1. New Jersey: $1,768.61/month
2. Connecticut: $1,757.00/month
3. Delaware: $1,704.26/month
4. New Hampshire: $1,700.75/month
5. Maryland: $1,689.86/month
6. Michigan: $1,682.68/month
7. Washington: $1,672.05/month
8. Minnesota: $1,656.27/month
9. Massachusetts: $1,654.24/month
10. New York: $1,654.14/month

Why these states?

The most logical explanation involves income. Basically, if you consistently earned more than the national average, you should receive a bigger Social Security payout in your golden years. This means states with above-average median household incomes, high-paying jobs, and thriving industries should help workers get a larger retirement benefit.

According to the 2019 income data from the US Census Bureau, New Jersey, Washington, Maryland, New Hampshire, Connecticut, and Massachusetts were six of the top eight states that boasted a higher median household income.

Keep in mind that relocating to a state with a higher median household income won’t automatically increase your Social Security payout. However, the data show that most of these 10 states provide higher income opportunities for working adults, which can help increase Social Security benefits paid during retirement.

There are other factors here, too. Unluckily, this is where we start to stray from concrete data and push into a bit of hypothesis and guesswork.