Social Security benefits calculator from your own earnings record
The closest you can get to the SSA computation without logging in: your real years of pay, indexed one by one.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · How we calculate
Paste the "Taxed Social Security earnings" column of your earnings record, one year per line, and the calculator redoes what the SSA does with it in 2026. Each year before the year you turn 60 is multiplied by the national average wage index of that year divided by the index of the year worked, earnings above the year's taxable maximum are dropped, the best 35 years are averaged over 420 months and the result goes through the bend points of the year you turn 62. On the SSA's own 2026 example, a worker born in 1964 with a record from 1986 to 2025, the calculator returns the published AIME of $5,825, a PIA of $2,609.80 and $1,826 a month at 62. Future years can be added at today's pay until the age you plan to stop working.
Monthly benefit starting at 67
$3,045
AIME $7,187 · PIA $3,045.70
| At 62 and 1 month | $2,144 |
| At full retirement age (67) | $3,045 |
| At 70 | $3,776 |
| Years with earnings | 43 |
| Zero years in the best 35 | 0 |
Nothing you paste leaves this page: the record is read and computed in your browser. Method and limits.
How your benefit is built
- 1. Earnings indexed to 2024. Each year before 2024 is multiplied by the national average wage index of 2024 divided by that year's index; 2024 and later years count at face value. Earnings above each year's taxable maximum are ignored.
Show the 43 years (35 counted)
Year Earnings Index factor Indexed In top 35 1990 $18,500 3.3216 $61,450 no 1991 $21,000 3.2023 $67,248 no 1992 $23,400 3.0454 $71,261 no 1993 $25,100 3.0194 $75,787 no 1994 $26,800 2.9405 $78,805 no 1995 $28,000 2.8271 $79,160 no 1996 $30,250 2.6953 $81,534 yes 1997 $31,900 2.5467 $81,241 no 1998 $33,000 2.4201 $79,862 no 1999 $35,500 2.2923 $81,377 yes 2000 $37,800 2.1722 $82,109 yes 2001 $39,000 2.1216 $82,742 yes 2002 $40,100 2.1005 $84,231 yes 2003 $41,700 2.0504 $85,501 yes 2004 $43,000 1.9593 $84,250 yes 2005 $45,500 1.8901 $86,002 yes 2006 $47,000 1.8071 $84,933 yes 2007 $49,800 1.7286 $86,086 yes 2008 $51,000 1.6898 $86,178 yes 2009 $50,200 1.7156 $86,125 yes 2010 $52,600 1.6760 $88,159 yes 2011 $54,000 1.6251 $87,756 yes 2012 $55,900 1.5759 $88,093 yes 2013 $57,000 1.5560 $88,693 yes 2014 $59,300 1.5027 $89,109 yes 2015 $61,000 1.4522 $88,581 yes 2016 $62,500 1.4359 $89,745 yes 2017 $64,800 1.3880 $89,942 yes 2018 $66,000 1.3394 $88,404 yes 2019 $68,900 1.2911 $88,954 yes 2020 $70,100 1.2556 $88,017 yes 2021 $74,500 1.1531 $85,903 yes 2022 $78,000 1.0949 $85,399 yes 2023 $81,200 1.0484 $85,130 yes 2024 $84,000 1.0000 $84,000 yes 2025 $86,500 1.0000 $86,500 yes 2026 $86,500 1.0000 $86,500 yes 2027 $86,500 1.0000 $86,500 yes 2028 $86,500 1.0000 $86,500 yes 2029 $86,500 1.0000 $86,500 yes 2030 $86,500 1.0000 $86,500 yes 2031 $86,500 1.0000 $86,500 yes 2032 $86,500 1.0000 $86,500 yes - 2. AIME $7,187. The best 35 indexed years add up to $3,018,954; divided by 420 months and rounded down to the dollar.
- 3. PIA formula of 2030 (2026 formula used for a later year). 90% of the first $1,286 = $1,157.40; 32% from $1,286 to $7,749 = $1,888.32; 15% above $7,749 = $0.00. Total rounded down to the dime: $3,045.70.
- 4. Age at the start: 67. Exactly your full retirement age: 100% of the PIA. Monthly benefit, rounded down to the dollar: $3,045.
You turn 62 after 2026, so the wage index of 2024 and the 2026 bend points stand in for figures not yet published. The result is in today's dollars: the SSA's own Quick Calculator works the same way.
What the calculator reads and what it does with it
Lines like "1998 23,400", "1998: $23,400" or "1998;23400" all work. A repeated year keeps the last value. Years before 1951 are ignored because the formula starts in 1951. Future years, from the year after your last entry to the year before the age you stop working, receive the pay you enter, in today's dollars. Your date of birth sets three things: the year your earnings are indexed to (the year you turn 60), the formula year (the year you turn 62) and your full retirement age.
The ledger under the result shows each year: the earnings counted, the indexing factor read from the national average wage index series, the indexed amount and whether it is one of the 35 that count. The factor for a year is always 1 from the year you turn 60, which is why late-career raises count at face value. The rules are those of 20 CFR 404.211.
Three checks worth doing with your record
- A missing or low year. A gap you do not remember, or a year that looks a few thousand dollars short, may be an employer reporting error. Raise it with the SSA, documents in hand.
- Your weakest counted year. The lowest year still inside the top 35 is the one another year of work would replace. If it is a zero or a part-time year, working one more year adds noticeably more than if all 35 years are already strong.
- The bracket you are in. If your AIME is above the second bend point, extra earnings feed the 15% bracket and move the PIA slowly.
Limits
The tool does not handle disability periods, which the SSA can exclude, nor the child-care dropout years used only for disability. It ignores the special minimum benefit for very long low-wage careers. For a career rebuilt from a single salary instead of a record, use the quick calculator on the home page.