What It Takes To Fund One Social Security Check in Every State

If you’re traditionally employed, you’ve probably noticed that every two weeks a nice little chunk of change gets deducted from your paycheck for Social Security.

It can be hard to watch that money disappear now, but it may be heartening to know you’ll be getting it back when you reach retirement age one day. 

But how many paycheck deductions does it actually take to fund a single Social Security check? The answer is a lot higher than you think, and it varies widely by state.

Click through to get a better idea of just how much — or how little — Social Security is really worth.

To determine how many paycheck deductions it takes to fund one Social Security check in each state, GOBankingRates pulled the median income by state, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, and divided that number by 26 to calculate one biweekly paycheck amount.

Then, GOBankingRates determined the Social Security employee deduction per paycheck based on the current Social Security tax rate; however, GOBankingRates calculated these figures using only employee deductions to show just how much of your money it takes to qualify for Social Security.

Afterward, we divided the average monthly Social Security benefit of $1,787.31 for a retired person by the average deduction for each state to calculate just how many paycheck deductions it takes to fund one Social Security payout depending on where you live.

On average, it takes 10.86 employee paycheck deductions to fund a single Social Security monthly benefit. It takes 15.26 paycheck deductions in Mississippi but only 8.52 in Hawaii.

• Median Biweekly Paycheck: $2,113.19
• Social Security Deduction: $131.02
• Paychecks to Fund One Month of Social Security: 13.64

• Median Biweekly Paycheck: $3,087.96
• Social Security Deduction: $191.45
• Paychecks to Fund One Month of Social Security: 9.34

• Median Biweekly Paycheck: $2,535.12
• Social Security Deduction: $157.18
• Paychecks to Fund One Month of Social Security: 11.37

• Median Biweekly Paycheck: $2,004.73
• Social Security Deduction: $124.29
• Paychecks to Fund One Month of Social Security: 14.38

• Median Biweekly Paycheck: $3,234.50
• Social Security Deduction: $200.54
• Paychecks to Fund One Month of Social Security: 8.91

• Median Biweekly Paycheck: $3,084.00
• Social Security Deduction: $191.21
• Paychecks to Fund One Month of Social Security: 9.35

• Median Biweekly Paycheck: $3,214.31
• Social Security Deduction: $199.29
• Paychecks to Fund One Month of Social Security: 8.97

• Median Biweekly Paycheck: $2,797.08
• Social Security Deduction: $173.42
• Paychecks to Fund One Month of Social Security: 10.31

• Median Biweekly Paycheck: $2,376.04
• Social Security Deduction: $147.31
• Paychecks to Fund One Month of Social Security: 12.13

• Median Biweekly Paycheck: $2,501.15
• Social Security Deduction: $155.07
• Paychecks to Fund One Month of Social Security: 11.53

• Median Biweekly Paycheck: $3,384.81
• Social Security Deduction: $209.86
• Paychecks to Fund One Month of Social Security: 8.52

• Median Biweekly Paycheck: $2,437.58
• Social Security Deduction: $151.13
• Paychecks to Fund One Month of Social Security: 11.83

• Median Biweekly Paycheck: $2,790.88
• Social Security Deduction: $173.03
• Paychecks to Fund One Month of Social Security: 10.33

• Median Biweekly Paycheck: $2,382.46
• Social Security Deduction: $147.71
• Paychecks to Fund One Month of Social Security: 12.10

• Median Biweekly Paycheck: $2,516.50
• Social Security Deduction: $156.02
• Paychecks to Fund One Month of Social Security: 11.46

• Median Biweekly Paycheck: $2,481.58
• Social Security Deduction: $153.86
• Paychecks to Fund One Month of Social Security: 11.62

• Median Biweekly Paycheck: $2,132.85
• Social Security Deduction: $132.24
• Paychecks to Fund One Month of Social Security: 13.52

• Median Biweekly Paycheck: $2,060.42
• Social Security Deduction: $127.75
• Paychecks to Fund One Month of Social Security: 13.99

• Median Biweekly Paycheck: $2,430.08
• Social Security Deduction: $150.66
• Paychecks to Fund One Month of Social Security: 11.86

• Median Biweekly Paycheck: $3,516.58
• Social Security Deduction: $218.03
• Paychecks to Fund One Month of Social Security: 8.20

• Median Biweekly Paycheck: $3,424.08
• Social Security Deduction: $212.29
• Paychecks to Fund One Month of Social Security: 8.42

• Median Biweekly Paycheck: $2,430.85
• Social Security Deduction: $150.71
• Paychecks to Fund One Month of Social Security: 11.86

• Median Biweekly Paycheck: $2,988.69
• Social Security Deduction: $185.30
• Paychecks to Fund One Month of Social Security: 9.65

• Median Biweekly Paycheck: $1,888.88
• Social Security Deduction: $117.11
• Paychecks to Fund One Month of Social Security: 15.26

• Median Biweekly Paycheck: $2,347.81
• Social Security Deduction: $145.56
• Paychecks to Fund One Month of Social Security: 12.28

• Median Biweekly Paycheck: $2,329.23
• Social Security Deduction: $144.41
• Paychecks to Fund One Month of Social Security: 12.38

• Median Biweekly Paycheck: $2,563.23
• Social Security Deduction: $158.92
• Paychecks to Fund One Month of Social Security: 11.25

• Median Biweekly Paycheck: $2,526.38
• Social Security Deduction: $156.64
• Paychecks to Fund One Month of Social Security: 11.41

• Median Biweekly Paycheck: $3,209.58
• Social Security Deduction: $198.99
• Paychecks to Fund One Month of Social Security: 8.98

• Median Biweekly Paycheck: $3,450.12
• Social Security Deduction: $213.91
• Paychecks to Fund One Month of Social Security: 8.36

• Median Biweekly Paycheck: $2,077.69
• Social Security Deduction: $128.82
• Paychecks to Fund One Month of Social Security: 13.87 

• Median Biweekly Paycheck: $2,890.65
• Social Security Deduction: $179.22
• Paychecks to Fund One Month of Social Security: 9.97 

• Median Biweekly Paycheck: $2,327.54
• Social Security Deduction: $144.31
• Paychecks to Fund One Month of Social Security: 12.39 

• Median Biweekly Paycheck: $2,620.42
• Social Security Deduction: $162.47
• Paychecks to Fund One Month of Social Security: 11.00 

• Median Biweekly Paycheck: ​​$2,382.23
• Social Security Deduction: $147.70
• Paychecks to Fund One Month of Social Security: 12.10  

• Median Biweekly Paycheck: $2,190.62
• Social Security Deduction: $135.82
• Paychecks to Fund One Month of Social Security: 13.16 

• Median Biweekly Paycheck: $2,695.54
• Social Security Deduction: $167.12
• Paychecks to Fund One Month of Social Security: 10.69 

• Median Biweekly Paycheck: $2,599.50
• Social Security Deduction: $161.17
• Paychecks to Fund One Month of Social Security: 11.09

• Median Biweekly Paycheck: $2,864.96
• Social Security Deduction: $177.63
• Paychecks to Fund One Month of Social Security: 10.06 

• Median Biweekly Paycheck: $2,239.77
• Social Security Deduction: $138.87
• Paychecks to Fund One Month of Social Security: 12.87 

• Median Biweekly Paycheck: $2,458.46
• Social Security Deduction: $152.42
• Paychecks to Fund One Month of Social Security: 11.73 

• Median Biweekly Paycheck: $2,250.62
• Social Security Deduction: $139.54
• Paychecks to Fund One Month of Social Security: 12.81

• Median Biweekly Paycheck: $2,589.27
• Social Security Deduction: $160.53
• Paychecks to Fund One Month of Social Security: 11.13 

• Median Biweekly Paycheck: $3,043.58
• Social Security Deduction: $188.70
• Paychecks to Fund One Month of Social Security: 9.47 

• Median Biweekly Paycheck: $2,602.85
• Social Security Deduction: $161.38
• Paychecks to Fund One Month of Social Security: 11.08 

• Median Biweekly Paycheck: $3,100.58
• Social Security Deduction: $192.24
• Paychecks to Fund One Month of Social Security: 9.30 

• Median Biweekly Paycheck: $3,169.23
• Social Security Deduction: $196.49
• Paychecks to Fund One Month of Social Security: 9.10 

• Median Biweekly Paycheck: $1,957.08
• Social Security Deduction: $121.34
• Paychecks to Fund One Month of Social Security: 14.73 

• Median Biweekly Paycheck: $2,580.00
• Social Security Deduction: $159.96
• Paychecks to Fund One Month of Social Security: 11.17

• Median Biweekly Paycheck: $2,615.46
• Social Security Deduction: $162.16
• Paychecks to Fund One Month of Social Security: 11.02

Please note: All research was conducted on and is accurate as of June 19, 2023.