Almost every American who earns a paycheck pays into Social Security, but the law exempts a handful of specific groups. If you work for a private employer, you and your employer each pay 6.2 percent of your wages, up to $184,500 in 2026.1Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 751, Social Security and Medicare Withholding Rates If you are self-employed, you pay both sides yourself. The exempt categories are narrower than people often think: certain government workers hired before 1984, railroad employees, students working at their own school, members of qualifying religious groups, some clergy, and foreign workers on specific temporary visas.
Employees and Their Employers
The Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) splits the Social Security tax evenly. Your employer withholds 6.2 percent from each paycheck and adds a matching 6.2 percent from its own funds, then sends the combined 12.4 percent to the IRS.2Social Security Administration. What Is FICA? A separate Medicare tax of 1.45 percent applies on each side, so the total FICA withholding from your paycheck is 7.65 percent.3Social Security Administration. 2026 Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) Fact Sheet
Social Security’s 6.2 percent only applies to earnings up to the annual taxable earnings base, which is $184,500 in 2026.1Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 751, Social Security and Medicare Withholding Rates Wages above that amount are not taxed for Social Security, and they are also excluded when the agency calculates your future monthly benefit.4Social Security Administration. Social Security Tax Limits on Your Earnings Someone who earns at or above the cap pays $11,439 in Social Security tax for the year, matched by the employer.5Social Security Administration. Contribution and Benefit Base The Medicare portion has no cap.
Self-Employed Workers
If you work as an independent contractor, freelancer, or sole proprietor, you owe both halves under the Self-Employment Contributions Act (SECA). The combined rate is 15.3 percent: 12.4 percent for Social Security and 2.9 percent for Medicare.6Internal Revenue Service. Self-Employment Tax (Social Security and Medicare Taxes) You only owe self-employment tax if your net earnings reach $400 or more for the year.7Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 554, Self-Employment Tax
The tax is not calculated on your entire net profit. You multiply net earnings by 92.35 percent first, then apply the 15.3 percent rate. That adjustment reflects the fact that traditional employees do not pay FICA on their employer’s share.7Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 554, Self-Employment Tax You can also deduct half of your self-employment tax when figuring your adjusted gross income, which lowers your income tax though not the SECA tax itself.6Internal Revenue Service. Self-Employment Tax (Social Security and Medicare Taxes) The computation goes on Schedule SE, filed with your Form 1040.
Household Employers
Paying someone to work in your home can put you on the payer side too. Once you pay a household worker — a nanny, housekeeper, gardener, or similar employee — $3,000 or more in cash wages during 2026, you become a household employer. You must withhold the worker’s 6.2 percent Social Security and 1.45 percent Medicare share, pay a matching amount yourself, and report it on Schedule H with your Form 1040.8Internal Revenue Service. Publication 926 (2026), Household Employer’s Tax Guide Below $3,000, neither you nor the worker owes Social Security or Medicare tax on those wages. The threshold applies per worker, not across your whole household.
The obligation exists only if the worker is your employee, meaning you control what work gets done and how. Someone who sets their own schedule, brings their own equipment, and serves other clients is typically an independent contractor responsible for their own SECA taxes.8Internal Revenue Service. Publication 926 (2026), Household Employer’s Tax Guide
Who Is Exempt From Social Security Taxes
Railroad Workers
Railroad employees pay into the Railroad Retirement system instead of Social Security. The separate federal program, run by the Railroad Retirement Board, provides retirement, survivor, and disability benefits in place of Social Security.9Social Security Administration. An Overview of the Railroad Retirement Program Workers who leave with fewer than ten years of railroad service, or fewer than five years after 1995, are not vested in the railroad program, and their accounts transfer into Social Security.
Certain Government Employees
Federal employees hired on or after January 1, 1984, pay Social Security taxes through the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS). Those hired earlier who stayed under the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) do not pay Social Security on their federal wages and do not earn Social Security benefits from that work.10Social Security Administration. Social Security Benefits for Federal Workers
State and local government workers are a more mixed picture. Whether a particular position pays into Social Security depends on the state’s arrangement with the Social Security Administration, typically through a Section 218 Agreement that brings specific positions into coverage.11Social Security Administration. Section 218 Agreements Employees whose jobs are covered by a qualifying public retirement system rather than Social Security remain outside FICA. Workers hired after July 1, 1991, who are not part of a qualifying retirement system and are not covered by a Section 218 Agreement generally must pay Social Security taxes.12Internal Revenue Service. State and Local Government Employees Social Security and Medicare Coverage
Students Working at Their School
If you are enrolled and regularly attending classes at a school, college, or university and you work for that same institution, your wages may be exempt from FICA. The exemption applies when the job is incidental to your education, meaning being a student is the main reason you are there. It also covers work for certain affiliated nonprofit organizations described in the tax code.13Internal Revenue Service. Student FICA Exception The exemption does not apply if employment becomes the dominant part of the relationship, such as a full-time employee who takes an occasional class.14Internal Revenue Service. Student Exception to FICA Tax
Members of Certain Religious Groups and Clergy
Members of recognized religious groups that are conscientiously opposed to public or private insurance can apply for exemption from both Social Security and Medicare taxes by filing IRS Form 4029. The group must have existed continuously since December 31, 1950, and must have an established practice of providing for its dependent members. The applicant must waive all rights to Social Security and Medicare benefits.15Internal Revenue Service. Form 4029, Application for Exemption From Social Security and Medicare Taxes and Waiver of Benefits
Clergy have a different path. Ordained ministers, members of religious orders who have not taken a vow of poverty, and Christian Science practitioners are treated as self-employed for Social Security purposes on their ministerial income and pay SECA rather than FICA, even when they receive a W-2 from a church. A qualifying minister who is conscientiously opposed to public insurance on religious grounds, not economic ones, may apply for exemption by filing Form 4361. The form is due by the tax return deadline for the second year in which the minister has at least $400 in net ministerial earnings, and once approved the exemption is irrevocable.16Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 417, Earnings for Clergy
Foreign Students and Temporary Visa Workers
Foreign students and exchange visitors on F-1, J-1, or M-1 visas are generally exempt from Social Security and Medicare taxes for up to five calendar years, as long as they remain nonresident aliens and the work is allowed by their visa. Qualifying employment includes on-campus work up to 20 hours per week during the school term (40 hours during breaks) and authorized practical training. The exemption does not cover dependents on F-2, J-2, or M-2 visas, and it ends once the visa holder becomes a resident alien or switches to a non-exempt status.17Internal Revenue Service. Foreign Student Liability for Social Security and Medicare Taxes
Workers sent temporarily to the United States by employers in countries that have totalization agreements with the U.S. may also be exempt. These agreements prevent double taxation on the same earnings. If you are covered by your home country’s social insurance system during a temporary U.S. assignment, the agreement generally lets you stay in that system and skip U.S. Social Security contributions.18Social Security Administration. U.S. International Social Security Agreements
What an Exemption Costs You Later
Every dollar of Social Security tax you pay builds credit toward future benefits. In 2026, you earn one credit for each $1,890 of covered earnings, up to four credits per year.19Social Security Administration. Quarter of Coverage Retirement benefits require 40 credits, or roughly ten years of covered work.20Social Security Administration. Social Security Credits and Benefit Eligibility Disability and survivor benefits can be available with fewer credits.
Time spent in exempt employment does not earn credits. Someone who spends a full career in a non-covered government job, in an exempt religious community, or on qualifying temporary visa work may reach retirement without enough credits for Social Security. If you have some covered earnings from other jobs, they still count, but exempt work does not add to the total.