There were 177,327 OASDI widow and parent beneficiaries in Pennsylvania in 2020, ranking it fifth in the United States, according to the Social Security Administration.
The Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) is a program of the Social Security Administration funded primarily through payroll taxes. It was signed into law in 1935 by then-President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
The OASDI program aims to supplement a worker’s lost wages due to retirement, disability or death of a spouse.
The following table shows states ranked by number of widow and parent beneficiaries.
State Ranking by Number of Widow and Parent Beneficiaries in 2020
| Rank | State | Number of Widow and Parent Beneficiaries |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | California | 359,873 |
| 2 | Texas | 314,588 |
| 3 | Florida | 267,598 |
| 4 | New York | 203,428 |
| 5 | Pennsylvania | 177,327 |
| 6 | Ohio | 170,895 |
| 7 | Illinois | 140,438 |
| 8 | Michigan | 135,797 |
| 9 | North Carolina | 115,589 |
| 10 | Georgia | 111,918 |
| 11 | Tennessee | 92,931 |
| 12 | Virginia | 91,690 |
| 13 | New Jersey | 90,535 |
| 14 | Indiana | 85,074 |
| 15 | Louisiana | 81,058 |
| 16 | Missouri | 78,494 |
| 17 | Arizona | 78,396 |
| 18 | Alabama | 76,766 |
| 19 | Washington | 74,341 |
| 20 | Kentucky | 72,967 |
| 21 | South Carolina | 66,989 |
| 22 | Wisconsin | 65,964 |
| 23 | Massachusetts | 64,784 |
| 24 | Maryland | 54,909 |
| 25 | Oklahoma | 54,360 |
| 26 | Minnesota | 53,387 |
| 27 | Colorado | 50,037 |
| 28 | Oregon | 48,776 |
| 29 | Mississippi | 44,889 |
| 30 | Arkansas | 43,819 |
| 31 | West Virginia | 39,960 |
| 32 | Iowa | 38,907 |
| 33 | Connecticut | 35,653 |
| 34 | Kansas | 32,911 |
| 35 | Nevada | 29,437 |
| 36 | New Mexico | 26,473 |
| 37 | Utah | 23,686 |
| 38 | Nebraska | 20,539 |
| 39 | Idaho | 19,932 |
| 40 | Maine | 18,862 |
| 41 | New Hampshire | 14,622 |
| 42 | Hawaii | 14,502 |
| 43 | Montana | 13,749 |
| 44 | Delaware | 11,556 |
| 45 | Rhode Island | 10,907 |
| 46 | South Dakota | 10,541 |
| 47 | North Dakota | 9,333 |
| 48 | Vermont | 7,681 |
| 49 | Wyoming | 6,640 |
| 50 | Alaska | 5,439 |
| 51 | District of Columbia | 3,818 |
