10 States Where Retirees Have the Biggest Social Security Benefit — and the Smallest

It’s always intriguing to see how much money other people are making. And that goes for Social Security benefit checks, too.

The Social Security Administration publishes a variety of statistics about the benefits it pays out. We checked their latest data (from December 2022) to highlight the states where people get the highest and lowest average benefits. Specifically, we wanted to know:

• A state’s average and median monthly benefit paid to retired workers
• Its number of retired workers receiving Social Security
• The total the state pays out annually in Social Security retirement benefits

Following is a look at states where retired Social Security recipients’ monthly benefits are, on average, the biggest in the nation. After that, we have the states where such recipients receive the smallest average benefit amount.

10. Utah

For retired workers in this state:

• Average monthly Social Security benefit: $1,901
• Median monthly benefit: $1,859
• Number of beneficiaries: 330,823
• Total annual benefits paid: $6.76 billion

9. Massachusetts

For retired workers in this state:

• Average monthly Social Security benefit: $1,910
• Median monthly benefit: $1,860
• Number of beneficiaries: 966,118
• Total annual benefits paid: $19.64 billion

8. Michigan

For retired workers in this state:

• Average monthly Social Security benefit: $1,918
• Median monthly benefit: $1,931
• Number of beneficiaries: 1,638,924
• Total annual benefits paid: $33.62 billion

7. Minnesota

For retired workers in this state:

• Average monthly Social Security benefit: $1,924
• Median monthly benefit: $1,898
• Number of beneficiaries: 856,950
• Total annual benefits paid: $17.44 billion

6. Washington

For retired workers in this state:

• Average monthly Social Security benefit: $1,933
• Median monthly benefit: $1,910
• Number of beneficiaries: 1,098,757
• Total annual benefits paid: $22.67 billion

5. Maryland

For retired workers in this state:

• Average monthly Social Security benefit: $1,960
• Median monthly benefit: $1,922
• Number of beneficiaries: 798,028
• Total annual benefits paid: $16.62 billion

4. New Hampshire

For retired workers in this state:

• Average monthly Social Security benefit: $1,994
• Median monthly benefit: $1,946
• Number of beneficiaries: 245,379
• Total annual benefits paid: $5.15 billion

3. Delaware

For retired workers in this state:

• Average monthly Social Security benefit: $1,998
• Median monthly benefit: $1,979
• Number of beneficiaries: 182,497
• Total annual benefits paid: $3.83 billion

2. New Jersey

For retired workers in this state:

• Average monthly Social Security benefit: $2,020.14
• Median monthly benefit: $2,016
• Number of beneficiaries: 1,274,772
• Total annual benefits paid: $27.50 billion

1. Connecticut

For retired workers in this state:

• Average monthly Social Security benefit: $2,020.41
• Median monthly benefit: $1,996
• Number of beneficiaries: 546,322
• Total annual benefits paid: $11.74 billion

Where retirees have the smallest Social Security benefits

In the following states, Social Security beneficiaries earn the smallest average monthly benefit. The last state is the one where beneficiaries’ average checks are the smallest in the nation.

10. West Virginia

For retired workers in this state:

• Average monthly Social Security benefit: $1,770
• Median monthly benefit: $1,744
• Number of beneficiaries: 306,268
• Total annual benefits paid: $5.90 billion

9. South Dakota

For retired workers in this state:

• Average monthly Social Security benefit: $1,767
• Median monthly benefit: $1,706
• Number of beneficiaries: 151,144
• Total annual benefits paid: $2.82 billion

8. Alaska

For retired workers in this state:

• Average monthly Social Security benefit: $1,759
• Median monthly benefit: $1,660
• Number of beneficiaries: 84,579
• Total annual benefits paid: $1.58 billion

7. Montana

For retired workers in this state:

• Average monthly Social Security benefit: $1,739
• Median monthly benefit: $1,680
• Number of beneficiaries: 196,144
• Total annual benefits paid: $3.61 billion

6. Maine

For retired workers in this state:

• Average monthly Social Security benefit: $1,734
• Median monthly benefit: $1,666
• Number of beneficiaries: 266,516
• Total annual benefits paid: $4.90 billion

5. Kentucky

For retired workers in this state:

• Average monthly Social Security benefit: $1,730
• Median monthly benefit: $1,682
• Number of beneficiaries: 661,892
• Total annual benefits paid: $12.28 billion

4. New Mexico

For retired workers in this state:

• Average monthly Social Security benefit: $1,724
• Median monthly benefit: $1,630
• Number of beneficiaries: 335,665
• Total annual benefits paid: $6.17 billion

3. Arkansas

For retired workers in this state:

• Average monthly Social Security benefit: $1,719
• Median monthly benefit: $1,652
• Number of beneficiaries: 477,621
• Total annual benefits paid: $8.76 billion

2. Louisiana

For retired workers in this state:

• Average monthly Social Security benefit: $1,690
• Median monthly benefit: $1,611
• Number of beneficiaries: 600,241
• Total annual benefits paid: $10.99 billion

1. Mississippi

For retired workers in this state:

• Average monthly Social Security benefit: $1,689
• Median monthly benefit: $1,611
• Number of beneficiaries: 456,819
• Total annual benefits paid: $8.25 billion