What is the maximum Social Security benefit?

The most an individual who files a claim for Social Security retirement benefits in 2026 can receive per month is:

• $2,969 for someone who starts benefits when they turn 62.
• $4,152 for someone who files at full retirement age. 
• $5,181 for someone who files at age 70. 

For context, the average Social Security retirement benefit in September 2025 was $2,010 a month. The average disability benefit was $1,584.)

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 2026 is $184,500. The figure is adjusted annually, based on changes in national wage levels, and for calculation purposes, Social Security adjusts past earnings to reflect that wage inflation. Thus, the maximum benefit changes each year.

Keep in mind

• Full retirement age is 66 and 10 months for people born in 1959 and 67 for people born in 1960 and later. People born between March 2, 1959, and Jan. 1, 1960, will reach it in 2026.
• 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.