Social Security earnings test calculator 2026
How much of your benefit is held back while you keep working — which months, how much, and what you get back at full retirement age.
Figures verified · next scheduled change (the cost-of-living announcement that sets the 2027 limits)
The figures behind this tool
| What it is | Value | Applies | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Annual earnings-test exempt amount for 2026 for someone under full retirement age all year. | $24,480 | 2026-01-01 – 2026-12-31 | SSA 2026 COLA fact sheet · verified 2026-09-06 |
| Annual earnings-test exempt amount for the year you reach full retirement age; counts only earnings before the FRA month. | $65,160 | 2026-01-01 – 2026-12-31 | SSA 2026 COLA fact sheet · verified 2026-09-06 |
| Monthly earnings-test exempt amount used only in a grace year — $24,480 ÷ 12. | $2,040 | 2026-01-01 – 2026-12-31 | SSA — special earnings limit rule · verified 2026-09-06 |
| Monthly exempt amount in the FRA year — $65,160 ÷ 12. | $5,430 | 2026-01-01 – 2026-12-31 | SSA — special earnings limit rule · verified 2026-09-06 |
| Withholding rate below full retirement age. | $1 withheld for every $2 over the limit | long-standing | SSA 2026 COLA fact sheet · verified 2026-09-06 |
| Withholding rate in the year you reach full retirement age, for months before the FRA month. | $1 withheld for every $3 over the limit | long-standing | SSA 2026 COLA fact sheet · verified 2026-09-06 |
| The retirement earnings test stops applying in the month you reach FRA. | No earnings test from the month you reach full retirement age | long-standing | SSA — receiving benefits while working · verified 2026-09-06 |
| The special monthly earnings test applies in the first year you retire. | In a grace year, a full benefit is payable for any month you earn at or under the monthly limit | long-standing | SSA POMS RS 02501.030; SSA "special earnings limit rule" · verified 2026-09-06 |
The 2027 exempt amounts are mid-October 2026 — Social Security sets them from third-quarter CPI-W and announces them with the cost-of-living adjustment. What that page will say, and when.
What this does not do
- It does not compute your benefit amount. Enter the gross figure from your award letter or your my Social Security account.
- It does not handle benefits paid to a spouse or child on your record, which your earnings can also reduce.
- It does not model self-employment substantial-services tests, which can hold a check even in a month with low income.
- It does not deal with the taxation of benefits, which is a separate calculation with its own thresholds.
- It does not decide when to claim. It answers what the earnings test does in one year.
05In this section
Three lines, and only one is yours
$24,480
$1 withheld for every $2 over the limit for every dollar above it. Counts the whole calendar year.
$65,160
$1 withheld for every $3 over the limit, and only earnings in the months before your full-retirement-age month are counted.
No limit
No earnings test from the month you reach full retirement age. Earn anything; nothing is held back.
Which line applies is a question about your birth date, not about how you describe yourself — which is why this calculator asks for the month and year you were born and works the rest out. Full retirement age by birth year.
Questions
How much can I earn in 2026 before Social Security holds back my benefit?
$24,480 if you are under full retirement age for the whole of 2026: above that, $1 withheld for every $2 over the limit. In the year you reach full retirement age the exempt amount is $65,160 and only earnings in the months before your birthday month count, with $1 withheld for every $3 over the limit. From the month you reach full retirement age there is no limit at all.
Is money withheld by the earnings test lost?
No. Withheld benefits are credited back through a permanently higher benefit at full retirement age. At full retirement age Social Security removes the months in which benefits were withheld from the early-claiming reduction, so the monthly payment goes up permanently. The calculator shows the size of that increase for your own figures.
What counts as earnings for the test?
Gross wages and net earnings from self-employment only. Pensions, annuities, interest, dividends, capital gains, rental income and withdrawals from an IRA or 401(k) are not earnings for this test, however large they are.
I am retiring mid-year and will earn a lot before I stop. Does the annual limit really apply?
Not necessarily. In a grace year, a full benefit is payable for any month you earn at or under the monthly limit: in your first year of retirement Social Security can test each month against the monthly exempt amount — $2,040 in 2026, or $5,430 in the year you reach full retirement age — instead of testing the year as a whole. Whichever test is more favourable is the one applied. Switch the calculator to its first-year mode to see both.
When are the 2027 earnings-test limits announced?
mid-October 2026. Social Security sets them from the third-quarter average of the CPI-W and announces them with the cost-of-living adjustment. Until that announcement there is no 2027 figure — anything circulating before it is a projection.
Sources
- SSA 2026 COLA fact sheet · accessed 2026-09-06
- SSA — receiving benefits while working · accessed 2026-09-06
- SSA — the special earnings limit rule (grace year) · accessed 2026-09-06
- SSA POMS RS 02501.030 — the monthly earnings test · accessed 2026-09-06
- 20 CFR §404.410 — the early-claiming reduction that withheld months buy back · accessed 2026-09-07
Also this year
The 2026 numbersevery threshold on one page→COBRA vs Marketplacethe same earnings drive a second cliff→Money calendarwhen the 2027 figures land→Information, not advice. Confirm your figures with SSA at ssa.gov or your local office.