# Plain Language Summary: Locality-based Social Security Benefits Act of 2023

This bill would change how Social Security payments are calculated by tying them to where you live. Right now, Social Security benefits are the same for everyone across the country—a retiree in rural Montana gets the same monthly payment as a retiree in New York City. This bill would adjust that system so that your Social Security check would be increased based on the cost of living in your specific area, similar to how the federal government already adjusts salaries for federal employees depending on where they work.

The bill uses an existing federal system called "locality pay" to determine these adjustments. The federal government already recognizes that living costs vary dramatically by location—housing, food, and other expenses are much higher in some areas than others. Under this proposal, Social Security would use those same locality pay zones to increase benefits for people living in high-cost areas. So if you live in an expensive metropolitan area, your Social Security payment would be boosted to reflect that higher cost of living, while someone in a lower-cost area would receive a smaller adjustment or potentially no adjustment at all.

The practical effect would be that Social Security benefits would no longer be uniform across the country. People in expensive cities and regions would see their monthly payments increase, while those in less expensive areas might see little to no increase. This could help seniors and disabled people in high-cost areas afford housing, food, and other necessities, but it would also create a two-tier system where your location determines how much you receive. The bill leaves it to the President to determine the exact percentage increases for each locality pay area.

Locality-based Social Security Benefits Act of 2023

Meng, Grace

Locality-based Social Security Benefits Act of 2023 This bill directs the Social Security Administration (SSA) to increase an individual's monthly Social Security benefit amount&nbsp;based on where the individual resides. Specifically, the SSA must increase the individual's benefit amount in&nbsp;accordance with a location-based rate that is typically used to adjust the pay of federal workers.