Updated October 15, 2026. Quick answer. The Social Security taxable maximum (the most pay subject to the 6.2% Social Security payroll tax) is $192,300 for 2027, up from $184,500 in 2026, as the Social Security Administration announced on October 14, 2026 alongside the 3.6% cost-of-living increase.
Publication 505 worksheets for 2026: Estimated Self-Employment Tax Worksheet 2-3.
More on the 2027 tax figures: the 2027 nanny tax threshold, the 2027 self-employment tax rates and base and the 2027 Additional Medicare Tax.
Related reading on this site: IRS Tax Topic 608.
The employee copy of Form W-2, read box by box: W-2 boxes 10 to 20, W-2 box 11 and W-2 box 13 third-party sick pay.
The employee copy of Form W-2, read box by box: W-2 boxes 1 to 8, W-2 boxes 1, 3 and 5 and W-2 box 8.
The 2026 Additional Medicare Tax thresholds: the 2026 Additional Medicare Tax.
The 2026 earnings test limits: the 2026 earnings test limits.
Related figures and codes: SEP IRA Contribution Limit 2027, SIMPLE IRA Contribution Limit 2027 and Social Security COLA 2027.
What’s actually settled, vs. still open
Settled for 2027: $192,300, from the Social Security Administration’s 2027 COLA fact sheet of October 14, 2026.
Prior year, 2026: $184,500, from the Federal Register’s “Cost-of-Living Increase and Other Determinations for 2026” notice (Docket No. SSA-2025-0255), published November 3, 2025, based on the 2024 National Average Wage Index of $69,846.57.
How it is set: the 2027 figure is governed by Social Security Act §230(b) (42 U.S.C. §430) and is wage-indexed with a two-year lag, set from the 2025 wage index.
The numbers, year by year
| Year | Taxable maximum |
|---|---|
| 2022 | $147,000 |
| 2023 | $160,200 |
| 2024 | $168,600 |
| 2025 | $176,100 |
| 2026 | $184,500 |
| 2027 (SSA, announced October 14, 2026) | $192,300 |
The figures change; the claiming decision is still yours
These numbers set the frame, but what they mean for when you claim and what you live on in the meantime depends on the rest of your income and savings, and an adviser can look at that with you.
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How the Trustees’ figure differed from the official number
The Social Security Board of Trustees’ June 2026 report estimated $190,200. The official figure the Social Security Administration announced on October 14, 2026 is $192,300, $2,100 higher, and it is the number that governs 2027 payroll withholding.
Sources
2026 figure: Federal Register, “Cost-of-Living Increase and Other Determinations for 2026,” Docket No. SSA-2025-0255, published 2025-11-03, read via govinfo.gov on 2026-09-04; corroborated by SSA POMS RS 02501.025 (secure.ssa.gov, rev. 2025-11-21). Statute: Social Security Act §230(b). The 2022 through 2026 figures were re-verified against each year’s Federal Register determination notice on September 29, 2026, and SSA’s 2027 COLA fact sheet, read October 15, 2026, gives the 2027 figure. 2027 figure: Social Security Administration, 2027 COLA fact sheet, October 14, 2026, read 2026-10-15 (earlier Trustees’ estimate $190,200, via Bloomberg Tax, read 2026-09-04).
This page was updated on October 15, 2026, the day after the official figure was 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.
The wage base caps what is taxed; a different figure, the Social Security maximum benefit, is the ceiling on what you can actually collect.