Home: Surviving on SSI

For HIVers receiving Supplement Security Income (SSI), the federal benefit for those who are disabled and unable to work, finding affordable housing is a near impossibility. Although some states add to monthly SSI stipends, the totals still fall well below the fair market rental rates for a one-bedroom apartment in most regions. Of the nine U.S. states with the highest number of cumulative AIDS cases, only one (Pennsylvania) has a fair market rental rate that is lower than total monthly SSI payments'and even there, only $9 is left for all other monthly expenses. State | Price of One-Bedroom Apartment | Monthly SSI Benefit California | $1,022 | $870 Florida | $792 | $637 Georgia | $643 | $637 Illinois | $733 | $637 Maryland | $942 | $637 New Jersey | $994 | $668 New York | $1,055 | $724 Pennsylvania | $628 | $637 Texas | $642 | $637