Brackets · calculator
The 2026 Social Security wage base
The earnings ceiling for the 6.2% Social Security tax, and what it means for high earners and people with two jobs.
When you reach the 2026 wage base
Social Security stops after paycheck
#23 of 26
The remaining 3 paychecks are $501 larger each
- Wage base$184,500
- Social Security withheld by all employers$11,439
- Social Security actually due$11,439
- Excess to claim on your return (Schedule 3)$0
Medicare tax has no wage base. The excess credit works only across different employers; one employer that over-withholds must refund you itself.
The Social Security wage base for 2026 is $184,500: wages and self-employment earnings up to that amount pay the 6.2% Social Security tax, and nothing above it does, according to the 2026 Form 1040-ES. In 2025 the ceiling was $176,100. The most an employee can owe for 2026 is therefore $11,439, matched by the employer; a self-employed person pays up to twice that. Medicare has no ceiling. For someone paid $210,000 a year in 26 paychecks, Social Security stops after paycheck number 23, and each later paycheck is larger by the 6.2% no longer withheld. A worker with two employers often has too much withheld, because each employer applies the ceiling separately: with $130,000 and $90,000 of wages, $2,201 of excess Social Security comes back as a credit on Schedule 3 of the return. A single employer that over-withholds must correct it itself, not through the return.
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Paychecks before and after the ceiling
| Annual salary | Paychecks | Social Security stops after paycheck | Social Security for the year |
|---|---|---|---|
| $200,000 | 26 | #24 | $11,439 |
| $250,000 | 24 | #18 | $11,439 |
| $300,000 | 26 | #16 | $11,439 |
| $400,000 | 12 | #6 | $11,439 |
Bonuses count toward the ceiling in the paycheck where they are paid, so a large year-end bonus can move the stopping point earlier. Pre-tax 401(k) deferrals do not reduce wages for Social Security, but cafeteria-plan health premiums do.
Two employers, one ceiling
The law caps the tax per person, not per job, but employers cannot see each other's payroll. The calculator above adds the wages, applies one ceiling and compares with what both employers withheld. The credit is refundable: it comes back even if you owe no income tax. It does not apply to a single employer, or to employers that are related and treated as one, which must fix over-withholding through payroll. Employers' own matching tax is never refunded.
Planning a bonus or a job change
A worker who changes employers in the middle of the year restarts the count with the new employer, which withholds Social Security again from the first dollar. Someone earning $150,000 at each of two successive jobs will have Social Security withheld on $300,000, and the excess over $184,500 becomes a credit when the return is filed, often a welcome part of the refund. Nothing needs to be done in the meantime; the W-2s show the amounts withheld in box 4.
What the ceiling does not affect
Medicare tax continues on all wages, and the 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax begins above $200,000 of wages; see the FICA rate page. Income tax brackets are unaffected. For future benefits, earnings above the ceiling do not count either: Social Security computes benefits only on earnings up to each year's wage base. The 2025 figure of $176,100 also appears on the 2025 Schedule 1-A, as the box 5 amount above which tips need a special computation.
Sources: IRS Form 1040-ES (2026), Estimated Tax for Individuals: What's New and due dates; IRS Topic no. 751, Social Security and Medicare withholding rates; IRS Schedule 1-A (Form 1040) 2025, Additional Deductions: tips, overtime, car loan interest, seniors, read on October 11, 2026.