Investing & retirement data

Retirement income in the United States

Across the 50 states and D.C., the median income for households headed by someone 65 or older runs from $20,607 in Puerto Rico to $82,797 in Hawaii — a 4.0x spread around a national figure of $56,830.

The clearest read on what retirement costs in a place is what retired households there actually live on, set against local housing costs.

Retirement income in the United States by state
RankStateTypical figureContext
1Hawaii$82,797$95,192 income
2Maryland$75,164$101,639 income
3Virginia$71,454$95,667 income
4Alaska$67,524$86,775 income
5District of Columbia$67,122$101,722 income
6Utah$66,845$87,698 income
7Connecticut$66,764$91,446 income
8California$66,566$94,761 income
9New Jersey$66,535$98,335 income
10Colorado$65,146$89,744 income
11Delaware$64,863$79,968 income
12Washington$64,094$93,119 income
13Massachusetts$61,506$98,752 income
14New Hampshire$61,467$91,699 income
15Oregon$59,004$78,474 income
16Minnesota$58,722$86,197 income
17Arizona$58,279$73,680 income
18Vermont$57,178$75,499 income
19New York$57,153$86,050 income
20Illinois$56,930$80,593 income
21Wyoming$56,622$73,566 income
22Nevada$56,243$72,001 income
23Kansas$56,144$72,048 income
24Rhode Island$55,556$81,219 income
25Texas$55,454$74,723 income
26Nebraska$54,596$72,872 income
27Idaho$54,198$70,652 income
28Georgia$54,032$73,491 income
29North Dakota$53,543$73,893 income
30Wisconsin$53,322$73,510 income
31Iowa$53,016$71,553 income
32Michigan$52,807$69,647 income
33Pennsylvania$52,584$75,594 income
34Florida$52,362$68,353 income
35Montana$52,034$66,499 income
36South Dakota$51,747$68,956 income
37North Carolina$51,302$68,149 income
38Ohio$50,947$68,157 income
39South Carolina$50,877$64,338 income
40Oklahoma$50,528$61,995 income
41Indiana$50,499$68,679 income
42Maine$50,418$69,684 income
43Tennessee$50,312$65,748 income
44New Mexico$49,927$59,276 income
45Missouri$49,832$67,554 income
46Alabama$47,465$60,746 income
47Kentucky$46,939$61,383 income
48West Virginia$45,258$55,967 income
49Arkansas$44,952$57,307 income
50Louisiana$44,701$59,065 income
51Mississippi$43,364$53,929 income
52Puerto Rico$20,607$24,726 income

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Methodology

Every figure on this page comes from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey 5-year estimates. We store one row per county and roll counties up to state level, weighting each county by its population so that large metros are not treated the same as very small counties.

The median household income for householders aged 65 and over shown for a state is that population-weighted figure, not a simple average of county values. National comparisons use the same method across all states, so the state-versus-U.S. gap you see is a like-for-like comparison.

These are survey estimates, not transaction records, and they describe typical households rather than any individual situation. Nothing here is personalised financial advice.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (5-year). American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2022.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (5-year). Latest observation $95,192 income.