While only a little more than a third of non-retirees think that Social Security will be a major source of income, among current retirees 58% say that it is according to a Gallup report earlier this year. So it’s important to keep in mind how to optimize what you might receive in benefits before the time comes to claim them.
The average Social Security payment is close to $2,000 in 2025, but the amount that each beneficiary receives depends on a series of factors. These include when you begin collecting payments from the Social Security Administration, how many years you worked, and how much you earned each year during your career.
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Average Social Security benefit in each state in 2025
Given the disparity of incomes across the United States, it makes sense that the average retirement benefit paid out by Social Security would also vary from state to state. There is a nearly $600 difference between the states with the highest and lowest average retirement benefit. According to estimates by The Motley Fool the average monthly Social Security payment in Mississippi is roughly $1,816 compared to $2,405 in New Hampshire.
Below are the estimated average Social Security payments for each state according to calculations performed by The Motley Fool based on 2023 averages according to data from the SSA with cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) increases applied. The COLA for 2024 was 3.2% while the increase for benefits this year was 2.5%.
- Alabama: $1,949.77
- Alaska: $2,051.10
- Arizona: $2,119.47
- Arkansas: $1,868.37
- California: $2,063.61
- Colorado: $2,204.38
- Connecticut: $2,388.22
- Delaware: $2,302.38
- Florida: $2,024.42
- Georgia: $1,985.72
- Hawaii: $2,139.28
- Idaho: $2,047.62
- Illinois: $2,117.27
- Indiana: $2,103.38
- Iowa: $2,110.45
- Kansas: $2,175.49
- Kentucky: $1,901.45
- Louisiana: $1,830.34
- Maine: $2,014.97
- Maryland: $2,339.58
- Massachusetts: $2,286.18
- Michigan: $2,140.05
- Minnesota: $2,299.06
- Mississippi: $1,816.45
- Missouri: $2,020.63
- Montana: $1,988.71
- Nebraska: $2,168.56
- Nevada: $1,953.02
- New Hampshire: $2,405.00
- New Jersey: $2,342.55
- New Mexico: $1,958.15
- New York: $2,117.94
- North Carolina: $2,065.04
- North Dakota: $2,067.29
- Ohio: $1,991.39
- Oklahoma: $1,954.30
- Oregon: $2,134.07
- Pennsylvania: $2,179.22
- Rhode Island: $2,204.46
- South Carolina: $2,047.09
- South Dakota: $2,064.80
- Tennessee: $2,022.46
- Texas: $2,003.58
- Utah: $2,198.64
- Vermont: $2,211.00
- Virginia: $2,227.92
- Washington: $2,266.98
- West Virginia: $1,891.54
- Wisconsin: $2,153.70
- Wyoming: $2,118.93
How to increase your Social Security benefits
One way that you can increase your Social Security benefits when you retire besides earning more is waiting to claim them until you reach full retirement age, also known as normal retirement age by the SSA. Currently, Americans born in 1960 and later will have to keep contributing to Social Security until they are 67 years old, if they want to receive the full benefit that they have earned.
If you begin collecting benefits at age 62 that could cost you nearly a third of your potential benefit you would be entitled to if you waited until you reach full retirement age. Even better to wait until you turn 70 to start claiming your retirement benefits from Social Security. This year the maximum amount that those beneficiaries will receive is $5,108 each month.
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