The Evolution of Social Security's Taxable Maximum
by Kevin Whitman and Dave Shoffner
Policy Brief No. 2011-02 (released September 2011)
Policy Brief No. 2011-02 (released September 2011)
Year | Tax max values | ||
---|---|---|---|
Nominal | Inflation adjusted to 2009 dollars | Wage indexed to 2009 dollars | |
1937 | 3,000 | 43,670 | 107,330 |
1938 | 3,000 | 44,290 | 115,960 |
1939 | 3,000 | 44,920 | 106,910 |
1940 | 3,000 | 44,600 | 102,200 |
1941 | 3,000 | 42,490 | 95,710 |
1942 | 3,000 | 38,350 | 83,980 |
1943 | 3,000 | 36,140 | 71,280 |
1944 | 3,000 | 35,530 | 63,080 |
1945 | 3,000 | 34,750 | 60,420 |
1946 | 3,000 | 32,090 | 64,560 |
1947 | 3,000 | 27,950 | 56,150 |
1948 | 3,000 | 25,990 | 51,720 |
1949 | 3,000 | 26,200 | 49,180 |
1950 | 3,000 | 25,990 | 48,010 |
1951 | 3,600 | 28,910 | 52,360 |
1952 | 3,600 | 28,260 | 49,290 |
1953 | 3,600 | 28,050 | 46,680 |
1954 | 3,600 | 27,950 | 46,440 |
1955 | 4,200 | 32,730 | 51,790 |
1956 | 4,200 | 32,250 | 48,410 |
1957 | 4,200 | 31,110 | 46,950 |
1958 | 4,200 | 30,260 | 46,540 |
1959 | 4,800 | 34,340 | 50,680 |
1960 | 4,800 | 33,770 | 48,770 |
1961 | 4,800 | 33,430 | 47,820 |
1962 | 4,800 | 33,100 | 45,540 |
1963 | 4,800 | 32,670 | 44,450 |
1964 | 4,800 | 32,250 | 42,700 |
1965 | 4,800 | 31,740 | 41,950 |
1966 | 6,600 | 42,440 | 54,410 |
1967 | 6,600 | 41,180 | 51,540 |
1968 | 7,800 | 46,720 | 56,990 |
1969 | 7,800 | 44,310 | 53,880 |
1970 | 7,800 | 41,930 | 51,330 |
1971 | 7,800 | 40,170 | 48,880 |
1972 | 9,000 | 44,810 | 51,360 |
1973 | 10,800 | 50,650 | 58,000 |
1974 | 13,200 | 55,790 | 66,920 |
1975 | 14,100 | 54,640 | 66,510 |
1976 | 15,300 | 56,070 | 67,510 |
1977 | 16,500 | 56,800 | 68,690 |
1978 | 17,700 | 56,560 | 68,260 |
1979 | 22,900 | 65,670 | 81,210 |
1980 | 25,900 | 65,490 | 84,260 |
1981 | 29,700 | 68,120 | 87,790 |
1982 | 32,400 | 70,090 | 90,770 |
1983 | 35,700 | 74,990 | 95,370 |
1984 | 37,800 | 76,710 | 95,380 |
1985 | 39,600 | 77,660 | 95,830 |
1986 | 42,000 | 81,070 | 98,710 |
1987 | 43,800 | 81,620 | 96,770 |
1988 | 45,000 | 80,630 | 94,760 |
1989 | 48,000 | 82,070 | 97,220 |
1990 | 51,300 | 83,360 | 99,320 |
1991 | 53,400 | 83,350 | 99,670 |
1992 | 55,500 | 84,190 | 98,520 |
1993 | 57,600 | 84,970 | 101,370 |
1994 | 60,600 | 87,250 | 103,860 |
1995 | 61,200 | 85,640 | 100,850 |
1996 | 62,700 | 85,290 | 98,500 |
1997 | 65,400 | 86,990 | 97,080 |
1998 | 68,400 | 89,790 | 96,480 |
1999 | 72,600 | 93,250 | 97,000 |
2000 | 76,200 | 94,580 | 96,480 |
2001 | 80,400 | 97,140 | 99,420 |
2002 | 84,900 | 101,180 | 103,950 |
2003 | 87,000 | 101,430 | 103,980 |
2004 | 87,900 | 99,870 | 100,380 |
2005 | 90,000 | 98,780 | 99,150 |
2006 | 94,200 | 100,190 | 99,220 |
2007 | 97,500 | 100,800 | 98,240 |
2008 | 102,000 | 101,310 | 100,460 |
2009 | 106,800 | 106,800 | 106,800 |
SOURCE: Authors' calculations based on SSA (2010a, 2010b, 2010c) and BLS (no date). |
Year | Percentage |
---|---|
1937 | 3.13 |
1940 | 3.38 |
1945 | 13.71 |
1950 | 28.86 |
1951 | 24.55 |
1952 | 27.87 |
1953 | 31.25 |
1954 | 31.65 |
1955 | 25.62 |
1956 | 28.45 |
1957 | 29.88 |
1958 | 30.57 |
1959 | 26.66 |
1960 | 28.00 |
1961 | 29.20 |
1962 | 31.17 |
1963 | 32.53 |
1964 | 34.50 |
1965 | 36.11 |
1966 | 24.23 |
1967 | 26.36 |
1968 | 21.39 |
1969 | 24.52 |
1970 | 26.02 |
1971 | 28.29 |
1972 | 25.01 |
1973 | 20.28 |
1974 | 15.11 |
1975 | 15.04 |
1976 | 14.94 |
1977 | 14.84 |
1978 | 15.42 |
1979 | 9.97 |
1980 | 8.76 |
1981 | 7.61 |
1982 | 7.09 |
1983 | 6.28 |
1984 | 6.38 |
1985 | 6.48 |
1986 | 6.20 |
1987 | 6.16 |
1988 | 6.55 |
1989 | 6.16 |
1990 | 5.67 |
1991 | 5.63 |
1992 | 5.72 |
1993 | 5.60 |
1994 | 5.44 |
1995 | 5.81 |
1996 | 6.05 |
1997 | 6.17 |
1998 | 6.30 |
1999 | 6.09 |
2000 | 6.18 |
2001 | 5.93 |
2002 | 5.43 |
2003 | 5.50 |
2004 | 5.90 |
2005 | 6.09 |
2006 | 6.05 |
2007 | 6.14 |
2008 | 5.98 |
SOURCE: Authors' calculations based on SSA (2011). |
Birth cohort | Percentage |
---|---|
1926–1930 | 43.28 |
1931–1935 | 42.64 |
1936–1940 | 42.24 |
1941–1945 | 39.38 |
1946–1950 | 31.95 |
1951–1955 | 24.37 |
1956–1960 | 21.33 |
1961–1965 | 20.63 |
1966–1970 | 20.02 |
1971–1975 | 21.70 |
1976–1980 | 22.74 |
1981–1985 | 23.71 |
1986–1990 | 23.83 |
1991–1995 | 23.25 |
1996–2000 | 23.22 |
2001–2005 | 23.13 |
2006–2010 | 23.28 |
2011–2015 | 23.31 |
SOURCE: Authors' calculations based on MINT. |
Year | Percentage |
---|---|
1937 | 92.0 |
1940 | 92.4 |
1945 | 87.9 |
1950 | 79.7 |
1951 | 81.1 |
1952 | 80.5 |
1953 | 78.5 |
1954 | 77.7 |
1955 | 80.3 |
1956 | 78.8 |
1957 | 77.5 |
1958 | 76.4 |
1959 | 79.3 |
1960 | 78.1 |
1961 | 77.4 |
1962 | 75.8 |
1963 | 74.6 |
1964 | 72.8 |
1965 | 71.3 |
1966 | 80.0 |
1967 | 78.1 |
1968 | 81.7 |
1969 | 80.1 |
1970 | 78.2 |
1971 | 76.3 |
1972 | 78.3 |
1973 | 81.8 |
1974 | 85.3 |
1975 | 84.4 |
1976 | 84.3 |
1977 | 85.0 |
1978 | 83.8 |
1979 | 87.3 |
1980 | 88.9 |
1981 | 89.2 |
1982 | 90.0 |
1983 | 90.0 |
1984 | 89.3 |
1985 | 88.9 |
1986 | 88.6 |
1987 | 87.6 |
1988 | 85.8 |
1989 | 86.8 |
1990 | 87.2 |
1991 | 87.8 |
1992 | 86.8 |
1993 | 87.2 |
1994 | 87.1 |
1995 | 85.8 |
1996 | 85.7 |
1997 | 85.1 |
1998 | 84.5 |
1999 | 83.9 |
2000 | 83.2 |
2001 | 84.7 |
2002 | 86.1 |
2003 | 85.9 |
2004 | 84.8 |
2005 | 84.1 |
2006 | 83.7 |
2007 | 82.6 |
2008 | 83.8 |
2009 | 85.7 |
SOURCE: Authors' calculations based on SSA (2011). | |
NOTE: Average percentage of covered earnings subject to the tax max from 1937 to 2009 = 83% |
Year | Tax max ratio |
---|---|
1937 | 2.55 |
1940 | 2.25 |
1945 | 0.88 |
1950 | 0.70 |
1951 | 0.77 |
1952 | 0.70 |
1953 | 0.69 |
1954 | 0.70 |
1955 | 0.77 |
1956 | 0.75 |
1957 | 0.75 |
1958 | 0.77 |
1959 | 0.78 |
1960 | 0.78 |
1961 | 0.77 |
1962 | 0.78 |
1963 | 0.78 |
1964 | 0.79 |
1965 | 0.79 |
1966 | 0.83 |
1967 | 0.83 |
1968 | 0.86 |
1969 | 0.81 |
1970 | 0.84 |
1971 | 0.84 |
1972 | 0.87 |
1973 | 0.90 |
1974 | 0.97 |
1975 | 1.04 |
1976 | 1.05 |
1977 | 1.01 |
1978 | 1.05 |
1979 | 1.27 |
1980 | 1.27 |
1981 | 1.42 |
1982 | 1.41 |
1983 | 1.59 |
1984 | 1.68 |
1985 | 1.71 |
1986 | 1.84 |
1987 | 2.01 |
1988 | 2.17 |
1989 | 2.14 |
1990 | 2.26 |
1991 | 2.17 |
1992 | 2.31 |
1993 | 2.29 |
1994 | 2.37 |
1995 | 2.44 |
1996 | 2.36 |
1997 | 2.41 |
1998 | 2.46 |
1999 | 2.65 |
2000 | 2.72 |
2001 | 2.58 |
2002 | 2.56 |
2003 | 2.57 |
2004 | 2.58 |
2005 | 2.61 |
2006 | 2.69 |
2007 | 2.83 |
2008 | 2.71 |
SOURCE: Authors' calculations based on SSA (2011). |