How every number here is produced
If a figure on this site cannot be reproduced from a published formula and a primary source, it does not belong here.
Sources and checking
Parameters are taken from the SSA 2027 and 2026 cost-of-living adjustment fact sheets, the contribution and benefit base series, the PIA formula page, the average wage index series, the 2026 Trustees Report and IRS guidance. Every figure is checked on the date shown on the page; the current verification date is 2026-11-07.
The data file that drives the site is validated at build time. The check recomputes derived values — maximum employee tax (base × 6.2%), maximum self-employed tax (base × 12.4%), the monthly earnings-test limit (annual ÷ 12) — and compares them with the published numbers. If any value drifts, the build fails.
Wage base history
Values are the SSA contribution and benefit base series, unchanged. The maximum employee tax shown next to each year is base × 6.2%, rounded to the cent. From 1980 onward the series is continuous; earlier years are available from SSA and omitted here for readability.
Paycheck calculator
- Social Security tax = 6.2% × min(gross pay, wage base).
- Medicare tax = 1.45% × gross pay, with no cap.
- Additional Medicare = 0.9% × max(0, gross pay − $200,000 single / $250,000 joint). The threshold is not indexed.
- Withholding stops in the first month where cumulative pay reaches the wage base, assuming even pay through the year.
- Results are employee-side only. Employer contributions are shown separately where relevant.
Benefit estimator
This calculator uses the published PIA formula with the 2027 bend points of $1,340 and $8,077: 90% of AIME up to the first bend point, 32% between the bend points, 15% above the second. Two assumptions matter:
- Steady career. It assumes the same real annual wage for 35 years, so AIME equals annual wage ÷ 12 in today's dollars. Real records have gaps and raises, so real AIME differs.
- Eligibility year. Bend points are set by the year you first become eligible (age 62), not the year you claim. The calculator uses 2027, which is correct for people reaching 62 in 2027 and approximate for others.
The result is rounded down to the next lower dime, as SSA does. Claiming adjustments: 5/9 of 1% per month for the first 36 months before full retirement age, 5/12 of 1% for additional months, and 2/3 of 1% per month of delayed credit up to age 70.
Payment dates
- Born 1–10: second Wednesday. Born 11–20: third Wednesday. Born 21–31: fourth Wednesday.
- If the date falls on a Saturday, Sunday or federal holiday, the payment is made on the preceding business day.
- People who began receiving benefits before May 1997 are paid on the 3rd of the month.
- SSI is paid on the 1st, moved earlier for weekends and holidays.
Dates are computed from these rules, not copied from a table. That is why a month like November 2026 shifts: Veterans Day falls on the second Wednesday, so that group is paid on Tuesday, November 10.
Corrections
Report an error to [email protected]. If it is confirmed against a primary source, the page is corrected and the change is recorded in the changelog with the date and the reason.