Tag: regional housing costs
![Model house in a shopping cart](https://crr.bc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/AdobeStock_117413314-1536x1152.jpeg)
And do people respond by saving more, retiring later, or moving? My colleagues and I have always had this notion that, because wage levels vary across the country, workers in high-cost areas would receive lower replacement rates under Social Security’s progressive benefit formula than otherwise identical workers in low-cost areas. This variation in replacement rates…
![House model on coins stack for saving to buy a house](https://crr.bc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Housing-costs-1536x1024.jpeg)
The brief’s key findings are: Workers in high-cost areas of the U.S. earn more than those with similar skills in low-cost areas. Earnings levels affect Social Security benefits, which replace a smaller share of wages for higher earners and do not account for local prices. In response, households in high-cost areas might save more, work longer, or…