The total value of Social Security payments to Oregon residents has quadrupled this century, to nearly $1.7 billion a month. That works out to more than $20 billion on an annual basis, making the federal safety net one of the biggest contributors to the state’s economy.

Recipients collected an average of $1,872 a month during 2023. The Social Security Administration announced Thursday that checks will climb by 2.5% next year, a cost-of-living adjustment to account for inflation.

Social Security is funded through a 6.2% federal tax on wages paid both by workers and by their employers. The tax applies to wages up to $176,100 in 2025.

About 80% of the nearly 1 million Oregonians who collect Social Security are retirees. Most of the others are workers receiving disability payments, or their families.

The aggregate value of Oregon’s Social Security payments has been climbing partly because of annual increases to account for inflation, partly because the state’s population grew substantially in the first two decades of this century, and partly because the number of retired Oregonians has risen sharply.

The number of retired Oregonians has doubled since 2000, to 729,000.

Retirees made up 11% of the state’s population in 2020. Now, retirees are 17% of all Oregon residents.

Oregon residents are the oldest of any state in the West, with a median age of a little over 40. Nearly 1 in 5 Oregon residents are over 65.

So Social Security is an especially big part of the state’s economy. And nearly a third of Oregon’s seniors get all their income from Social Security.

Some rural counties with older populations are especially dependent on Social Security. In Wheeler and Curry counties, for example, Social Security payments account for 15% or more of all personal income.

Multnomah County is Oregon’s youngest and receives the state’s smallest share of Social Security on a per capita basis. But because it’s the biggest county, by far, Multnomah’s residents nonetheless collect the most from the program of any county in the state — $235 million each month.