{"id":98965,"date":"2025-07-28T09:06:08","date_gmt":"2025-07-28T09:06:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/98965\/"},"modified":"2025-07-28T09:06:08","modified_gmt":"2025-07-28T09:06:08","slug":"why-social-security-isnt-enough-to-retire-in-major-us-cities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/98965\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Social Security isn\u2019t enough to retire in major US cities"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;right:0;bottom:0;width:100%;height:100%;z-index:2\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/85308413007-20250721-vpc-social-security-seizing-overpayments-thumb-00-00-00-00-still-004.jpg\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"vidplayicon\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/appservices\/universal-web\/universal\/icons\/icon-play-alt-white.svg\" alt=\"play\" style=\"height:40px;margin:auto 18px auto 27px;width:40px\"\/><\/p>\n<p>What to do if Social Security benefits were overpaid<\/p>\n<p>Beneficiaries that have been overpaid will have 90 days to submit a waiver or repayment plan or get a cut in benefits.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The average annual Social Security income in the 100 largest metro areas is $21,500.<\/li>\n<li>Large cities like San Francisco and Los Angeles require significant retirement savings, upwards of $1.6 million, for a comfortable retirement.<\/li>\n<li>More affordable cities for retirees include Pittsburgh, Tucson, and Rochester, where Social Security covers a higher percentage of expenses.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Social Security is supposed to replace <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ssa.gov\/myaccount\/assets\/materials\/workers-61-69.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">about 40% of the income<\/a> earned in working years, according to the federal agency. That\u2019s why Americans are urged to save for retirement.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>For retirees in big cities, however, Social Security dollars may not even go that far.<\/p>\n<p>In large U.S. cities and their suburbs, Social Security income covers only around 30% of what the average retiree spends in a year, according to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lendingtree.com\/debt-consolidation\/social-security-study\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">new analysis<\/a> from the personal finance site LendingTree.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Across the 100 largest metropolitan areas, Social Security covers anywhere from 24% of annual retirement spending (in San Francisco) to 35% of yearly spending (in McAllen, Texas), LendingTree found in the July 15 report.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>To retire comfortably in big cities, you need big savings<\/p>\n<p>To live a comfortable retirement in any of those cities, the report says, you\u2019ll need lots of savings: $1.6 million in Los Angeles or San Francisco, $1.3 million in Philadelphia or Chicago, $1.1 million in Memphis, Tennessee.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLife is expensive in bigger cities in America today,\u201d said\u202f<a href=\"https:\/\/press.lendingtree.com\/about\/our-experts\/bio\/mattschulz\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Matt Schulz<\/a>, chief consumer finance analyst at LendingTree. \u201cNot breaking news, but unfortunately, this is not something that\u2019s going to get better anytime soon. And it makes for a scary situation.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The analysis used data from the Labor Department, Social Security Administration and U.S. Census to estimate annual retiree spending and average Social Security benefits in each large metropolitan area. Among the findings:\u00a0<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>In the 100 largest metro areas, the average annual Social Security income is $21,500. That\u2019s about 30% of what retirees spend in a year, in pre-tax dollars.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Social Security covers more than one-third of average retirement spending in only one of the 100 largest metro areas: McAllen, Texas.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Of the 10 big cities where Social Security is stretched thinnest, eight sit in California.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The most affordable cities for retirees don\u2019t share much in common, except that they don\u2019t rank among the very largest metros, and they aren\u2019t in California. Relatively affordable cities include Pittsburgh; Tucson, Arizona; and Rochester, N.Y.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese are very different cities, in all sorts of ways,\u201d Schulz said. \u201cOne thing this does show is that the biggest of the big cities are going to be a challenge, in no uncertain terms.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>How far does Social Security go in your city?<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s how far Social Security goes in some of America\u2019s largest metropolitan areas. We\u2019ll list the most affordable metros first.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Pittsburgh<\/strong>: Social Security retirement income averages $21,978 per year, and retirement spending averages $55,882 per year. Social Security covers 32.2% of the pre-tax dollars you\u2019d need to cover that spending, which total $68,176.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>(For the remaining cities on this list, we will skip the wonky \u201cpre-tax\u201d figure. You get the idea.)\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Rochester, N.Y.<\/strong>: Rochester has an average Social Security retirement income of $22,581 per year. Retirees spend an average of $57,835 annually. Social Security covers 32% of annual retirement spending.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Oklahoma City, Oklahoma<\/strong>: Social Security income averages $20,860, and retirement spending averages $53,869. Social Security covers 31.7% of that spending.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Milwaukee<\/strong>: Average Social Security income is $21,784 a year. Average retirement spending is $56,533. Social Security covers 31.6% of that spending.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Indianapolis<\/strong>: Retirees spend an average of $56,000 a year in Indianapolis. Average Social Security income is $21,491. Social Security covers 31.5% of retirement spending.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Las Vegas<\/strong>: Social Security income averages $22,105 a year. Retirees spend $57,658 per year. Social Security covers 31.4% of that spending.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Detroit<\/strong>: Retirees spend $58,013 a year, on average. Social Security income averages $22,117. Social Security covers 31.3% of retirement spending.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Des Moines, Iowa<\/strong>: Retirees spend an average of $54,876 per year. Social Security retirement income averages $20,817. Social Security covers 31.1% of retirement spending.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Louisville, Kentucky<\/strong>: Social Security income averages $20,948. Retirement spending averages $55,645. Social Security covers 30.9% of that spending.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Cleveland<\/strong>: Social Security income averages $20,665, and retirement spending averages $55,053 per year. Social Security covers 30.8% of that spending.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Cincinnati<\/strong>: Social Security income averages $20,665 a year. Retirement spending averages $55,704. Social Security covers 30.4% of that spending.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Austin, Texas<\/strong>: Social Security income averages $21,398, and retirement spending averages $57,776 per year. Social Security covers 30.4% of that spending.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Jacksonville, Florida<\/strong>: Social Security income averages $21,740. Annual retirement spending averages $58,723. Social Security covers 30.4% of that spending.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Columbus, Ohio<\/strong>: Social Security income averages $20,665, and retirement spending averages $55,941 a year. Social Security covers 30.3% of that spending.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Nashville, Tennessee<\/strong>: Social Security income averages $21,157. Retirement spending averages $57,568. Social Security covers 30.1% of that spending.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Chicago<\/strong>: Social Security income averages $21,922. Annual retirement spending averages $60,736. Social Security covers 29.6% of that spending.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Houston<\/strong>: Social Security income averages $21,398 a year. Retirement spending averages $59,315. Social Security covers 29.6% of that spending.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Philadelphia<\/strong>: Social Security income averages $21,978 a year. Retirement spending averages $61,269. Social Security covers 29.4% of that spending.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Atlanta<\/strong>: Social Security income averages $21,317 a year. Retirement spending averages $59,730. Social Security covers 29.3% of that spending.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Phoenix<\/strong>: Average Social Security income is $21,989 a year. Retirement spending averages $62,453. Social Security covers 28.9% of that spending.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Dallas<\/strong>: Average Social Security income is $21,398 a year. Retirement spending averages $61,150. Social Security covers 28.7% of that spending.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Boston<\/strong>: Social Security income averages $22,397 a year. Retirees spend $66,064, on average. Social Security covers 27.8% of that spending.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>New York<\/strong>: Average Social Security income is $22,581 a year. Retirement spending averages $66,597. Social Security covers 27.8% of that spending.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Miami<\/strong>: Social Security income averages $21,740. Retirees spend $66,182 per year, on average. Social Security covers 26.9% of that spending.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>San Diego<\/strong>: Social Security income averages $20,726. Retirement spending averages $66,005. Social Security covers 25.7% of that spending.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Washington, D.C.<\/strong>: Social Security income averages $19,540. Retirement spending averages $64,288. Social Security covers 24.9% of that spending.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Los Angeles<\/strong>: Social Security income averages $20,726. Retirement spending averages $68,372. Social Security covers 24.9% of that spending.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>San Francisco<\/strong>: Social Security income averages $20,726. Retirement spending averages $69,971. Social Security covers 24.3% of that spending.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"What to do if Social Security benefits were overpaid Beneficiaries that have been overpaid will have 90 days&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":98966,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[691,359,1587,64,10595,2451,6652,3040,47068,5987,1449,2488,3188,2487,64780,1412,20579,7310,64781,606,21475,2184,43083,1450,6375,644,663,64779,942,16635,1539,15746,5847,6949,450,950,5678,255,1589,700,5682,4995,6358,6360,3161,711,645,2490,3187,1439,29156,646,67,132,68,21476,5534],"class_list":{"0":"post-98965","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-personal-finance","8":"tag-ai","9":"tag-austin","10":"tag-az","11":"tag-business","12":"tag-cincinnati","13":"tag-city","14":"tag-columbus","15":"tag-department","16":"tag-des","17":"tag-des-moines","18":"tag-detroit","19":"tag-enabled","20":"tag-fl","21":"tag-highlights","22":"tag-ia","23":"tag-in","24":"tag-indianapolis","25":"tag-jacksonville","26":"tag-ky","27":"tag-labor","28":"tag-las","29":"tag-las-vegas","30":"tag-louisville","31":"tag-mi","32":"tag-milwaukee","33":"tag-modular","34":"tag-modular-story","35":"tag-moines","36":"tag-neutral","37":"tag-nv","38":"tag-of","39":"tag-oh","40":"tag-oklahoma","41":"tag-oklahoma-city","42":"tag-overall","43":"tag-overall-neutral","44":"tag-pension","45":"tag-personal-finance","46":"tag-phoenix","47":"tag-retirement","48":"tag-retirement-u0026-pension","49":"tag-security","50":"tag-seniors","51":"tag-seniors-u0026-retirement","52":"tag-social","53":"tag-social-security","54":"tag-story","55":"tag-story-highlights-ai-enabled","56":"tag-tx","57":"tag-u-s","58":"tag-u-s-department-of-labor","59":"tag-u0026","60":"tag-united-states","61":"tag-unitedstates","62":"tag-us","63":"tag-vegas","64":"tag-wi"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98965","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98965"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98965\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/98966"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98965"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98965"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98965"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}