American workers pay into Social Security through tax withholdings from their paychecks. As the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) explained, the withholdings are listed as FICA (Federal Insurance Contributions Act) contributions.
For most wage earners, the withholding equals 6.2% of earned income. But the Social Security Administration caps the amount of income subject to Social Security withholding, so high earners only pay the tax on a portion of what they earn. The cap is called the taxable maximum or contribution and benefit base and it’s expected to increase in 2026. That’s good news for some high earners and bad news for others.
