Your monthly Social Security check doesn’t change just because you cross a state line, right? Here’s the thing: while the federal government writes the same benefit amount no matter where you live, the money that lands in your bank account – and what it actually buys you – can look dramatically different depending on your zip code. Some states let you keep more of what you earned. Others add extra payments if you’re eligible for the right programs. Still others drain so much from your wallet that even a bigger check feels smaller.
Let’s be real, the phrase “higher benefits” can mean two totally different things. It could mean the raw dollar figure printed on your monthly statement, or it could mean how far that money stretches when you’re buying groceries and paying property taxes. This isn’t just a game of numbers – it’s about understanding where your retirement dollars go the furthest, and where the system quietly boosts or bites into your income.
Why Average Benefit Amounts Vary So Much Across States
In October 2025, the average monthly Social Security check for retired workers was $2012.30, yet state-by-state averages tell a very different story. Connecticut ($2,196.15), New Jersey ($2,190.05), New Hampshire ($2,183.82), Delaware ($2,170.63) and Maryland ($2,139.54) have the five highest average Social Security monthly checks. Meanwhile, Mississippi ($1,814.24), Louisiana ($1,818.40), Arkansas ($1,852.07), New Mexico ($1,865.12) and Kentucky ($1,865.76) have the five lowest average monthly benefits.
The explanation is straightforward but often misunderstood: Social Security retirement benefits are based on your lifetime earnings, not where you retire. Differences reflect factors such as long-term earnings histories, local workforce patterns, ages at claiming benefits, and population age structures. If you worked in a high-wage industry in the Northeast for thirty-five years, your benefit naturally reflects that higher earning history.
Higher Earnings History Equals a Bigger Check
People often think of Social Security as a flat pension, something the same for everyone. In reality, it’s a direct reflection of what you paid into the system over your working years. States with historically higher-paying industries – finance, tech, professional services – naturally show higher average monthly retirement checks.
Connecticut consistently ranks at the top not because the state government sweetens the pot, but because workers there earned more and contributed more payroll taxes throughout their careers. Several factors affect each state’s average Social Security benefit, but average income likely plays a role. The more money you earn from your job, the more you pay in Social Security payroll taxes. More money paid into Social Security means larger checks for you in retirement. This creates a natural geographic tilt: coastal metropolitan regions with higher wages consistently produce retirees with larger Social Security payments than states with lower historical wage levels.
How State Income Taxes Can Shrink Your Net Check
Here’s where “higher benefits” get complicated. Even if your gross monthly check is exactly the same, your net take-home amount depends heavily on whether your state taxes Social Security benefits. Nine states still tax Social Security benefits in 2025, though many have exemptions based on income or age.
In 2025, nine states tax Social Security income: Colorado, Connecticut, Minnesota, Montana, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Utah, Vermont and West Virginia. In contrast, most states, 41 in total plus Washington, D.C., won’t tax your Social Security benefits in 2025, based on current laws. Living in one of those majority states means you keep every dollar the federal government sends you, making your effective benefit higher without a single change to the gross payment.
The math is simple but often overlooked. A retiree in Mississippi might receive a lower gross check than someone in Connecticut, yet the Mississippi resident keeps the entire amount while the Connecticut retiree could lose a slice to state taxes depending on total income.
State Tax Exemptions and Income Thresholds Matter
Even within the nine taxing states, the rules vary wildly. Retirees in Connecticut only pay state taxes on Social Security benefits if their adjusted gross income is over $75,000 for individuals or over $100,000 for couples. Even still, 75% of benefits are exempt from state taxes. In Minnesota, married couples filing jointly avoid taxes if their income falls below $108,320.
Colorado offers generous carve-outs too. 65 and older: No state taxation of federally taxable Social Security benefits. Younger retirees between fifty-five and sixty-four can also qualify for full deductions if their income stays below certain limits. The takeaway? If you live in a taxing state, your actual tax burden on benefits depends heavily on your total household income, not just where you live.
SSI State Supplements: Direct Boosts to Low-Income Payments
Supplemental Security Income is a separate federal program from retirement Social Security, but for eligible low-income older adults or people with disabilities, where you live can directly increase your monthly payment. Effective January 1, 2025, the Federal benefit rate is $967 for an individual and $1,450 for a couple. Some States supplement the Federal SSI benefit with additional payments. This makes the total SSI benefit levels higher in those States.
In most states, SSI recipients can also receive an additional state supplementary payment from their state, giving them a monthly benefit amount that’s higher than the federal amount ($967 in 2025). In June 2025, the average monthly state benefit for people 65 and older was $225.60 in states where the SSA runs the supplementary payment programs. These supplements vary widely and often depend on living arrangements – those in assisted living or group homes may receive different amounts than those living independently.
Which States Offer No SSI Supplement at All
Not every state adds money to the federal SSI base. There are a few states that don’t offer additional payments. They are Arizona, Arkansas, Mississippi, North Dakota, Tennessee, and West Virginia. If you’re relying on SSI in one of these states, you receive only the federal payment – no state boost.
The difference can be meaningful. California, for instance, offers substantial state supplements that can bring total monthly SSI payments significantly higher than the federal baseline. In contrast, someone eligible for SSI in Mississippi receives the federal amount and nothing more. For individuals living on limited incomes, that gap of a few hundred dollars a month can mean the difference between stability and hardship.
Cost of Living Can Flip the Script Entirely
This is where “higher check” stops meaning “better off.” A retiree in New Jersey might receive one of the highest average monthly checks in the country – but housing costs, property taxes, and everyday expenses in the Garden State are equally steep. Meanwhile, someone in Mississippi with a lower average check faces far lower living costs across the board.
How far Social Security benefits go depends on the area in which a retiree lives, and research has shown that purchasing power varies dramatically by region. Costs in retirement have outpaced inflation, according to recent research from Goldman Sachs Asset Management that has found that while retirees’ spending increased at a 3.6% annual rate from 2000 to 2023, the consumer price index went up by 2.6% over that time. Retirees in high-cost states often find their larger checks eaten up by rent, utilities, and medical expenses that far exceed what beneficiaries pay in lower-cost regions.
Why State Supplements and Taxes Both Exist
It might seem contradictory that some states tax benefits while others add money on top. The logic comes down to state budgets and policy priorities. States with income taxes often include Social Security as part of taxable income – though many carve out exemptions to protect lower-income retirees. States that supplement SSI are trying to help the most vulnerable residents afford basic living costs that exceed federal benefit levels.
These aren’t coordinated policies. Each state makes its own choices about tax codes and social safety nets. Some, like California, both tax higher-income beneficiaries and provide generous SSI supplements. Others, like Florida, skip the income tax entirely and offer modest or no SSI add-ons. The result is a patchwork where your state of residence genuinely affects your financial well-being in retirement, even though your federal benefit stays the same.
Your Social Security benefit might look higher on paper if you live in Connecticut or New Jersey, but that’s really just a reflection of decades of higher wages, not a windfall from geography. The real question is what you keep after state taxes and what your money actually buys once cost of living enters the picture. For low-income seniors on SSI, state supplements can make a tangible difference – or be completely absent depending on where you call home. Geography doesn’t change your federal benefit, yet it quietly shapes your retirement in ways most people never notice until they’re living it.
