How Much Did You Earn at Your First Job? Social Security Can Tell You

Social Security & You
By Brandon P. Smith, Social Security Public Affairs Specialist

Ever wonder how much you earned the year you worked your first job? Or any other year you
worked? You can find out by reviewing your Social Security earnings record.

Your earnings record shows your income for each year worked and your progress toward your
future Social Security benefits. We keep track of your earnings so we can pay you the benefits
you’ve earned over your lifetime. That’s why it’s important for you to review your Social
Security earnings record.

While it’s your employer’s responsibility to provide accurate earnings information to us, you
should still review your earnings history and inform us of any errors or omissions. This is so you
get credit for the contributions you’ve made through payroll taxes. You’re the only person who
can look at your lifetime earnings record and verify that it’s complete and correct. If an
employer didn’t properly report even just one year of your earnings to us, your future benefit
payments could be less than they should be.

Over the course of a lifetime, that could cost you tens of thousands of dollars in retirement or other benefits to which you are entitled. It’s important to identify and report errors as soon as possible. As time passes, you may no longer have easy access to past tax documents. Also, some employers may no longer exist or be able to provide past payroll information.

The easiest way to verify your earnings record is to visit ssa.gov/myaccount and create or
sign in to your personal my Social Security account. You should review each year of listed
earnings carefully and confirm them using your own records, such as W-2s and tax returns.
Keep in mind that earnings from this year and last year may not be listed yet.

You can find out how to correct your Social Security earnings record by reading our publication
How to Correct Your Social Security Earnings Record at ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10081.pdf. You can access important information like this any time at ssa.gov and do business online.