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Widows and Widowers on Social Security Survivor Benefits by State: Counts, Average Checks and the Rules

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Disclaimer: General educational research only — not legal, tax or financial advice. Social Security survivor benefits follow federal rules that are the same in every state, but wills, trusts, spousal rights and probate are set by state law. Check your own record with Social Security and talk to an estate planning attorney or financial professional before you act.

Estate Planning Data & Research → Widow and Widower Survivor Benefits by State

In December 2024, 3,433,993 widows and widowers were drawing Social Security survivor benefits, with an average check of $1,832.47 a month, according to the Social Security Administration’s Annual Statistical Supplement. Another 196,108 disabled widows and widowers, who can start as early as age 50, averaged $951.06. More than 95% of nondisabled widow(er)s on the rolls are women, and their average age is 76.

Survivor benefits are one of the largest things a household “inherits” when a spouse dies, yet they never pass through a will, a trust or probate. Social Security pays them directly under federal rules, and a married couple usually goes from two checks to one. This page shows how many widows and widowers get these benefits in every state, what they’re paid on average, how the benefit is calculated, who qualifies, and what that means for the rest of your estate plan.

Survivor benefits replace part of the income, but your will or trust decides who gets the house, the accounts and everything else, and whether a second spouse and your children are both protected. See whether a trust or a will fits your situation.

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Key findings

  • 3.43 million nondisabled widow(er)s, averaging $1,832 a month. That’s December 2024, the newest state-level data. The median was $1,850. Women were 3,271,554 of them (95.3%) and averaged $1,843.24; the 162,439 men averaged $1,615.60.
  • A couple typically loses about 40% of its Social Security income at the first death. SSA estimates that in January 2027, after the 3.6% cost-of-living adjustment, an aged couple both receiving benefits will average $3,355 a month, and an aged widow(er) alone $2,005. Before the adjustment the figures are $3,238 and $1,936, so the survivor keeps about 59.8% of the couple’s check.
  • Most widow(er)s claimed early and took a permanent cut. 2,168,961 (63.2%) of nondisabled widow(er)s had benefits reduced for starting before their full retirement age. Their average was $1,752.41.
  • Averages range by $352 a month across states. Connecticut ($2,068), New Hampshire ($2,065), Utah ($2,039), Delaware ($2,035) and New Jersey ($2,030) have the highest average survivor checks. New Mexico ($1,716), Mississippi ($1,717), the District of Columbia ($1,719), Louisiana ($1,730) and Arkansas ($1,751) have the lowest. The amount follows the late spouse’s earnings record, so it tracks lifetime wages.
  • West Virginia and Louisiana have the most widow(er)s relative to their older population. West Virginia has 92.5 widow(er)s on survivor benefits for every 1,000 residents 65 and older, and Louisiana 90.5, compared with 56.5 across the 50 states and D.C. Kentucky (79.9), Mississippi (76.4) and Oklahoma (72.6) follow. D.C. (35.7), Hawaii (42.1) and Massachusetts (43.4) have the fewest.
  • The count has fallen by almost a third since the 1990s. Widow(er)s on survivor benefits (nondisabled plus disabled) peaked at 5,232,379 in 1994 and were 3,630,101 in December 2024, down 30.6%. The main reason is that more women now have their own work record: a widow whose own retirement benefit is larger than the survivor benefit is paid as a retired worker, not as a widow.
  • The newest monthly figure ticked up. SSA’s September 2026 snapshot shows about 3,503,000 nondisabled widow(er)s averaging $1,935.32, plus 186,000 disabled widow(er)s averaging $985.69, about 3.69 million in all. The increase follows the Social Security Fairness Act (see below), though SSA doesn’t break out the reason.

What changes at the first death

When both spouses are alive and collecting, the household gets two checks. When one dies, the survivor keeps the larger of the two, either their own benefit or the survivor benefit, but not both. SSA’s own January 2027 estimates show what that looks like on average:

Household type (SSA estimate, average monthly benefit) Before 2027 COLA After 3.6% COLA
Aged couple, both receiving benefits $3,238 $3,355
Aged widow(er) alone $1,936 $2,005
Widowed mother or father with two children $3,932 $4,074
All retired workers $2,095 $2,170

Bills don’t fall by 40% when a spouse dies. Property taxes, insurance, utilities and the mortgage or rent usually stay about the same. That’s why survivor income is an estate-planning question, not just a retirement question: the plan you make for your house, your accounts and any life insurance decides whether the surviving spouse can stay put on one check.

Example. Ann and Joe are both 72. Joe’s benefit is $2,400 a month and Ann’s is $1,300, for $3,700 together. If Joe dies first, Ann’s own $1,300 stops and she receives a survivor benefit of about $2,400 (Joe’s amount, because he claimed at or after full retirement age). The household goes from $3,700 to $2,400, a $1,300 monthly drop. If Ann dies first, Joe keeps his own $2,400 and the household also ends up at $2,400. Either way, one check disappears.

Widow and widower survivor benefits by state, December 2024

Nondisabled widow(er)s are 60 or older. Disabled widow(er)s are 50 to 59 when they start. “Per 1,000 residents 65+” divides all widow(er)s on survivor benefits (both groups) by the state’s population 65 and older, a size comparison, not a rate. States are by mailing address.

State Nondisabled widow(er)s Average monthly Median monthly Disabled widow(er)s Disabled average Widow(er)s per 1,000 residents 65+
Alabama 62,163 $1,811 $1,808 7,082 $906 72.5
Alaska 5,013 $1,843 $1,816 220 $993 47.8
Arizona 71,570 $1,894 $1,914 2,924 $1,007 50.0
Arkansas 35,765 $1,751 $1,739 4,452 $842 71.5
California 330,209 $1,774 $1,755 10,613 $1,054 52.2
Colorado 44,420 $1,923 $1,932 1,651 $1,017 47.0
Connecticut 31,226 $2,068 $2,086 1,386 $1,033 45.7
Delaware 10,359 $2,035 $2,043 555 $979 47.9
District of Columbia 3,058 $1,719 $1,585 181 $903 35.7
Florida 241,299 $1,851 $1,856 11,590 $956 49.6
Georgia 96,224 $1,819 $1,815 7,797 $914 58.9
Hawaii 12,770 $1,816 $1,808 345 $1,047 42.1
Idaho 17,757 $1,913 $1,913 875 $995 52.4
Illinois 120,099 $1,932 $1,962 5,385 $980 55.2
Indiana 72,125 $1,986 $2,004 5,216 $954 63.5
Iowa 32,188 $1,921 $1,920 1,675 $926 55.3
Kansas 27,807 $1,966 $1,970 1,686 $890 55.3
Kentucky 58,675 $1,756 $1,772 7,291 $943 79.9
Louisiana 69,368 $1,730 $1,719 4,848 $1,034 90.5
Maine 15,954 $1,804 $1,797 1,159 $892 51.9
Maryland 47,557 $1,970 $1,974 2,198 $998 45.2
Massachusetts 55,295 $1,933 $1,941 2,700 $967 43.4
Michigan 113,638 $2,009 $2,041 7,921 $1,017 61.2
Minnesota 45,136 $1,983 $1,985 1,732 $916 44.4
Mississippi 36,552 $1,717 $1,698 4,049 $873 76.4
Missouri 65,289 $1,878 $1,891 5,693 $873 60.7
Montana 11,935 $1,859 $1,859 530 $1,021 51.6
Nebraska 17,126 $1,921 $1,914 776 $877 51.4
Nevada 27,009 $1,852 $1,865 1,257 $1,078 49.1
New Hampshire 12,566 $2,065 $2,056 860 $929 44.3
New Jersey 79,655 $2,030 $2,055 3,248 $1,061 48.6
New Mexico 23,356 $1,716 $1,690 1,111 $950 57.0
New York 176,366 $1,880 $1,893 8,326 $966 49.2
North Carolina 98,607 $1,857 $1,851 8,805 $859 54.2
North Dakota 7,699 $1,837 $1,825 235 $957 56.6
Ohio 143,634 $1,874 $1,915 9,239 $971 67.3
Oklahoma 46,333 $1,843 $1,840 3,943 $920 72.6
Oregon 41,478 $1,921 $1,931 2,228 $994 51.4
Pennsylvania 146,733 $1,949 $1,952 8,635 $950 58.3
Rhode Island 9,089 $1,941 $1,946 589 $919 44.0
South Carolina 58,490 $1,852 $1,854 5,309 $894 58.9
South Dakota 8,799 $1,804 $1,783 326 $871 51.9
Tennessee 77,472 $1,845 $1,844 8,008 $864 67.1
Texas 290,509 $1,774 $1,752 12,799 $984 69.5
Utah 21,683 $2,039 $2,062 906 $1,013 51.9
Vermont 6,423 $1,894 $1,865 350 $908 45.6
Virginia 79,127 $1,906 $1,903 5,198 $924 54.4
Washington 64,829 $1,992 $2,007 3,052 $1,046 49.2
West Virginia 32,783 $1,817 $1,836 2,994 $1,002 92.5
Wisconsin 55,880 $1,971 $1,983 2,700 $907 50.0
Wyoming 6,054 $1,977 $1,996 245 $1,065 53.7
50 states + D.C. 3,265,151 $1,871 — 192,893 $952 56.5

The national figures elsewhere on this page ($1,832.47 average, 3,433,993 people) include Puerto Rico, the other territories and beneficiaries living abroad, where averages are lower. That’s why the 50-state average ($1,871) is higher.

Largest counts: California (330,209), Texas (290,509), Florida (241,299), New York (176,366) and Pennsylvania (146,733). Highest share of disabled widow(er)s: Kentucky and Arkansas (11.1% of all widow(er)s on survivor benefits), Alabama (10.2%), Mississippi (10.0%) and Tennessee (9.4%).

How the survivor benefit is calculated

The survivor benefit starts from the deceased spouse’s primary insurance amount, the benefit they’d get at full retirement age, under 20 CFR 404.338:

  • It includes the deceased’s delayed retirement credits. If your spouse waited until 70, the survivor benefit is based on that larger amount.
  • If the deceased claimed early, the “widow’s limit” applies. The survivor gets the larger of what the deceased was actually receiving or 82.5% of the deceased’s full amount.
  • It’s reduced if the survivor claims early. At 60, the survivor gets 71.5% of the full survivor amount. It rises to over 75% at 61, over 80% at 63 and over 90% at 65, and reaches 100% at the survivor’s own full retirement age (66 to 67, depending on birth year).
  • You can’t add two benefits together, but you can switch. A widow can take the survivor benefit early and switch to her own retirement benefit later, for example at 70 when it’s at its largest, or the reverse. That choice is worth running with SSA before filing, because 63.2% of today’s widow(er)s locked in an early-claiming reduction.
  • Family maximum. When children also get benefits on the same record, each child generally gets 75% of the deceased’s amount, but total family payments are capped, and SSA lowers everyone’s checks to stay under the limit. Benefits to an ex-spouse don’t count toward that cap.
  • The $255 lump sum. A one-time $255 death payment goes to a spouse who was living in the same household, or otherwise to an eligible spouse or child. It must be applied for within two years (20 CFR 404.390–404.392).

Who qualifies

  • Age. A widow or widower can start at 60, or at 50 if disabled, with the disability starting within seven years of the spouse’s death, or within seven years after an earlier mother’s or father’s benefit ended (20 CFR 404.335).
  • Length of marriage. Generally at least nine months, with exceptions such as an accidental death or a death in military service.
  • Divorced spouses. A surviving divorced spouse qualifies if the marriage lasted at least 10 years (20 CFR 404.336). In December 2024, 428,128 surviving divorced spouses averaged $1,925.85. A divorced spouse’s benefit doesn’t reduce the benefit of a widow from a later marriage.
  • Remarriage. Remarrying at 60 or older (50 or older if disabled) doesn’t end survivor benefits. Remarrying before then generally does, unless that marriage ends.
  • Caring for a young child. A widowed mother or father of any age can get benefits while caring for the deceased’s child who is under 16 or disabled (20 CFR 404.339). In December 2024, 103,829 people averaged $1,316.11 on this benefit.
  • Dual entitlement. If you have your own retirement benefit, SSA pays it first and adds only the difference if the survivor benefit is larger (20 CFR 404.407). SSA’s state tables count these people as retired workers, not widow(er)s. Nationally, about 4.34 million women 62 and older were dually entitled with a survivor top-up in 2024, more than the 3.28 million drawing only a survivor benefit.

The government pension offset ended in 2025

The Social Security Fairness Act, signed January 5, 2025, ended the government pension offset (GPO) and the windfall elimination provision for benefits payable after December 2023. The GPO used to reduce, and often wipe out, the survivor benefit of a widow or widower with a pension from work not covered by Social Security, such as some teachers, firefighters and police officers and federal workers under the Civil Service Retirement System. By July 7, 2025, SSA said it had sent more than 3.1 million payments totaling $17 billion under the new law, covering increases back to January 2024. If you never applied for survivor benefits because of a public pension, SSA says you may need to file an application, and the filing date can affect when benefits start. The survivor application isn’t available online; it’s taken by phone at 1-800-772-1213.

Why survivor benefits sit outside your will

Survivor benefits belong to the survivor under federal law. You can’t leave them to someone in a will, change them with a trust, or lose them to creditors of the estate. They’re part of the same group as other money that skips the will: life insurance, retirement accounts with named beneficiaries, payable-on-death accounts and jointly owned property. For more on that group, see money that skips the will.

That has three practical effects:

  1. Your will doesn’t need to mention Social Security, but your plan does. If one spouse will drop to a single check, think about who inherits the house, the retirement accounts and any life insurance, and whether the survivor can afford to stay.
  2. Second marriages need extra care. A spouse from a later marriage may get the survivor benefit while your children from an earlier marriage inherit everything else, or the reverse. State elective-share laws can also give a surviving spouse a cut of the estate regardless of the will. See surviving spouse elective share by state.
  3. Children have separate benefits. Minor children of a deceased worker can get survivor benefits paid to a representative payee, while what you leave them in your will may need a guardian or a trust. See children on Social Security survivor benefits by state.

Planning steps for couples

  1. Check both records. Create a my Social Security account for each spouse and confirm the earnings history and estimated benefits.
  2. Decide claiming age with the survivor in mind. When the higher earner waits, the survivor benefit is larger for the rest of the widow’s life. That’s often the cheapest life insurance a couple has.
  3. Model the one-check budget. Use SSA’s estimates to see what the survivor would actually receive, and compare it to fixed household costs.
  4. Line up the rest of the plan. Update beneficiary designations, decide how the home is titled, and make a will or trust that matches the survivor-income picture.
  5. Leave instructions. A survivor usually has to contact SSA, and the survivor benefit application isn’t available online. Keep a note with each spouse’s Social Security number, marriage certificate location and the SSA phone number (1-800-772-1213).

Methodology

State counts and averages are from the Social Security Administration’s Annual Statistical Supplement, 2025 edition, Tables 5.J2 (number of beneficiaries by type), 5.J4 (monthly amounts), 5.J9 (nondisabled widow(er)s: number, average and median) and 5.J14 (disabled widow(er)s), all for December 2024 and based on SSA’s Master Beneficiary Record. State is the beneficiary’s mailing address. We cross-checked every state count of widow(er)s and parents against Table 2 of SSA’s separate OASDI Beneficiaries by State and County, 2024, and confirmed that the state rows add up to the published “All areas” totals.

The 65-and-older population is from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey 2024 1-year estimates (table S0101). “Widow(er)s per 1,000 residents 65+” counts nondisabled and disabled widow(er)s on survivor benefits (some are 50 to 64) and divides by the 65+ population. National totals, early-claiming reductions, sex and divorced-spouse counts come from Supplement Tables 5.A1, 5.A3, 5.A4, 5.A14 and 5.A15. The newer September 2026 totals are from SSA’s Monthly Statistical Snapshot, and the January 2027 household estimates are from SSA’s 2027 COLA fact sheet. Benefit rules are from 20 CFR 404.335 to 404.407 and SSA’s survivor benefit pages.

Limits: the state tables only count people paid as widow(er)s. Widows whose own retirement benefit is larger, or who get a survivor top-up on their own benefit, are counted as retired workers, so these counts understate how many widowed people receive money tied to a late spouse’s record. Averages are before Medicare premium deductions. Territories and beneficiaries abroad are excluded from the state table but included in national totals.

Frequently asked questions

How much is the average Social Security survivor benefit?

$1,832.47 a month for nondisabled widows and widowers in December 2024, and $1,935.32 in SSA’s September 2026 snapshot. SSA estimates the average aged widow(er) alone will get $2,005 a month after the January 2027 COLA.

At what age can a widow or widower collect survivor benefits?

At 60, or at 50 if disabled. At any age if caring for the deceased’s child under 16 or disabled. Benefits at 60 are 71.5% of the full survivor amount.

Can I get my own Social Security and a survivor benefit at the same time?

Not both in full. SSA pays your own benefit first and adds the difference if the survivor benefit is higher. You can take one first and switch to the other later.

Do I lose survivor benefits if I remarry?

Not if you remarry at 60 or older, or at 50 or older if you’re disabled. Remarrying before then generally ends them while the new marriage lasts.

Can an ex-spouse get survivor benefits?

Yes, if the marriage lasted at least 10 years and the ex-spouse meets the age rules. It doesn’t reduce what a current widow or widower gets.

Can I leave my Social Security to my children in my will?

No. Survivor benefits are set by federal law and paid directly by SSA to eligible family members. Your will controls your other property, not Social Security.

Which state has the highest average survivor benefit?

Connecticut, at $2,068.13 a month for nondisabled widow(er)s in December 2024, followed by New Hampshire and Utah. New Mexico has the lowest at $1,715.97.

Is this legal or financial advice?

No. Ask SSA for your own estimates, and talk to an estate planning attorney or financial professional about your plan.

Sources

Public-domain U.S. government sources only. Fetched 2026-10-30.

Data

Law and SSA guidance

Cite this data

Family Estate Guide, “Widows and Widowers on Social Security Survivor Benefits by State: Counts, Average Checks and the Rules.” October 2026. https://familyestateguide.com/estate-planning-data/widow-survivor-benefits-by-state/

You’re welcome to reuse the tables with a link back to this page. The underlying SSA and Census data is public.

Published October 30, 2026 by Family Estate Guide. Data vintage: SSA Annual Statistical Supplement 2025 (December 2024 data), SSA Monthly Statistical Snapshot for September 2026, SSA 2027 COLA fact sheet, and Census ACS 2024 1-year estimates. Editorial standards.

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