# How much is the average Social Security benefit in every state? Canonical URL: https://www.simplywise.com/blog/how-much-is-the-average-social-security-benefit-in-every-state/ Plain text: https://www.simplywise.com/blog/how-much-is-the-average-social-security-benefit-in-every-state/llms.txt Publisher: SimplyWise, Inc. (https://www.simplywise.com) Published: April 7, 2020 Updated: October 14, 2026 Category: Social Security Summary: Social Security widely varies. We break down the total number of recipients and the average Social Security benefit in every U.S. state... --- 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 (https://www.simplywise.com/blog/social-security-retirement-benefits/) or survivor benefits (https://www.simplywise.com/blog/ss-benefits-if-my-spouse-dies/) - 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 (https://www.simplywise.com/blog/10-important-facts-about-social-security-during-coronavirus/). 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% (https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/11/how-a-payroll-tax-cut-could-impact-social-security-and-medicare.html) 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 (https://www.simplywise.com/blog/how-many-people-collect-social-security-in-every-state/) 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: ### Alabama Total monthly recipients: 1,143,125 Average monthly benefit: $1,286 ### Alaska Total monthly recipients: 101,402 Average monthly benefit: $1,292 ### Arizona Total monthly recipients: 1,349,458 Average monthly benefit: $1,386 ### Arkansas Total monthly recipients: 696,936 Average monthly benefit: $1,250 ### California Total monthly recipients: 5,962,804 Average monthly benefit: $1,330 ### Connecticut Total monthly recipients: 681,765 Average monthly benefit: $1,496 ### Colorado Total monthly recipients: 874,819 Average monthly benefit: $1,372 ### Delaware Total monthly recipients: 213,246 Average monthly benefit: $1,472 ### Florida Total monthly recipients: 4,626,156 Average monthly benefit: $1,353 ### Georgia Total monthly recipients: 1,830,266 Average monthly benefit: $1,317 ### Hawaii Total monthly recipients: 271,236 Average monthly benefit: $1,368 ### Idaho Total monthly recipients: 346,243 Average monthly benefit: $1,323 ### Illinois Total monthly recipients: 2,243,286 Average monthly benefit: $1,377 ### Indiana Total monthly recipients: 1,350,417 Average monthly benefit: $1,392 ### Iowa Total monthly recipients: 647,462 Average monthly benefit: $1,362 ### Kansas Total monthly recipients: 552,973 Average monthly benefit: $1,389 ### Kentucky Total monthly recipients: 989,575 Average monthly benefit: $1,253 ### Louisiana Total monthly recipients: 907,733 Average monthly benefit: $1,212 ### Maine Total monthly recipients: 344,482 Average monthly benefit: $1,260 ### Maryland Total monthly recipients: 1,001,230 Average monthly benefit: $1,438 ### Massachusetts Total monthly recipients: 1,273,360 Average monthly benefit: $1,382 ### Michigan Total monthly recipients: 2,209,084 Average monthly benefit: $1,412 ### Minnesota Total monthly recipients: 1,032,697 Average monthly benefit: $1,414 ### Mississippi Total monthly recipients: 668,877 Average monthly benefit: $1,232 ### Missouri Total monthly recipients: 1,293,897 Average monthly benefit: $1,322 ### Montana Total monthly recipients: 233,801 Average monthly benefit: $1,296 ### Nebraska Total monthly recipients: 345,725 Average monthly benefit: $1,357 ### Nevada Total monthly recipients: 536,855 Average monthly benefit: $1,347 ### New Hampshire Total monthly recipients: 305,855 Average monthly benefit: $1,432 ### New Jersey Total monthly recipients: 1,625,600 Average monthly benefit: $1,501 ### New Mexico Total monthly recipients: 436,551 Average monthly benefit: $1,258 ### New York Total monthly recipients: 3,627,340 Average monthly benefit: $1,389 ### North Carolina Total monthly recipients: 2,098,741 Average monthly benefit: $1,348 ### North Dakota Total monthly recipients: 133,773 Average monthly benefit: $1,301 ### Ohio Total monthly recipients: 2,356,367 Average monthly benefit: $1,320 ### Oklahoma Total monthly recipients: 789,288 Average monthly benefit: $1,292 ### Oregon Total monthly recipients: 871,988 Average monthly benefit: $1,365 ### Pennsylvania Total monthly recipients: 2,825,178 Average monthly benefit: $1,391 ### Rhode Island Total monthly recipients: 225,493 Average monthly benefit: $1,366 ### South Carolina Total monthly recipients: 1,143,297 Average monthly benefit: $1,356 ### South Dakota Total monthly recipients: 178,999 Average monthly benefit: $1,302 ### Tennessee Total monthly recipients: 1,452,552 Average monthly benefit: $1,315 ### Texas Total monthly recipients: 4,224,159 Average monthly benefit: $1,302 ### Utah Total monthly recipients: 406,568 Average monthly benefit: $1,375 ### Vermont Total monthly recipients: 150,319 Average monthly benefit: $1,357 ### Virginia Total monthly recipients: 1,530,417 Average monthly benefit: $1,385 ### Washington Total monthly recipients: 1,346,820 Average monthly benefit: $1,418 ### West Virginia Total monthly recipients: 475,744 Average monthly benefit: $1,289 ### Wisconsin Total monthly recipients: 1,233,379 Average monthly benefit: $1,395 ### Wyoming Total monthly recipients: 112,386 Average monthly benefit: $1,388 ## What you need to know about Social Security In 2019, an estimated 64 million Americans collected Social Security benefits (https://www.ssa.gov/news/press/factsheets/basicfact-alt.pdf), 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 (https://www.simplywise.com/blog/costly-social-security-mistakes/). 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 (https://www.simplywise.com/blog/) and free calculators (https://www.simplywise.com/socialsecurity) 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. --- ## About SimplyWise SimplyWise, Inc. (New York, NY) builds mobile apps for contractors, tradespeople, and small business owners. The SimplyWise Cost Estimator turns a job site photo into an itemized estimate with labor and material costs in about 6 seconds, and the client signs the branded quote to approve it. It is rated 4.8 on the App Store. It is free to try with a 7-day free trial, then $29.99 per month or $239.99 per year (about $20 per month on the annual plan), and one subscription includes every app in the SimplyWise suite. - Download: https://www.simplywise.com/download - App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/simplywise-cost-estimator/id6670619664 - Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.simplywise.costestimator - Every SimplyWise page as plain text: https://www.simplywise.com/blog/llms.txt