PROVIDENCE – In Rhode Island, Social Security benefits will cover the most of a person’s cost of living after paying taxes in Washington County, according to a report from SmartAsset Tuesday.
The financial software and data company ranked counties in the nation by weighted cost of living, annual Social Security and whether or not Social Security is taxed in a given state.
Rhode Island taxes social security, with certain restrictions, reducing the state’s counties’ performance in national rankings.
Washington County scored a 71.11 on the company’s Social Security Goes Furthest Index, with an annual cost of living of $19,651 and an annual Social Security payment of $20,136. Washington ranked No. 847 out of counties in the nation.
Bristol County ranked second in Rhode Island with an index score of 67.35. The cost of living in Bristol averaged $19,763, while Social Security collection averaged $19,562. Bristol ranked No. 1,370 in the nation.
Kent County ranked No. 3 in Rhode Island with an Index of 61.4. The county had an average cost of living of $19,707 per year and an average Social Security payment of $18,408 per year.
Newport ranked No. 4 in the state with an Index of 55.81. Cost of living ($20,217) outweighed Social Security payments in the area ($17,907) by more than $2,000 per year.
Providence County ranked last in the state, reporting the lowest average Social Security collection in the state at $16,621 per year and a cost of living of $19,435 that is on par with the most counties in the state. Providence County ranked No. 2,758 in the nation with a Social Security Goes Furthest Index of 53.21, according to SmartAsset.
Rhode Island averaged a cost of living of $19,755 in the study and a annual Social Security payment of $18,527 according to SmartAsset.
Sumter, Fla., ranked No. 1 in the nation with an average cost of living of $18,410 per year and an annual Social Security payment of $23,399 that is not taxed. The county’s index rating in the study was a perfect 100, as the study graded its Index on a curve relative to the best results in the nation.
The SmartAsset study used data from the MIT Living Wage Calculator, U.S. Census Bureau 2015 American Community Survey, Kiplinger and state government websites.
Chris Bergenheim is the PBN web editor.
