Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget: “Social Security’s retirement program provides benefits for 63 million Americans, including retirees, spouses, and dependents. Yet we have known for 42 years that, without changes, Social Security would become insolvent. And for the last 16 years, the cost of Social Security’s retirement program has exceeded its cash income, forcing it to pay benefits in part by using its trust fund reserves. The Social Security Trustees now project that the retirement trust fund will be exhausted in 2032, less than seven years from today. By law, the Social Security retirement program cannot pay out more in benefits than it receives in revenue once its trust fund is exhausted. As a result, all retirees are projected to be subject to an immediate 24% benefit cut upon trust fund exhaustion. This report illustrates the real-world impact a 24% reduction would have on today’s retirees and communities, highlighting the consequences of continued inaction.² Using the projected 24% benefit cut and the most recent state-level data available, we estimate that:

• Average monthly benefit cuts would surpass $500 in 29 states, with the largest cuts impacting retirees in Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Utah, and Washington.
• More than 15% of the population would be directly impacted in 47 states, with the largest share of the population impacted in Delaware, Maine, Michigan, Montana, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.
• Total benefit cuts would exceed 1% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 40 states, with the largest economic impact in Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, South Carolina, Vermont, and West Virginia.

No state would be spared from the potentially devastating effects of insolvency. With less than seven years until Social Security is projected to be insolvent, policymakers need to enact changes to the program as quickly as possible to protect against these scenarios. A note about No State Spared: Readers can click on individual state names to access linked infographics illustrating the potential societal and economic impacts of insolvency, including the projected monthly benefit reduction for each state. Infographics for all 50 states are available at: crfb.org/nostatespared