143,297
Average monthly benefit: $1,356
Image Credit: SeanPavonePhoto.
41. South Dakota
Total monthly recipients: 178,999
Average monthly benefit: $1,302
Image Credit: iStock.
42. Tennessee
Total monthly recipients: 1,452,552
Average monthly benefit: $1,315
Image Credit: WendyOlsenPhotography/istockphoto.
43. Texas
Total monthly recipients: 4,224,159
Average monthly benefit: $1,302
Image Credit: Paul Sableman.
44. Utah
Total monthly recipients: 406,568
Average monthly benefit: $1,375
Image Credit: DepositPhotos.com.
45. Vermont
Total monthly recipients: 150,319
Average monthly benefit: $1,357
Image Credit: DepositPhotos.com.
46. Virginia
Total monthly recipients: 1,530,417
Average monthly benefit: $1,385
Image Credit: DepositPhotos.com.
47. Washington
Total monthly recipients: 1,346,820
Average monthly benefit: $1,418
Image Credit: Amanda Grove.
48. West Virginia
Total monthly recipients: 475,744
Average monthly benefit: $1,289
Image Credit: ” Chayanisa Puttamata”.
49. Wisconsin
Total monthly recipients: 1,233,379
Average monthly benefit: $1,395
Image Credit: DepositPhotos.com.
50. Wyoming
Total monthly recipients: 112,386
Average monthly benefit: $1,388
Image Credit: DepositPhotos.com.
What you need to know about Social Security
In 2019, an estimated 64 million Americans collected Social Security benefits, and 61% of Americans aged 60 to 70 view Social Security as an “extremely important” source of income. Nevertheless, a great deal of confusion exists around the rules and this often causes people to miss out on much needed money. Knowing how age impacts Social Security is important, but it is but a first step on a journey of education.
Increasingly, online Social Security blogs and free calculators are emerging to help people avoid costly mistakes (we believe the SimplyWise Calculator is the best). Hopefully, with better education around the topic, Americans can maximize what they’ve earned.
This article originally appeared on SimplyWise.com and was syndicated by MediaFeed.org.
Image Credit: yacobchuk/iStock.
