Here's the Average Social Security Benefit at Ages 62 to 80
Key Points
You can claim Social Security at any point between ages 62 and 70; delaying your application increases your checks.
Your benefit will depend on how many years you've spent in the workforce and your average monthly earnings, adjusted for inflation.
Social Security was never intended to cover all of your retirement costs.
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Social Security provides a vital floor for your retirement, but it's designed to be supplemental income rather than a total solution. The size of your monthly check depends heavily on when you choose to apply for benefits. The Social Security Administration (SSA) bases your benefit on your average monthly wages across your 35 highest-earning years, which are adjusted for inflation and run through the primary insurance amount (PIA) formula.
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Full retirement age -- the age at which you become eligible for your PIA -- ranges from 66 to 67, depending on your birth year, and it's 67 for everyone born in 1960 or later. Here is the average monthly retired-worker benefit by age, as of December 2025.
| Age | Overall | Men | Women |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62 | $1,424.40 | $1,572.83 | $1,285.50 |
| 63 | $1,435.81 | $1,580.81 | $1,300.20 |
| 64 | $1,478.00 | $1,624.93 | $1,342.07 |
| 65 | $1,607.27 | $1,772.00 | $1,457.40 |
| 66 | $1,807.28 | $1,998.75 | $1,629.09 |
| 67 | $2,016.48 | $2,234.41 | $1,801.82 |
| 68 | $2,052.64 | $2,272.40 | $1,836.58 |
| 69 | $2,096.95 | $2,321.96 | $1,876.96 |
| 70 | $2,274.68 | $2,529.62 | $2,024.08 |
| 71 | $2,247.76 | $2,494.57 | $2,006.83 |
| 72 | $2,205.21 | $2,432.49 | $1,981.87 |
| 73 | $2,207.96 | $2,437.40 | $1,983.67 |
| 74 | $2,178.87 | $2,401.64 | $1,962.42 |
| 75 | $2,144.88 | $2,358.96 | $1,937.42 |
| 76 | $2,157.21 | $2,373.40 | $1,949.26 |
| 77 | $2,170.80 | $2,391.89 | $1,959.06 |
| 78 | $2,140.16 | $2,352.82 | $1,936.04 |
| 79 | $2,155.77 | $2,374.04 | $1,947.29 |
| 80 | $2,106.29 | $2,309.85 | $1,912.67 |
The data reveals a significant climb from age 62 to 70. The average benefit for 70-year-olds is 59.7% higher than the average for 62-year-olds, a monthly gap of $850.28 that amounts to about $10,203.36 per year. This happens because claiming at 62 permanently reduces your benefit by up to 30% if your full retirement age is 67.
Waiting until 70 lets you earn delayed retirement credits worth 8% per year. If your full retirement age is 67, you can earn up to 24% in total credits. A worker whose full retirement age is 66 can earn up to 32% by delaying to age 70. These mechanics create the steep curve seen in the table.
You'll also notice a slight decline in the averages through the late 70s. This isn't a benefit cut, but a reflection of the population at those ages. Older groups include people who claimed at various ages, some of whom signed up early and faced permanent benefit reductions. Additionally, women make up a larger share of the oldest groups because they live longer on average. Women tend to have lower lifetime earnings because of the gender pay gap and time out of the workforce for caregiving.
Social Security probably won't cover all your retirement expenses
Even at the age-70 peak of $2,274.68 per month, or about $27,296.16 per year, Social Security rarely covers everything. Typical senior households spend $61,432 annually, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), leaving a shortfall of $34,135.84.
The program was designed to replace only 40% of pre-retirement income, which is well short of what most retirees need. A 2.8% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) took effect in 2026. For a 70-year-old, this adds about $64 a month on top of the averages shown here. The row matching your planned claiming age is a more useful benchmark for your budget than the age-70 peak.
For more on how Social Security affects your retirement, see this guide.
How to plan for what Social Security doesn't cover
Having a rough idea of what you can expect from Social Security can help you figure out how much you must save for retirement on your own. The simplest way to determine this is to create a free my Social Security account. There's a tool here that can help you estimate your Social Security benefit at every possible claiming age.
Once you have an approximate idea of how much you'll get from the program annually, subtract this from your estimated annual retirement expenses to figure out how much you'll need to cover some other way. Then, start planning how you'll do this.
Personal savings are obviously the ideal, but if you're struggling to save as much as you want, you have other options. You might be able to work part-time in retirement or gradually cut back your hours rather than retiring all at once. This can help you stretch your savings over a longer period.
You could also delay your retirement a bit longer. This gives you more time to save while reducing the length and cost of your retirement.
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