Here’s How Far Social Security Income Goes In Delaware County

DELAWARE COUNTY, PA — A new interactive map shows just how far Social Security goes depending on where you live. The tool, developed by the personal finance site SmartAsset, ranked Delaware County the second worst in the state when it comes to where Social Security benefits go furthest, with Wayne County ranking No. 1 in the state.

The study aimed to help retirees who rely mainly on Social Security benefits for their income. The authors looked at the typical Social Security income for each county, then subtracted for taxes to determine how much that retiree actually sees. The study also accounted for county-level cost of living expenses and then indexed the results to make the results easier to understand. A score of 100 shows where Social Security would cover the most needs, the authors said. In the other words, the higher the score, the further the benefits go.

Here’s what the study found for Delaware County :

• National rank: 2,354th
• Cost of living: $21,937
• Annual Social Security Income: $19,994
• Is Social Security income taxed?: No

Tucked away in the northwest corner of Nebraska, Box Butte County, with about 11,000 people, ranked as the single best county in America for Social Security benefits. The average recipient gets about $24,125 a year in income. And although that income is taxed, cost of living amounts to just $17,546. By comparison, the national average is $18,087 in yearly Social Security income and $19,040 for a typical cost of living.

Here the 10 counties where Social Security benefits go furthest, along with their index scores.

1. Box Butte, NE — 100
2. Sumter, FL — 99.64
3. Storey NV — 96.43
4. Custer, CO — 93.23
5. Wahkiakum, WA — 91.75
6. Antrim, MI — 90.91
7. Greene, GA — 90.46
8. Emery, UT — 89.63
9. Armstrong, TX — 89.14
10. Hartley, TX — 88.81

Tens of millions of people rely on Social Security benefits when they retire. In fact, 60.3 million people received SS income last month, according to the Social Security Administration. And of those recipients, about three in four were at least 65 years old.

Furthermore, without SS benefits, as many as four in 10 older Americans would have incomes below the poverty line, according to the left-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

“Social Security provides the majority of income to most elderly Americans,” the organization writes on its website. “For about half of seniors, it provides at least 50 percent of their income, and for about 1 in 5 seniors, it provides at least 90 percent of income,” the group wrote, citing multiple surveys and a 2017 study.

Patch national staffer Dan Hampton contributed to this report.