A Social Security benefits pay chart 2025 shows key benchmark amounts, maximums, averages, and formula bend points, to help you estimate what you might receive.
While everyone’s actual benefit depends on your work history, claiming age, and earnings, this chart gives useful reference points.
What are the 2025 bend points used in the benefit formula?
Benefits are calculated using your Average Indexed Monthly Earnings (AIME) and applying the bend points.
For workers first eligible in 2025, the bend points are:
- First bend point: $1,226 of AIME
- Second bend point: $7,391 of AIME
The formula applies:
- 90 % of income up to the first bend point,
- 32 % of income between the first and second bend point,
- 15 % of income above the second bend point
These “bend points” define how progressive the benefit formula is.
What is the maximum benefit in 2025 at full retirement age?
If you qualify for the maximum possible benefit and claim at full retirement age (FRA), the maximum Social Security benefit in 2025 is $4,018 per month.
If you delay to age 70, that potential maximum increases to $5,108 per month.
If you claim early (age 62), the maximum possible benefit drops. In 2025, the cap for someone claiming at 62 is $2,831 per month.
How does the 2025 COLA adjustment impact benefits?
Benefits in 2025 benefit from a 2.5 % cost-of-living adjustment (COLA).
That increases both average and maximum amounts. For example, the $4,018 maximum is after applying adjustments.
What is the average Social Security benefit in 2025?
In January 2025, after applying the COLA, the estimate for average monthly Social Security benefits was $1,976.
That average is well below the maximum and illustrates that most beneficiaries receive modest benefits, not the top amounts.
How do you use a benefits pay chart to estimate your benefit?
Here’s a simplified method:
- Compute your AIME: Take your 35 highest years of indexed earnings, sum them, then divide by 420 (number of months).
- Apply the bend point formula:
• 90 % of the first $1,226
• 32 % on the amount between $1,226 and $7,391
• 15 % on earnings above $7,391.
The sum is your Primary Insurance Amount (PIA) — the benefit if claimed at full retirement age. - Adjust for claiming age: If you claim before or after FRA, the benefit is reduced or increased.
- Compare to the pay chart: See where your computed benefit lies relative to the maximum and average.
Using a pay chart with key benchmarks (bend points, maximums, averages) helps you quickly see where your benefit might fall.
Are there special charts for SSI benefits in 2025?
Yes. Supplemental Security Income (SSI) has its own payment limits. In 2025, the maximum SSI federal amounts are:
- $967 per month for a single individual,
- $1,450 per month for a couple,
- $484 per month for an “essential person.”
Those are federal SSI caps before any deductions for income or state supplements.
What limitations or caveats should you be aware of?
- The pay chart values are benchmarks, not guarantees. Your actual benefit depends on your total earnings history, years worked, and when you claim.
- To hit the maximum benefit, you must have had near-maximum taxable earnings for 35 years and delayed benefits until age 70.
- If you have fewer than 35 years of earnings, zeros are counted, reducing your AIME and benefit.
- The chart is for retirement benefits; disability, survivors, or spousal benefits may follow different rules.
- The formula (with bend points) assumes you first become eligible in 2025; if your eligibility is earlier or later, different bend points may apply.
