As of December 2023, 3.8 million individuals in New York received Social Security benefits totaling more than $6.8 billion for the month and approximately $79.3 billion for the calendar year. New York's share of the $1.38 trillion in benefits paid by the United States in 2023 was 5.7 percent.
More than 80 percent of New York recipients were 65 or older. Nearly 3 million New Yorkers received retirement benefits and more than 488,000 received disability benefits. Retired worker beneficiaries in New York received a median monthly benefit of $1,913.70 and disabled beneficiaries a median monthly benefit of $1,425.00.
In December 2023, over $500 million in benefits were paid in each of the following counties: Suffolk ($641.6 million), Queens ($583.2 million), Nassau ($575.8 million) and Kings ($541.5 million). There were over 300,000 beneficiaries in each of three counties: Queens, Kings and Suffolk.
Social Security Benefits Paid and Number of Beneficiaries: New York, CY 2023
(benefits in millions of dollars)
| Total Benefits | Retirement | Survivors | Disability | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Annual Benefits | $79,266 | $62,139 | $8,074 | $9,053 |
| Monthly Benefits, December | $6,822 | $5,656 | $456 | $710 |
| Number of Recipients, December | 3,764,852 | 2,986,698 | 289,985 | 488,169 |
Note: Annual benefits are estimated.
Total Social Security Benefits Paid: New York, CY 2014 – CY 2023
Source (both figures): Social Security Administration, Annual Statistical Supplement, OASDI, Benefits in Current-Payment Status, Geographic Data (5.J) at https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/statcomps/supplement/2024/index.html.
Social Security: New York and Counties, December 2023
(in current-payment status, benefits in thousands of dollars)
Source: Social Security Administration, Master Beneficiary Record, https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/statcomps/oasdi_sc/index.html.