What is the maximum Social Security benefit?

The most an individual who files a claim for Social Security retirement benefits in 2023 can receive per month is:

• $2,572 for someone who files at 62.
• $3,627 for someone who files at full retirement age (66 and 4 months for people born in 1956, 66 and 6 months for people born in 1957).
• $4,555 for someone who files at age 70. 

(For context, the average Social Security retirement benefit in March 2023 was $1,833 a month. The average disability benefit was $1,484.)

Who is eligible for the maximum benefit? People whose earnings equaled or exceeded Social Security’s maximum taxable income — the amount of your earnings on which you pay Social Security taxes — for at least 35 years of their working lives. The maximum taxable income in 2023 is $160,200. The figure is adjusted annually based on changes in national wage levels, and thus the maximum benefit changes each year.

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Keep in mind

The maximum benefit is not to be confused with the maximum family benefit. That’s the most a family can collectively receive from Social Security (including retirement, spousal, children’s, disability or survivor benefits) on one family member’s earnings record.