Social Security Map Shows 10 Cities With Highest Benefit Income

Retirees in the university town of Ann Arbor, Michigan, receive the largest Social Security income in the country, according to a recent study by financial technology company SmartAsset.

Because the amount that Social Security recipients receive in monthly benefits depends on earnings during working years, payments can be significantly different. They can also change depending on what type of disability a recipient might have. More than 71 million Americans are currently estimated to receive Social Security benefits.

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These are the top 10 cities with the highest Social Security income:

1. Ann Arbor, Michigan ($30,428)
2. Carmel, Indiana ($30,069)
3. Goodyear, Arizona ($29,157)
4. Cambridge, Massachusetts ($28,219)
5. Allen, Texas ($27,735)
6. Sugar Land, Texas ($27,725)
7. The Woodlands, Texas ($27,661)
8. Highlands Ranch, Colorado ($27,433)
9. Olathe, Kansas ($27,151)
10. Fishers, Indiana ($27,133)

These numbers are based on an analysis of 345 of the largest U.S. cities that considered information on average retirement income and average Social Security retirement income. This includes Social Security pensions and survivors benefits, as well as permanent disability insurance payments made by the Social Security Administration (SSA).

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Newsweek contacted the SSA for comment by email on Wednesday.

In Ann Arbor, Michigan, Social Security represents 42.2 percent of the average total retirement income of $72,108. The city had the 12th highest retirement income, overall, in the country, according to the SmartAsset’s study, while Carmel, Indiana, had ranked 29th overall.

In Carmel, Indiana, Social Security income is 45.4 percent of the total retirement income of $66,232; in Goodyear, Arizona, it’s 45.7 percent of a total $63,794; in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it’s 35.5 percent of the total retirement income of $79,563; in Allen, Texas, it’s 45.4 percent of a total $61,038.

Newsweek contacted U.S. reps Debbie Dingell, Michigan’s 6th Congressional District, and Victoria Spartz, Indiana’s 5th District, for comment.

In Sugar Land, Texas, Social Security income represents 39.7 percent of the total retirement income of $69,904 in the city; in The Woodlands, Texas, it’s 34.8 percent of a total $79,539; in Highlands Ranch, Colorado, it’s 35.4 percent of the total retirement income of $77,458; in Olathe, Kansas, it’s 50.1 percent of a total $54,140; and in Fishers, Indiana, it’s 44.1 percent of the total retirement income of $34,447.

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Other income came from pensions, IRAs and other retirement accounts. Social Security recipients are currently getting benefits that are 3.2 percent higher than in 2023, as per this year’s cost-of-living-adjustment, or COLA.

Representative Ruben Gallego of Arizona, a Democrat, is currently trying to push legislation that would change the way the annual COLA is calculated. At the moment, the annual adjustment is calculated based on the percentage increase in the CPI-W (Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers) between the third quarter of the previous year and the third quarter of the current year.

If Gallego’s proposed legislation, the Boosting Benefits and COLAs Act, should pass, the COLA would be calculated based on the CPI-E (Consumer Price Index for Elderly Consumers)—which considers some of the elderly’s most significant expenses, including those for medications and medical treatments.