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Medicare and Senior Benefits

What the Typical Man's Social Security Check Looks Like at Different Ages

Digilifetrends Published 3 min read

Key Points

  • Men’s average retirement benefit is higher than women’s, with the latest snapshot showing $2,282.28 per month for men and $1,872.43 for women.

  • Social Security is intended to replace roughly 40% of pre-retirement earnings, although many retirees need more than that to meet their expenses.

  • A 3.6% cost-of-living adjustment would lift the $2,529.62 average benefit for 70-year-old men by about $91 a month.

Close-up of a US $100 bill with Benjamin Franklin beside a Social Security card
Image source: Getty Images.

Men tend to receive larger Social Security benefits than women at every age. The breakdown below shows the main figures for the early retirement years using the latest available data.

According to the Social Security Administration, the average retirement benefit for men is $2,282.28 a month. For women, the average is $1,872.43, creating a gap of $409.85 per month.

Average benefits for men and women from age 62 to 70

The Social Security Administration calculates benefits using a worker’s average earnings over the 35 highest-paid years. Those wages are inflation-adjusted and run through a formula meant to replace about 40% of pre-retirement income. In practice, many retirees need a larger share of their former pay to cover living costs.

These averages reflect current beneficiaries, including people who claimed early and those who delayed filing to increase their checks. The monthly figures continue to show a clear gender difference across the age range.

Age

Men's average

Women's average

$1,572.83

$1,285.50

$1,580.81

$1,300.20

$1,624.93

$1,342.07

$1,772.00

$1,457.40

$1,998.75

$1,629.09

$2,234.41

$1,801.82

$2,272.40

$1,836.58

$2,321.96

$1,876.96

$2,529.62

$2,024.08

How Social Security fits into retirement income

The higher averages for men largely reflect past differences in lifetime earnings and time spent in paid work. Individual histories vary, but those broader trends still shape today’s benefit levels at every age.

A man age 65 is expected to live about 18 more years, while a woman of the same age is expected to live about 21 more years, according to the Social Security Administration. That means men often draw benefits over a shorter retirement period, while women may need to stretch smaller checks over more years.

A 3.6% cost-of-living adjustment will take effect in a later year. The figures above do not include that increase, which would add about $91 a month to the $2,529.62 average for 70-year-old men. Full retirement age ranges from 66 to 67, depending on birth year, and it is 67 for people born in 1960 or later.

What married men should weigh before claiming benefits

Married individuals can claim a spousal benefit based on their partner’s record while the spouse is alive, and a survivor benefit after the spouse dies. Those benefits are paid only if they are larger than the person’s own retirement check.

Because women have historically had fewer years in the labor force and lower average earnings, they are more likely to rely on spousal and survivor benefits. That makes it important for married men to think about how their claiming decision may also affect their spouse.

Your spouse cannot claim a spousal benefit until you start receiving your retirement checks, so your filing age can influence theirs as well. It helps to discuss your options together and coordinate when each of you plans to file. If your plans change later, keep each other informed and adjust your retirement strategy accordingly.

For more on how Social Security affects retirement, see this guide.

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