States ranked by average benefits per recipient

07
Apr
2005
Rank benefits per recpient State Benefits per recpient Rank Emp. contributions as % of total receipts Employee contributions as % of total receipts Total receipts Employee contributions Benefits Recipients
1 Rhode Island $14,360 16 24 594,024 144,354 537,901 37,459
2 Connecticut $12,560 21 18 1,936,835 354,162 1,896,889 151,032
3 New York $11,882 42 8 14,092,122 1,092,437 15,538,131 1,307,680
4 Alaska $11,625 15 25 680,325 168,237 786,930 67,691
5 Pennsylvania $9,779   NA -500,917 1,274,219 5,440,534 556,347
6 Oregon $9,630 40 10 4,831,616 467,396 2,072,499 215,219
7 Michigan $9,449 37 13 5,740,263 766,282 4,605,817 487,439
8 New Jersey $9,224 19 21 4,176,256 882,858 4,656,710 504,831
9 Hawaii $9,073 36 14 417,924 57,214 602,805 66,442
10 California $8,536 27 17 34,477,498 5,817,272 17,994,639 2,108,033
11 Massachusetts $8,139 9 30 4,202,519 1,262,003 2,847,021 349,815
12 Louisiana $7,599 6 34 1,705,906 579,374 2,079,558 273,658
13 Illinois $7,510 10 30 7,520,266 2,237,486 6,692,847 891,141
14 Wisconsin $7,505 44 3 982,047 31,885 2,973,802 396,251
15 Maine $7,331 25 17 793,269 136,971 417,181 56,904
16 Maryland $7,294 22 18 1,556,470 278,797 2,041,851 279,945
17 Washington $7,253 32 14 1,855,819 268,146 1,893,814 261,114
18 Oklahoma $7,065 20 20 1,615,627 317,325 1,129,385 159,863
19 Nevada $6,941 43 4 1,463,564 55,477 592,151 85,311
20 Delaware $6,648 33 14 303,818 43,639 274,210 41,244
21 Ohio $6,335 4 43 5,567,388 2,401,535 7,640,216 1,206,108
22 Florida $6,299 45 3 5,389,438 155,261 4,646,186 737,553
23 West Virginia $6,289 31 15 747,520 111,940 505,681 80,412
24 Missouri $6,000 28 16 3,047,847 491,056 1,983,099 330,499
25 Colorado $5,887   NA -1,094,243 526,359 1,883,051 319,881
26 Kentucky $5,841 7 30 1,719,954 519,241 1,610,934 275,785
27 Minnesota $5,384 13 26 2,212,110 568,951 2,639,025 490,179
28 Texas $5,199 30 16 16,080,020 2,507,802 7,202,503 1,385,442
29 New Mexico $5,141 8 30 979,902 294,377 751,023 146,089
30 Arkansas $5,057 39 10 946,607 93,102 639,072 126,372
31 Tennessee $4,799 26 17 1,374,519 233,978 1,228,875 256,057
32 Georgia $4,640 34 14 3,828,686 540,686 2,431,482 523,981
33 Wyoming $4,498   NA -292,872 61,305 177,315 39,422
34 North Carolina $4,484   NA -1,012,944 915,639 2,405,401 536,457
35 Virginia $4,412 41 8 2,654,951 208,039 2,017,293 457,240
36 New Hampshire $4,378 3 49 245,007 119,603 252,447 57,658
37 Idaho $4,316 17 22 586,700 131,547 303,831 70,403
38 Utah $4,136 46 1 2,582,581 31,482 488,489 118,113
39 Iowa $4,096 35 14 1,475,483 207,264 838,491 204,701
40 South Carolina $4,072 29 16 2,953,924 465,892 1,424,869 349,909
41 South Dakota $3,945 18 22 379,329 83,386 191,481 48,542
42 Indiana $3,931 38 10 2,620,981 273,940 1,106,363 281,425
43 Arizona $3,898 2 54 527,659 283,296 1,431,583 367,274
44 Nebraska $3,874 5 38 331,031 126,512 283,745 73,239
45 Montana $3,837 11 29 424,986 122,363 295,685 77,066
46 Alabama $3,756 24 18 2,523,434 445,359 956,552 254,706
47 Mississippi $3,607 12 26 1,295,099 334,893 967,710 268,288
48 Kansas $3,599 1 56 412,270 231,310 687,049 190,885
49 North Dakota $3,591 14 25 153,423 38,080 123,416 34,370
50 Vermont $3,123 23 18 206,004 36,583 101,909 32,627
  United States $6,930     147,747,004 28,843,747 122,306,460 17,649,702
  N.Y.S. above avg. 42%            

Source: U.S. Census Bureau; calculations by The Public Policy Institute