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By Suzanne Blake
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The Social Security Administration's more than 1,200 local field offices have been affected by the Department of Government Efficiency's cuts to federal agencies this year, which experts say will likely cause delays for Americans applying for benefits and beneficiaries looking to replace identification cards or get answers to more complex questions.
A new report from the Strategic Organizing Center (SOC) that ranked states by the number of cuts in SSA field office workers found that some areas experienced far greater percentage declines than others. Since the announced cuts, 46 states have lost field office staff, with more than 30 percent of field offices losing at least 10 percent of their staff.
Why It Matters
Social Security's local field offices serve more than 119,000 visitors daily, according to the SOC.
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In February of this year, the Trump administration announced it would be cutting 12 percent of the SSA's workforce, culminating in roughly 7,000 job losses, by the end of fiscal year 2025.
What To Know
The top five most impacted states from March 2024 to March 2025 were Wyoming (17 percent cut in field office workers), Montana (14 percent), West Virginia (11 percent), Hawaii (11 percent) and New Mexico (10 percent).
"What's surprising is the correlation between population density and the states with double-digit declines in SSA field office workers," Kevin Thompson, the CEO of 9i Capital Group and the host of the 9innings podcast, told Newsweek.
"Sure, you could argue that fewer workers simply would lead to a more significant reduction in staffing given the smaller numbers, but when you look closer, many of these states also have an older population—median ages north of 39—places like New Mexico, Wyoming, and Montana. That means the very people who depend most on these services are in the areas losing the most staff."
Field office cuts were particularly alarming if they occurred in rural states or areas with a large amount of rural land, the SOC said. Because residents there are less likely to have computer access or reliable internet, Wyoming and Montana residents could face substantially longer drives to get to their local office and would likely require more in-person services.
Meanwhile, some of the top five states also have higher rates of disability, including West Virginia, which has the highest disability rate in the country, with New Mexico and Montana in the top 10.
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What People Are Saying
Kevin Thompson, the CEO of 9i Capital Group and the host of the 9innings podcast, told Newsweek: "Many of these states have fewer people spread out over larger areas. Add in the SSA's push toward technology and automation, and headcounts in certain offices are going to drop as they modernize. For rural areas, the impact will be immediate. People who once had an office in town might now have to travel to the nearest major city or even the state capital just to get basic answers."
Alex Beene, a financial literacy instructor for the University of Tennessee at Martin, told Newsweek: "It's important to note in some states, the number of employees for the administration in the field are already low, and cutting them further could delay support to some beneficiaries. Government efficiency is obviously important, but as a larger size of the population enters retirement and qualifies for benefits, there will be more demand for services Social Security provides."
What Happens Next
As of March 2025, the SSA employed 20,593 field office workers, a 5 percent decrease of field office staff from March 2024, when the agency employed 21,627 employees.
"For the disabled, that's a huge barrier," Thompson said. "These communities already have limited access. This just makes it worse, forcing people to make real-life decisions about whether they can even afford the time, cost, and effort to get the help they need."
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