Updated October 15, 2026. Quick answer. If you claim Social Security retirement benefits before full retirement age and keep working, your 2027 earnings test limits, announced by the Social Security Administration on October 14, 2026, are $25,560 a year ($2,130/month) if you’re under full retirement age all year, with $1 withheld for every $2 you earn above it, or $67,920 a year ($5,660/month) in the calendar year you reach full retirement age, counting only earnings before the month you get there, at a gentler $1-withheld-per-$3 rate. The 2026 limits were $24,480 and $65,160.
The 2026 limits: the 2026 earnings test limits.
What is the Social Security earnings limit for 2027?
For 2027 the limit is $25,560 a year if you are under full retirement age all year, and $67,920 in the year you reach it, per the Social Security Administration’s 2027 COLA fact sheet of October 14, 2026. For 2026 it was $24,480 and $65,160.
What’s actually settled, vs. still open
Settled for 2027 (SSA 2027 COLA fact sheet, October 14, 2026): lower limit $25,560/year; higher limit $67,920/year.
Prior year, 2026 (SSA POMS RS 02501.025, confirmed against the same Federal Register notice as the wage base): lower limit $24,480/year; higher limit $65,160/year. Withheld amounts are not lost: Social Security recalculates your benefit at full retirement age to credit the months withheld.
How they are set: the 2027 figures, governed by §203(f)(8)(B) of the Social Security Act and wage-indexed the same way as the taxable maximum, were announced on the same October 14 schedule.
The numbers, year by year
| Year | Under-FRA limit | FRA-year limit |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | $19,560 | $51,960 |
| 2023 | $21,240 | $56,520 |
| 2024 | $22,320 | $59,520 |
| 2025 | $23,400 | $62,160 |
| 2026 | $24,480 | $65,160 |
| 2027 (SSA, announced October 14, 2026) | $25,560 | $67,920 |
The two limits aren’t interchangeable
The higher limit only ever applies in the single calendar year you reach full retirement age, and only to what you earn before the month you actually reach it; earnings from that month onward aren’t tested at all. Applying the lower, under-FRA limit to a reach-FRA year (or vice versa) is the single most common mistake in estimating a withholding hit.
Sources
The 2027 earnings test amounts on this page were read from the Social Security Administration’s 2027 COLA fact sheet (ssa.gov/news/en/cola/factsheets/2027.html) and checked against 42 U.S.C. §403(f) on October 15, 2026; the 2026 amounts were checked on September 29, 2026.
2026 figures: SSA POMS RS 02501.025, secure.ssa.gov, revised 2025-11-21, cross-checked against the Federal Register’s 2026 determinations notice. Statute: Social Security Act §203(f)(8)(B). 2027 figures: Social Security Administration, 2027 COLA fact sheet, October 14, 2026, read 2026-10-15. The earlier Trustees’ estimate ($25,200 and $67,200) was an estimate and is superseded.
This page was updated on October 15, 2026, the day after the official figures were announced; the earlier Trustees’ estimate is recorded in the Sources note rather than the table. See the 2027 numbers hub for every figure this program tracks, projected vs. official. General information, not tax or legal advice.
Related 2027 figures: Social Security Wage Base 2027.