Restricting Phone Services for Social Security Will Harm Seniors
6 Million of Them Are More Than a 45-Mile Trip From Their Field Office
The Trump Administration and DOGE have proposed eliminating phone access for critical Social Security services, including retirement applications. Millions of seniors would have to seek in-person help from an understaffed agency where appointments are required, and scarce.
In 35 States, More Than 10% of Seniors Must Travel Over 45 Miles to Access Their Nearest Social Security Field Office
Percent of seniors who must make more than a 45-mile trip
Note: Distances are straight-line round-trip travel to the nearest field office.
Sources: 2022 National Household Travel Survey; Social Security Administration; 2023 American Community Survey.
The average senior travels 23.3 miles in a given day. Many Social Security beneficiaries don’t drive while others have mobility issues that make getting to in-person appointments difficult or burdensome, even if they do not live great distances away. Nationally, it’s estimated that over 6 million seniors don’t drive, and nearly 8 million seniors report a medical condition or disability that makes it difficult to travel outside the home.
States in orange are those where 10%-20% of seniors are at least twice the daily average distance roundtrip from their closest field office and states in red are those where more than 20% of seniors are at least that distance. Distances from the nearest Social Security field office are measured in a straight line (“as the crow flies”), so actual distances for seniors to travel will likely be significantly longer, including if they use public transportation.
Sources and Methodology
Seniors’ average daily travel mileage and the number of seniors who don’t drive or who report a medical condition or disability that makes it difficult to travel outside the home are from the 2022 National Household Travel Survey. To compute seniors’ proximity to Social Security field offices, we used SSA field office location data from the SSA’s geospatial map gallery and data on the geographic distribution of seniors (people aged 65 and over) from the Census Bureau’s 2023 American Community Survey. Distances to the nearest SSA field office are measured in a straight line; actual travel distances will be longer.