---
url: https://thresholds.pages.dev/social-security/earnings-test/
title: "Social Security earnings test calculator 2026"
updated: 2026-09-07
site: Thresholds
sources:
  - https://www.ssa.gov/news/en/cola/factsheets/2026.html
  - https://www.ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/planner/whileworking.html
  - https://secure.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0302501030
  - https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/20/404.410
---

# Social Security earnings test calculator 2026

How much of your Social Security benefit is held back when you keep working: the 2026 exempt amounts, which checks are withheld, and why withheld is not lost.

Three lines exist and exactly one of them is yours. Which one depends on your birth date, not on how you describe your situation.

| Your situation in 2026 | Exempt amount | A month | Above it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under full retirement age all year | $24,480 | $2,040 | $1 withheld for every $2 over the limit |
| Reaching full retirement age during the year (months before that month only) | $65,160 | $5,430 | $1 withheld for every $3 over the limit |
| From the month you reach full retirement age | no limit | no limit | No earnings test from the month you reach full retirement age |

## What counts

Gross wages and net earnings from self-employment only. Excludes pensions, annuities, investment income, interest, dividends, capital gains, and IRA/401(k) withdrawals.

## Withheld is not lost

Withheld benefits are credited back through a permanently higher benefit at full retirement age. Social Security holds whole monthly checks from the start of the year until the withholding is satisfied, then pays normally; whatever is over-withheld comes back when the year is reconciled. At full retirement age the months in which benefits were withheld are removed from the early-claiming reduction — the reduction is 5/9 of 1% for each of the first 36 months and 5/12 of 1% for each month beyond 36 (20 CFR §404.410(a)) — so the monthly benefit rises permanently.

## Your first year of retirement

In a grace year, a full benefit is payable for any month you earn at or under the monthly limit. Social Security applies whichever test is more favourable to you, so the calculator computes both and says which one wins.

## 2027

mid-October 2026. SSA sets the COLA and the next year’s earnings-test limits from third-quarter CPI-W and announces in mid-October. There is no 2027 figure on this site until that announcement.

Calculator: https://thresholds.pages.dev/social-security/earnings-test/. 2026 limits: https://thresholds.pages.dev/social-security/earnings-limit/2026/.

## Sources

- [SSA 2026 COLA fact sheet](https://www.ssa.gov/news/en/cola/factsheets/2026.html)
- [SSA — receiving benefits while working](https://www.ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/planner/whileworking.html)
- [SSA POMS RS 02501.030; SSA "special earnings limit rule"](https://secure.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0302501030)
- [20 CFR §404.410](https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/20/404.410)

---
Information, not advice. Figures verified 2026-09-07. https://thresholds.pages.dev/social-security/earnings-test/