Updated September 4, 2026. Quick answer. The Social Security taxable maximum (the most pay subject to the 6.2% Social Security payroll tax) is $184,500 for 2026, up from $176,100 in 2025. The 2027 figure is not officially announced; the Social Security Administration determines it from the National Average Wage Index and typically publishes it in mid-October alongside the COLA and the earnings-test limits. The Social Security Board of Trustees’ own 2026 Annual Report, published in June 2026, projects the 2027 wage base at $190,200, a government actuarial estimate, not a private forecaster’s, and still subject to revision when the actual wage data closes.
What’s actually settled, vs. still open
Settled for 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.
Open: the 2027 figure, governed by Social Security Act §230(b) (42 U.S.C. §430). The wage base is wage-indexed with a two-year lag (the 2027 figure will be set from the 2025 wage index, not yet published), and the official determination is not expected until mid-October 2026.
The numbers, year by year
| Year | Taxable maximum |
|---|---|
| 2022 | $147,000 |
| 2023 | $160,200 |
| 2024 | $168,600 |
| 2025 | $176,100 |
| 2026 | $184,500 |
| 2027 (Trustees’ 2026 Annual Report estimate) | $190,200 |
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 differs from an official number
The Social Security Board of Trustees publishes updated long-range wage and cost projections every year as part of its statutory annual report to Congress; the $190,200 figure comes from that June 2026 report, not from the SSA’s own annual cost-of-living determination, which measures a later, more current wage window and is the number that actually governs your 2027 paycheck withholding. Treat the Trustees’ figure as the best available early estimate, not the final word.
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). 2027 projection: Social Security Board of Trustees, 2026 Annual Report, via Bloomberg Tax, “Social Security 2027 Wage Base Projected to Be $190,200,” read 2026-09-04.
This page is updated the day the official figure is announced, and any projection above will be struck through rather than deleted, so the record of what was projected vs. what actually happened stays visible. See the 2027 numbers hub for every figure this program tracks, projected vs. official. General information, not tax or legal advice.