Around 67% of seniors rely on Social Security for more than half of their retirement income, according to the Center for Retirement Research.
Since many seniors need Social Security to cover the bills, it’s important to have a realistic idea of what benefits you can expect to collect as a retiree.
Let’s take a look at the average Social Security benefit at every age, so you can see how much income retirees are getting in their later years.
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These are the average Social Security retirement benefits at every age
Social Security retirement benefits become available at 62. Here are the average benefits being paid out from age 62 to age 99+. These are the averages as of December 2025.
Age
Average Benefit
Age
Average Benefit
62$1,42481$2,10063$1,43682$2,09964$1,47883$2,10265$1,60784$2,10166$1,80785$2,07767$2,01686$2,03768$2,05387$2,01669$2,09788$1,98370$2,27589$1,92571$2,24890$1,89872$2,20591$1,89573$2,20892$1,89974$2,17993$1,92075$2,14594$1,90876$2,15795$1,89077$2,17196$1,88978$2,14097$1,89179$2,15698$1,88880$2,10699 & over$1,845
Table source: Social Security Administration
As the table makes clear, a later benefits claim is generally going to result in a larger average Social Security benefit. This is because the program was designed to equalize benefits for those who claimed at any time between the ages of 62 and 70.
If you claim ahead of your Full Retirement Age, you are hit with early filing penalties. If you delay after FRA, your benefit increases thanks to delayed retirement credits. So, waiting allows you to avoid penalties and eventually earn credits that increase your check. With these rules in place, it’s understandable benefits get bigger as people advance in age.
Of course, they also decline for those who are very old. The averages are dragged down for those in their late 80s and 90s because the oldest retirees left the workforce a long time ago, when wages were lower.
Still, this chart makes clear that if you want bigger benefits, waiting to claim Social Security is going to pay off and should be part of your retirement planning process.
Benefits aren’t enough to live on
You may also notice from the chart that the average benefit is never really that high. Unfortunately, that’s by design. Social Security benefits are intended to replace around 40% of pre-retirement income. So, they won’t be enough for the average person to live on.
If you want your retirement to be a comfortable one, make sure that you’re investing for the future in a 401(k) or IRA to supplement your Social Security, as you don’t want to try to live on benefits alone.
