The average monthly payment for Social Security retirement benefits is $1,613.77. That’s not enough to get by in most places in America, but Social Security was never meant to serve as a retiree’s sole source of income. Yet for many seniors, Social Security is exactly that, which won’t cover the cost of living in some states.
Find Out: 10 Reasons You Should Claim Social Security Early
See: 20 Best Places To Live on Only a Social Security Check
You might be able to scrape by in the cheaper 35 states, but GOBankingRates identified 15 states that retirees can scratch off the list if Social Security is their only source of income.
In order of best of the worst to worst of the worst, here are the states where a Social Security check alone won’t pay the bills.
Cost-of-living index: 109.9
January 2022 average one-bedroom rent: $1,209
At the tail end of 2021, the Laconia Daily Sun reported that it costs an average of $1,180,933 to retire in New Hampshire. That’s $60,500 more than the typical 65-year-old would spend thanks to New Hampshire’s high cost of living.
POLL: Do You Think You Will Be Able To Retire at Age 65?
Cost-of-living index: 127.1
January 2022 average one-bedroom rent: $1,100
The cost of living in remote and import-reliant Alaska is infamously high. Housing, though, isn’t too big a contributor. The typical home value in the state is roughly $311,000, according to Zillow, compared to nearly $326,000 nationwide.
Cost-of-living index: 101.8
January 2022 average one-bedroom rent: $1,344
Although the state offers good tax benefits to retirees, according to Kiplinger, Virginia is generally an inhospitable place to try to stretch a Social Security check — but it depends where you live. Busy and expensive Northern Virginia, particularly D.C. Metro, drives the state’s average cost of living way up — try the Shenandoah Valley, instead.
Cost-of-living index: 107.9
January 2022 average one-bedroom rent: $1,307
Tiny Delaware has long been a retirement haven because of its miles of beaches and proximity to D.C., Philly and New York. It’s not a place where you’d want to live on a small fixed income, but the absence of a sales tax is as big a draw along with all that coastline.
Cost-of-living index: 105.3
January 2022 average one-bedroom rent: $1,341
Housing is one of the biggest expenses facing retirees or anyone else living in Colorado. The typical home there now costs more than $545,000.
Cost-of-living index: 130.1
January 2022 average one-bedroom rent: $1,114
The population of Oregon has grown by more than 10% over the last decade, according to SoFi. The state is still home to fewer than 1.81 million housing units, however, which tells much of the story of the state’s high cost of living.
Cost-of-living index: 100.3
January 2022 average one-bedroom rent: $1,434
Florida has been America’s primo retirement destination for generations — but life there doesn’t come cheap. You can certainly find less expensive places to retire, but not in America’s most coveted beach paradises. In fact, you’ll pay a whole lot more to retire on the coasts of California or Hawaii.
Cost-of-living index: 121.6
January 2022 average one-bedroom rent: $1,242
Everything costs more across the board in Connecticut, which is consistently one of the country’s most expensive states. That includes groceries, transportation and healthcare, but the real doozies are housing and utilities.
Cost-of-living index: 111.6
January 2022 average one-bedroom rent: $1,376
Utilities are cheaper in Washington than in the country as a whole — much cheaper, actually. But retirees and everyone else who lives there will pay more than average across every other cost-of-living category.
Cost-of-living index: 124.0
January 2022 average one-bedroom rent: $1,397
Only a handful of states have higher housing costs than Maryland. Healthcare is significantly cheaper than average, but nothing else is.
Cost-of-living index: 115.2
January 2022 average one-bedroom rent: $1,490
Virtually everything is more expensive than average in New Jersey, but the most dangerous hidden cost is the state’s notoriously high taxes — property taxes, in particular. Residents of the state will pay nearly $1 million in taxes — $932,000, to be exact — over the course of their lifetimes, according to Bloomberg. That’s more than residents of any other state.
Cost-of-living index: 135.0
January 2022 average one-bedroom rent: $1,385
Residents of only four states suffer from higher housing costs than the people who call Massachusetts home. Everything costs more than average in the notoriously expensive New England state, with not just housing, but groceries, healthcare and miscellaneous expenses being especially pricey.
Cost-of-living index: 148.2
January 2022 average one-bedroom rent: $1,588
With the national baseline set at 100.0, the cost of housing in New York is a whopping 230.1 on the cost-of-living index. Healthcare is only a little above average and utilities are actually a little below, but everything else costs more in New York.
Cost-of-living index: 142.2
January 2022 average one-bedroom rent: $1,652
With a housing index above 200 and above-average costs in every major cost-of-living category, California has earned its rep as a high-cost, high-tax retirement oasis. If you’re planning to retire on Social Security alone, the California dream will probably remain just that.
Cost-of-living index: 193.3
January 2022 average one-bedroom rent: $1,706
Right in the middle of the Pacific Ocean between America’s West Coast and the Far East of Asia is Hawaii, which imports everything it can’t grow or make on its own from a world away. Retiring in paradise isn’t cheap. The typical home there now costs more than $800,000, according to Zillow.
More From GOBankingRates
Stimulus Updates To Know for August 2022
Check Out Readers’ Favorite Small Businesses in Our 2022 Small Business Spotlight
This Credit Score Mistake Could Be Costing Millions Of Americans
Here’s How Much Cash You Need Stashed If a National Emergency Happens
Methodology: GOBankingRates determined the worst states to live on only a Social Security check based on the (1) average monthly benefit for retired workers, $1,613.77, sourced from Social Security Administration; (2) the overall cost of living in each city, sourced from the Missouri Economic Research and Information Center’s 2021 Cost of Living data series; and (3) the average rent for a one-bedroom apartment as sourced from ApartmentList’s January 2022 data. Factors (2) and (3) were scored and combined with the highest score being the worst. All data was collected and is up to date as of Feb. 14, 2022.
This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: 15 Worst States To Live on Just a Social Security Check
Zillow: Home values fell in these 117 markets between May 2022 and August 2022.
The Central Park Tower Penthouse features a ballroom and terrace with views across the city
That shouldn’t stop someone from building their dream home out of it, however.
Rising home values can quickly transition a reasonable housing market into the type of real estate monster that has consumed places like the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles and New York. While the…
which means prices are going to pull back. If you are an end user, looking to finally enter the housing market now is a great time to buy a house 15%-20% cheaper than it would have been at the beginning of the year.” That’s transparent and clear advice from one of the brightest and most outspoken minds in the world of real estate. Cardone doesn’t hoard advice, tips or tricks to getting rich. He is a best-selling author and has shared his 10X strategy on several different platforms. Whether you'r
The Florida mansion that Derek Jeter had built in 2012, and recently rented to Tom Brady, soon could be demolished, per reports.
This home, which was built in 1924, features custom made chandeliers, a porte cochere and a brick carriage house.
The stylish couple's home features a putting green, giant chess board and smart toilet.
Inventory has been a closely-watched metric of the U.S. housing market during, and leading up to, the Covid-19 pandemic.
Asking rents hit another high in July, a new report from Redfin found, with the national median asking rent price up 14% year over year to $2,032.
While Zillow's monthly index shows rental growth peaked months ago, it isn't what the Federal Reserve is tracking to gauge inflation, explains Schwab's Kevin Gordon.
The state has more than $2.7 billion in lake real estate inventory available (up from $2.38 billion in summer), a new report says.
Retirement is a relieving milestone for many Americans in the workforce, but it can also raise some concerns. Have I built a big-enough nest egg? Should I move to a more affordable city? Explore: Your…
Lennar Corp. is seeking approval to build single-family homes on the shuttered Presidential Estates Golf Club near Aventura. The Miami-Dade County Zoning Board on Sept. 22 will consider rezoning 104.3-acre site at 19438 N.E. 18th Ave. Miami-based Lennar (NYSE: LEN) has the property under contract from BH Aventura Presidential Golf Club LLC, an affiliate of Aventura-based BH Global Investments. The golf course has been closed for years.
The country reached an 8.3% inflation rate in August, the most recent month for which Consumer Price Index data is available from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. See: Consumer Price Index Shows…
Home values are edging down as buyers remain spooked by high mortgage rates, according to a new report. The typical value of a home in the U.S. fell 0.3% in August from the previous month, according to real-estate company Zillow’s August market report. Zillow cited “the historic rise in home prices over the pandemic, compounded by this year’s spiking mortgage rates.”
Return on investment in real estate measures how much profit you have made on that property. Here are two ways to calculate your ROI for real estate.
“Architecture buffs will love the home’s unique, two-tower layout and Mid-Century period details,” the listing says.
Following her much-publicized divorce from Kanye West, Kim Kardashian has reportedly purchased a $70 million oceanfront estate in Malibu, California.
The home, which first went on the market in January, will become an RH showroom with a restaurant, wine bar and furniture galleries.
About Author
