AIME, or Average Indexed Monthly Earnings, is the figure Social Security uses to summarize your lifetime work history into a single monthly number that then drives your retirement, disability, or survivor benefit. The Social Security Administration takes your earnings from every year you worked, adjusts the older ones upward so they reflect today’s wage levels, picks your 35 best years, adds them up, and divides by 420 months. That average feeds into a separate formula that produces your actual monthly check. Understanding what AIME is in Social Security matters because almost every lever you can pull to raise your benefit works by raising this number first.
Why Your Old Earnings Get Adjusted
Wages from decades ago would be nearly meaningless in today’s dollars if used directly, so the SSA indexes them using the National Average Wage Index (AWI), which tracks how wages across the economy have grown over time.1Social Security Administration. National Average Wage Index
The mechanics are simple. For a worker turning 62 in 2026, the SSA takes the AWI for 2024 ($69,846.57) and divides it by the AWI for the year the wages were actually earned. That ratio is the indexing factor. Multiply it by your actual earnings for that year, and you get your indexed earnings.2Social Security Administration. National Average Wage Index – Section: Indexed Earnings Used to Compute Initial Benefits
An example. Say you earned $25,000 in 1990, when the AWI was $21,027.98. The indexing factor is $69,846.57 ÷ $21,027.98, or roughly 3.32. Your indexed earnings for 1990 become about $83,050 rather than the original $25,000. That adjustment keeps early-career wages from dragging your average down.
Indexing applies to earnings from 1951 through the year you turn 60. Anything you earn from age 60 onward is counted at face value. The cutoff exists because the AWI used for the indexing (from two years before you turn 62) has to be finalized so the calculation stays consistent for everyone becoming eligible in the same year.3Social Security Administration. Appendix C – Computing a Retired-Worker Benefit
The 35-Year Rule and the AIME Calculation
Once every year of earnings has been indexed, the SSA selects the 35 years with the highest indexed amounts, adds them together, and divides by 420, the number of months in 35 years. The result, rounded down to the next whole dollar, is your AIME.4Social Security Administration. Social Security Benefit Amounts
If your 35 best years of indexed earnings total $2,100,000, your AIME is $2,100,000 ÷ 420 = $5,000.5Social Security Administration. Benefit Calculation Examples for Workers Retiring in 2026
The 35-year requirement is where a lot of people quietly lose money. If you only worked 28 years, the SSA still divides by 420 months. The seven missing years get filled in as zeros, and that pulls the average down noticeably. A person with 28 solid years and seven zeros will end up with a lower AIME than someone who earned modest wages the whole 35 years.
The Cap on Earnings That Count
Social Security only counts wages up to an annual maximum. In 2026, the taxable earnings cap is $184,500.6Social Security Administration. Maximum Taxable Earnings Earn $250,000 that year and only $184,500 shows up on your Social Security record. That same cap governs what gets fed into the AIME calculation.7Social Security Administration. Contribution and Benefit Base
The ceiling rises most years to keep pace with wages, but it does put a firm limit on how high anyone’s AIME can climb. Even a worker who earned above the maximum in every year of a 35-year career hits a fixed ceiling. For 2026, the maximum monthly benefit at full retirement age is $4,152.8Social Security Administration. 2026 Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) Fact Sheet
How AIME Turns Into a Monthly Check
AIME doesn’t translate dollar-for-dollar into a benefit. The SSA runs it through a progressive formula that replaces a larger share of earnings for lower-income workers and a smaller share for higher earners. The output is your Primary Insurance Amount (PIA), the benefit you’d receive at exactly your full retirement age.9Social Security Administration. Primary Insurance Amount
For a worker first becoming eligible in 2026, the PIA equals 90% of the first $1,286 of AIME, plus 32% of AIME between $1,286 and $7,749, plus 15% of any AIME above $7,749. The two dollar thresholds are called bend points, and they’re updated every year based on the AWI.10Social Security Administration. Benefit Formula Bend Points
Take the $5,000 AIME from earlier. The PIA works out to (90% × $1,286) + (32% × ($5,000 − $1,286)) + (15% × $0) = $1,157.40 + $1,188.48 = $2,345.88, rounded down to $2,345. The tiered structure is the reason a worker who earned twice as much as another doesn’t receive double the benefit.9Social Security Administration. Primary Insurance Amount
AIME for Disability Benefits Uses a Shorter Window
The 35-year rule only applies to retirement. Social Security Disability Insurance uses fewer years because younger workers haven’t had time to build up a full career. Instead of a fixed 35, the SSA counts the “elapsed years” between the year you turned 22 (or 1951, whichever is later) and the year your disability began, then drops the five lowest-earning years from that count.11Social Security Administration. Handbook Section 704 – Elapsed Years Defined
If you became disabled at age 50, you’d have roughly 28 elapsed years. Subtract the five dropout years and the SSA averages your 23 highest-earning years. The rest of the process is identical: index the earnings, add up the best years, divide by the total months, and that’s the AIME. Using fewer years keeps a young disabled worker from being penalized for a career that was cut short.
Ways to Raise Your AIME
Keep Working Past 60
Earnings after age 60 aren’t indexed, but they still count. Each new year of work gives the SSA another figure that can replace a zero or a low-earning year in your top 35. For anyone who took time away from work, a few extra years near the end of a career can push the AIME higher.12Social Security Administration. Additional Work Can Increase Your Future Benefits
Nothing about the calculation locks in at 62 either. You can keep working, and the SSA will automatically recalculate your benefit whenever new earnings improve your AIME.3Social Security Administration. Appendix C – Computing a Retired-Worker Benefit
Check for Military Service Credits
Active-duty military personnel who served between 1957 and 2001 may have extra earnings credits on their record. From 1957 through 1977, each quarter of active-duty service added $300 in credited earnings. From 1978 through 2001, every $300 in active-duty basic pay added another $100 in credits, up to $1,200 per year. The credits were discontinued in January 2002. If you served during the eligible period, these amounts should already appear in your earnings record and flow into the AIME calculation.13Social Security Administration. Special Extra Earnings for Military Service
Review Your Earnings Record
Every dollar in your AIME comes from your official earnings record at the SSA. An error in that record translates directly into a lower benefit, so reviewing it is worth a few minutes. You can view your full earnings history and personalized benefit estimates by signing in to a my Social Security account at ssa.gov.14Social Security Administration. Get Your Social Security Statement
Your statement shows indexed earnings by year, projected benefits at different claiming ages, and instructions for reporting discrepancies. If you spot a year with missing or wrong earnings, dig out old W-2s or tax returns and contact the SSA. The further back the mistake, the harder it gets to prove.