The Average Social Security Check in 2026, and How Yours Is Figured

What is the average Social Security check?

In September 2026, the average Social Security check for a retired worker was $2,088.79 a month. That is before any Medicare premium comes out. This information came from Social Security's monthly report, which looked at about 55.1 million retired workers.

Your own retirement check is not the average. It is determined from your own work record: how much you've earned and for how many years. The age you start your check also changes the amount.

Does the average apply to you?

To get a retirement check on your own work record, you need to have worked and paid Social Security taxes. Social Security counts that work in credits, and you need 40 over your lifetime to qualify. You can earn up to 4 credits a year. In 2026, you'd get 1 credit for every $1,890 you earn. If you do earn these 4 credits consistently each year, it would take you 10 years to qualify.

The average looks different depending on who you are. In September 2026, other checks averaged:

• $986.68 for husbands, wives and ex-spouses paid only on a retired spouse's work record
• $1,636.47 for workers who get Social Security disability checks
• $1,935.32 for widows and widowers 60 and older paid only on a late spouse's work record

The average also changes by sex. In December 2025, retired women of all ages averaged $1,872.43 a month, and retired men averaged $2,282.28.

It also hides how far apart the checks are. Here is how they spread out in December 2025, before any Medicare premium:

These averages come from a blend of millions of people who started at different ages, some with high salaries and some who worked part-time. Instead of focusing on national averages, you need to look at your own work history.

Your numbers: how your check is figured

Social Security works out your basic benefit from your own work history in four steps.

Step 1: your pay. Social Security lists your pay for each year you worked and paid Social Security taxes. Pay from 1990 looks small next to pay today, so Social Security raises your past earnings to match wage levels in the year you turn 60. This is called indexing. From that year on, any money earned is counted at face value. Pay above a yearly limit also doesn't count. In 2026, any pay over $184,500 isn't taxed by Social Security, so it is capped and excluded from the calculation.

Step 2: your 35 best years. It picks your 35 highest-earning, indexed years. If you worked fewer than 35 years, each missing year is counted as zero. So, if you only worked 30 years, another 5 years of "$0" is added to the mix.

Step 3: your monthly average. It adds up those 35 years and divides by 420, the number of months in 35 years. The result, rounded down to the dollar, is your monthly average. Social Security calls this your average indexed monthly earnings.

Step 4: the formula. It runs your monthly average through a formula in three parts. For someone turning 62 in 2026, the formula looks like this:

• 90% of the first $1,286 of your average monthly earnings
• 32% of any average monthly earnings between $1,286 and $7,749
• 15% of anything above $7,749

The total is then rounded down to the dime. That is your basic benefit. It is what you would get if you start at your full retirement age, which is 67 if you were born in 1960 or later. If you were born earlier, it comes a little sooner; Social Security's chart shows yours.

To see this in practice, imagine you turn 62 in 2026 and your 35 best years (after indexing) average $36,000 a year. That's $3,000 a month, which then looks like this when you apply the formula:

• 90% of the first $1,286 is $1,157.40
• 32% of the next $1,714 (the part from $1,286 up to your $3,000) is $548.48

Your $3,000 never reaches the 15% part. These figures make $1,705.88. Rounded down to the dime, your basic benefit becomes $1,705.80 a month if you start receiving checks at 67. Any raises from 62 on would then be added, as explained below.

What if you were home raising children or caring for a parent, and 5 of those 35 years had no pay? With 30 years at the same average pay, divided by the same 420 months, your monthly average of $3,000 drops to $2,571. This would bring your basic benefit to $1,568.60, which is $137.20 less each month or $1,646.40 less each year.

From there, your check can move. If your check starts before or after your full retirement age, the amount moves down or up. From the year you turn 62, any yearly raises for rising prices, called cost-of-living adjustments, build into your basic benefit, even if you haven't requested Social Security benefits yet. The raise for 2027 is 3.6%, starting with January checks. Social Security says that adds about $75 a month for the average retired worker. That is before any change in the Medicare premium.

If you've already retired and started collecting a check on your own work record, your basic benefit was figured the same way, using the dollar amounts from the year you turned 62. Each raise is added on top in January.

The final amount after these calculations isn't always what lands in the bank. If you have Medicare Part B, Medicare's medical insurance, its premium usually comes straight out of your check, with the standard amount being $202.90 a month in 2026. In the first example, that would leave about $1,500 of the $1,705.80.

Federal income tax is also deducted from your check if you asked Social Security to hold back either 7%, 10%, 12% or 22%. Part of your check can also be taxed if half of a year's checks plus any other income goes over a set line, which is explained in our article about taxes after 65.

What to do: see your own numbers

Instead of trying to do the calculations yourself, you can open a free online account called my Social Security at ssa.gov/myaccount. After creating an account, you can get your Social Security Statements, view the estimates of your check at different retirement ages, and view what you've earned each year.

Any missing or wrong years can lower your check. If you spot a mistake from before last year, you need to tell Social Security. You can call 1-800-772-1213, or 1-800-325-0778 (TTY) if you are deaf or hard of hearing.

Social Security's services are free. Two safety notes:

• Social Security will never ask for personal information by text, email or social media.
• Anyone asking you to pay Social Security with gift cards, wire transfers, cryptocurrency or cash in the mail should be reported at oig.ssa.gov/report.

Quick answers about the average Social Security check

Q: What is the average Social Security check at age 65?

According to Social Security's yearly tables, retired workers who were 65 got an average of $1,607.27 a month in December 2025, before any Medicare premium. Women at this age were reported to receive an average of $1,457.40 and men this age were reported to receive an average of $1,772.00.

Q: How much does Medicare take out of my Social Security check?

The standard Part B premium is $202.90 a month in 2026. Most people have the amount taken out of their check automatically, so they don't get a bill. People with higher incomes pay more, and a drug plan's premium can come out too. The agency that runs Medicare, CMS, sets a new amount each year. It announced the 2026 amount on November 14, 2025.

Q: How many years of work does Social Security use to figure my check?

Social Security considers your 35 highest-earning years, with pay from before the year you turn 60 raised to match wage levels. If you have fewer than 35 years of work, each missing year counts as zero. If you keep working, a year with higher pay can replace a lower one in your top 35.

This article is general information and should not be considered legal or tax advice. For questions about your own record, it's always best to contact Social Security directly.

Sources

Checked November 2, 2026.

• SSA, Monthly Statistical Snapshot, September 2026 (released October 2026), Table 2: ssa.gov
• SSA, Glossary ("monthly benefit": before the Part B premium; "dual entitlement"): ssa.gov
• SSA, "Social Security Announces 3.6 Percent Benefit Increase for 2027" (October 14, 2026): ssa.gov
• SSA, Annual Statistical Supplement 2026, Table 5.A1.1 (December 2025): ssa.gov
• SSA, Annual Statistical Supplement 2026, Table 5.B6 (December 2025; the chart): ssa.gov
• SSA, Social Security Credits and Benefit Eligibility: ssa.gov
• SSA, Contribution and Benefit Base (the yearly pay limit): ssa.gov
• SSA, Annual Statistical Supplement 2025, Appendix C (indexing to 60, zero years, later pay replacing earlier years): ssa.gov
• SSA, Social Security Benefit Amounts (how the monthly average is figured; the formula set by law): ssa.gov
• SSA, Primary Insurance Amount (the formula): ssa.gov
• SSA, Benefit Formula Bend Points (the 2026 amounts): ssa.gov
• SSA, Your Retirement Benefit: How It's Determined (Publication 05-10070): ssa.gov
• SSA, Normal Retirement Age (also called full retirement age), by year of birth: ssa.gov
• SSA, Cost-of-Living Adjustment Information (free services; Part B as medical insurance): ssa.gov
• SSA, Request to Withhold Taxes (the withholding choices): ssa.gov
• IRS, Topic 423, Social Security and Equivalent Railroad Retirement Benefits (the tax test): irs.gov
• SSA, my Social Security: ssa.gov
• SSA, How to Correct Your Social Security Earnings Record (Publication 05-10081): ssa.gov
• SSA, Protect Yourself from Social Security Scams: ssa.gov
• SSA Office of the Inspector General, Report Fraud: oig.ssa.gov
• CMS, 2026 Medicare Parts A & B Premiums and Deductibles (November 14, 2025): cms.gov
• Medicare.gov, How to Pay Part A & Part B premiums: medicare.gov
• Arcanomy calculation: the worked example, using SSA's 2026 formula, and the chart's groups, added up from SSA's $100 brackets.