What is the maximum Social Security benefit?

The most an individual who files a claim for Social Security retirement benefits in 2024 can receive per month is:

• $2,710 for someone who files at 62.
• $3,822 for someone who files at full retirement age (66 and 6 months for people born in 1957, 66 and 8 months for people born in 1958).
• $4,873 for someone who files at age 70. 

(For context, the average Social Security retirement benefit in October 2023 was $1,796 a month. The average disability benefit was $1,489.)

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 2024 is $168,600. The figure is adjusted annually based on changes in national wage levels, and thus the maximum benefit changes each year.

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.