For the past 90 years, Social Security has been one of the top social programs in the U.S. There are flaws in the program, yes, but it's hard to look down on how many retirees it has helped keep financially afloat.
Some retirees will be able to treat their Social Security checks as "good-to-have" income to cover travel or other extracurricular activities. Some retirees will be able to combine their Social Security checks with their 401(k) to fund their retirement lifestyle. Then, there's the group of retirees whose only retirement income will be Social Security.
Part of knowing what group you're in is having an idea of how much to expect from Social Security. The amounts will vary, but it's helpful to get a gist of the average benefit at different ages.
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How Social Security calculates your monthly benefit
Your Social Security benefit is mostly determined by your career earnings. Social Security takes the 35 years with your highest earnings, adjusts them for inflation to put them into today's dollar value, and then applies a formula that comes up with your monthly benefit.
The more someone earns, the more they pay in Social Security payroll taxes, and the more they can expect to receive in benefits in retirement.
Your baseline benefit, called your primary insurance amount (PIA), is the monthly amount you're eligible to receive by claiming benefits at your full retirement age. However, plenty of people choose to claim Social Security before or after their full retirement age. Doing so will either lower or increase your benefit from your PIA.
The average monthly benefit from ages 62 to 80
Because of the range of career wages, someone's benefit can range from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars per month. That's why looking at averages can be more helpful in putting into perspective the role Social Security could or will play in your retirement finances. As of the end of 2025, here were the average monthly Social Security benefits for ages 62 to 80:
| Age | Average Monthly Benefit |
|---|---|
| 62 | $1,424 |
| 63 | $1,436 |
| 64 | $1,478 |
| 65 | $1,607 |
| 66 | $1,807 |
| 67 | $2,016 |
| 68 | $2,053 |
| 69 | $2,097 |
| 70 | $2,275 |
| 71 | $2,248 |
| 72 | $2,205 |
| 73 | $2,208 |
| 74 | $2,179 |
| 75 | $2,145 |
| 76 | $2,157 |
| 77 | $2,171 |
| 78 | $2,140 |
| 79 | $2,156 |
| 80 | $2,106 |
Data source: Social Security Administration. Averages are rounded to the nearest dollar.
It's worth noting that these averages will increase as Social Security puts its annual cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) in place. The COLA might not offset inflation as much as intended, but it's better than losing purchasing power faster than benefits currently do.
Could you reasonably survive on the average monthly benefit?
How much someone needs in retirement depends heavily on where they retire, whether they own their home, and their retirement lifestyle. A big traveler living in Southern California will likely need more than someone staying at the beach on the North Carolina coast.
Even so, most retirees will find that surviving solely on their Social Security benefits will be a tough task. This is especially true as Social Security benefits continue to lose their purchasing power. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' latest data, the average annual expenditures for someone age 65 and older are $61,432. None of the Social Security averages above come close to that. The average benefit at age 70 is the highest, and even that only adds up to $27,300.
The shortfall is why it's important to proactively save and invest for retirement. Ideally, your 401(k), IRA, or investments cover a big chunk of your retirement expenses, and Social Security is supplemental income. Admittedly, this is easier said than done (or everyone would do it), but that should be the goal and prioritized.
