Here’s the Average Social Security Benefit at Ages 62, 67, and 70, and Which One Actually Beats the Rising Cost of Living.

The amount of your monthly Social Security benefit is determined based on a few key factors.

Your income over your working life is one of the biggest things that determines the size of your benefit check, because your benefits are supposed to replace around 40% of pre-retirement income. However, the age at which you claim benefits also matters as well.

Let’s take a look at the average benefits at different ages to see how your claiming age may impact your income, as well as how it affects whether your benefits are keeping pace with inflation or not. 

Here is the average Social Security benefit at 62, 67, and 70

According to the Social Security Administration’s data, the average benefits total:

• $1,424.40 at 62
• $2,016.48 at 67
• $2,274.68 at 70

Average benefits increase with age because the longer you wait to claim your Social Security checks, the bigger the check becomes. Social Security was designed to allow for claims between 62 and 70, but lawmakers also wanted to equalize the lifetime benefits received by early and late claimers. As a result, a system of early filing penalties and delayed retirement credits is in place.

Under this system, when you claim your benefits ahead of your full retirement age, you are hit with early filing penalties. Those penalties apply monthly to reduce the standard benefit you’d be entitled to at FRA. They add up to a 6.7% reduction in the standard benefit for each of the first three years you claim early and a 5% annual reduction for each year before that.

Delaying your benefits claim has the opposite effect, as you earn delayed retirement credits equal to 2/3 of 1% per month, 8% annually, or 24% if you wait three full years to claim Social Security at 70 despite having an FRA of 67. 

Whose benefits are keeping pace with inflation?

Social Security benefits don’t stay the same over time. Cost-of-living adjustments are built into them in order to ensure the effects of inflation don’t leave retirees with benefits that decline in real value every year. 

While the most obvious benefit of a delayed claim is the immediate increase in your monthly check, there’s also another benefit as well. COLAs are based on a percentage of your current benefit, so a delayed claim that raises your benefit increases your COLA as well.

For example, if you brought home the average $1,424.40 at 62 and you collected the 2.8% COLA that applied in 2026, you would end up increasing your monthly benefit by $39.88 (2.8% of $1,424.40). But if your benefit was $2,274.68, your COLA would be $63.69. 

While the increase is the same on a percentage basis, the delayed claimant got a higher dollar-for-dollar raise. And that can matter a lot when you’re trying to keep up with surging inflation. For example, Medicare premiums rose sharply in 2026, jumping from $185 to $202.90. That’s a $17.90 increase. The bigger your COLA bump is, the better you’re able to withstand that.

The fact is that Medicare premium increases are the same for most retirees regardless of whether they collect $1,500 or $2,000 (only higher earners get hit with higher premiums because of IRMAA).  And, the same is true in many situations where prices are rising. If the cost of eggs goes up $2, it doesn’t go up less for someone with a smaller Social Security check.

So, earning that higher benefit, and the bigger dollar-for-dollar COLA because of it, can really make a difference in helping you maintain your lifestyle over time. It’s worth talking with a financial advisor about whether a delayed claim is right for you.