Americans who receive Social Security retirement benefits could see checks cut by about $500 a month on average if the program reaches its projected insolvency date in late 2032 without action from Congress, according to a new analysis from the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.
Projected Cuts Could Hit Every State
The fiscal policy think tank said the reduction reflects the 24% across-the-board benefit cut that would be needed to keep payments going after the retirement trust fund is exhausted. Social Security would still collect payroll tax revenue, but by law could not pay full scheduled benefits without enough reserves.
“Applying this projected reduction to current state-level data, we estimate an across-the-board monthly cut would range from $459 to $556 across the 50 states and the District of Columbia,” the report said.
The 10 states facing the highest average monthly cuts would be Connecticut, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Delaware, Maryland, Washington, Minnesota, Massachusetts, Michigan and Utah. Connecticut would see the largest average cut, at $556 a month. The national average would be $500.
| Rank | State | Average Monthly Benefit Cut |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Connecticut | $556 |
| 2 | New Jersey | $554 |
| 3 | New Hampshire | $553 |
| 4 | Delaware | $549 |
| 5 | Maryland | $541 |
| 6 | Washington | $531 |
| 7 | Minnesota | $530 |
| 8 | Massachusetts | $527 |
| 9 | Michigan | $523 |
| 10 | Utah | $523 |
| — | National Avg. | $500 |
“No state would be spared from the potentially devastating effects of insolvency,” CRFB said.
Older States Face Wider Benefit Exposure
The report said benefit reductions would directly affect more than 15% of the population in 47 states. The largest shares would be in Maine at 22.9%, West Virginia at 22.4%, Vermont at 22.0%, Delaware at 21.1%, Montana and New Hampshire at 21.0%, South Carolina at 20.6%, Wisconsin at 20.2%, and Michigan and Pennsylvania at 19.8%.
Benzinga reached out to the Social Security Administration for additional comment but did not immediately receive a reply.
Advocates Urge Faster Action From Congress
Senior Citizens League spokesperson Shannon Benton told Nexstar in an email that such a cut is “unacceptable” and urged lawmakers to move quickly.
Benton said any solvency debate must recognize that millions of older Americans rely on earned benefits for housing, food, health care and other basic expenses. Acting sooner, she said, would help restore long-term solvency while avoiding sudden reductions that many beneficiaries cannot afford.
SSA says Social Security and Supplemental Security Income benefits reach about 75 million Americans. Nearly 71 million Social Security beneficiaries received a 2.8% cost-of-living increase for 2026, while about 7.5 million SSI recipients also received higher payments, with some overlap between the groups.
Image via Shutterstock/ zimmytws
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