Many Valley seniors rely on monthly Social Security, so much so that three local cities are among the places where seniors need those federal funds the most to make up their annual income.

A examination of data by financial website SmartAsset.com found seniors in Mesa, Surprise and Phoenix were more likely to have to rely on Social Security than other areas where there are high populations of people over the age 65.

The report looked at the average Social Security income and how much it made up of a senior’s total retirement income.

Mesa, which has a large population of seniors, ranked No. 9 with seniors getting 45.45% of their total retirement income from Social Security. Surprise, home to several large age-restricted communities such as Sun City Grand, ranked No. 14, with seniors getting 44.21% of their income from Social Security.

And Phoenix, the country’s fifth-largest city, ranked No. 24, with seniors getting 42.96% of their income from social security.

Other Arizona cities ranking on the list were Tucson at No. 33 and Scottsdale at No. 44.

SmartAsset looked at the 100 cities with the largest populations of seniors over age 65. Sun City and Sun City West were not included on the list because neither is incorporated.

This year those receiving Social Security saw a 5.9% cost-of-living adjustment beginning in January. There are about 64 million in the U.S. who receive the payments.

For a look at the report, click here.