Social Security Phone Wait Times: The Best Times to Call
The Social Security Administration receives 80 million calls every year. Timing is everything if you want to get through.


No one likes to hang on the phone waiting for assistance; when the issue at hand is vital, such as maintaining your Social Security retirement or disability benefits, the stress and aggravation can make the situation worse. The best thing to do in this case is to prepare before calling the Social Security Administration (SSA) or filing a new claim for benefits so you'll know what to expect.
Announcements regarding workforce reductions, the consolidation and closing of in-person hearing offices at the SSA and the desire to move more customer service transactions online have some older Americans concerned about getting in touch with the SSA when they need to.
The data available on the Social Security website can give you the information you need to better time a phone call and to steel yourself for long wait times. In March 2025, the average amount of time a caller waited on hold to speak to a representative in English was 1 hour, 39 minutes.

Sign up for Kiplinger’s Free E-Newsletters
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and more - straight to your e-mail.
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice - straight to your e-mail.
Best times to call the Social Security Administration
The SSA typically receives 80 million calls each year to its national 800 phone number. Based on the average daily call volume data from April 2023 to March 2025, the SSA received its greatest number of calls in March 2025, with 10,428,157 calls for the month, averaging 483,549 calls per day. The second busiest month was January 2025, when they received 9,777,109, averaging 448,423 calls per day.
The passage of the Social Security Fairness Act resulted in a surge in calls to the SSA. Although they added a recorded message about the Act to the menu of automated services, more than 6,000 people each day still choose to wait to speak to a representative about the Act.
You can call the SSA at 1-800-772-1213 from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. local time, Monday through Friday. Wait times to speak to a representative are typically shorter in the morning, later in the week, and later in the month. Mondays are the busiest, and Fridays have shorter wait times, with the exception of the end of the day, when wait times steadily build to almost two hours by 5 p.m.
If you want to review the average wait times for every weekday for every hour from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., visit the Contact Social Security By Phone webpage to see the full breakdown.
Day | Best time to call before 12 | Best time to call after 12 | Worst time to call |
---|---|---|---|
Monday | 8 a.m.: average wait time is 25 minutes | 1 p.m.: average wait time is 1 hour, 32 minutes | 6 p.m.: average wait time is 2 hours, 27 minutes. At 7 p.m.: average wait time is 2 hours, 24 minutes |
Tuesday | 8 a.m.: average wait time is 24 minutes | 1 p.m.: average wait time is 1 hour, 37 minutes | 3 p.m.: average wait time is 2 hours, 3 minutes |
Wednesday | 8 a.m.: average wait time is 22 minute | 1 p.m.: average wait time is 1 hour, 26 minutes | 7 p.m.: average wait time is 2 hours, 4 minutes |
Thursday | 8 a.m.: average wait time is 21 minute | 1 p.m.: average wait time is 1 hour, 20 minutes | 7 p.m.: average wait time is 2 hours, 5 minutes |
Friday | 8 a.m.: average wait time is 21 minute | 1 p.m.: average wait time is 1 hour, 8 minutes | 7 p.m.: average wait time is 2 hours, 15 minutes |
Automated telephone services are available 24 hours a day and do not require you to wait to speak with a representative.
Average call wait and callback time trends
Average wait times predictably ticked up in January after the passage of the Social Security Fairness Act in late December, as demonstrated in the graph below. Wait times surged from 1 hour, 34 minutes to 1 hour, 52 minutes in January. Wait times slowly improved to 1 hour, 44 minutes in February and ticked down again by 5 minutes in March. to 1 hour, 39 minutes.
If you don't want to hang on the line, you can opt to have a representative call you back. The average amount of time a caller waited to receive a callback from a representative hasn't changed much from September 2024 to March 2025.
The shortest callback time in that period was in October 2024, when callers only waited 1 hour, 49 minutes for a callback. The longest wait was in January 2025, with an average wait time of 2 hours, 31 minutes; in March 2025, callback times were not much better at 2 hours, 30 minutes.
Bottom line
The SSA doesn't miss an opportunity to remind beneficiaries that the wait time for online services is zero minutes. If you need a bigger push to open a my Social Security account, here's a list of 15 Social Security tasks you can do online. These include applying for benefits, changing your direct deposit information and requesting a replacement Social Security or Medicare card.
Related Content
Profit and prosper with the best of Kiplinger's advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and much more. Delivered daily. Enter your email in the box and click Sign Me Up.

Donna joined Kiplinger as a personal finance writer in 2023. She spent more than a decade as the contributing editor of J.K.Lasser's Your Income Tax Guide and edited state specific legal treatises at ALM Media. She has shared her expertise as a guest on Bloomberg, CNN, Fox, NPR, CNBC and many other media outlets around the nation. She is a graduate of Brooklyn Law School and the University at Buffalo.
-
Cord Cutting Could Help You Save Over $10,000 in 10 Years
How cutting the cord can save you money and how those savings can grow over time.
-
The '8-Year Rule of Social Security' — A Retirement Rule
The '8-Year Rule of Social Security' holds that it's best to be like Ike — Eisenhower, that is. The five-star General knew a thing or two about good timing.
-
The '8-Year Rule of Social Security' — A Retirement Rule
The '8-Year Rule of Social Security' holds that it's best to be like Ike — Eisenhower, that is. The five-star General knew a thing or two about good timing.
-
Tips for Expat Retirees, From Expat Retirees
You may enjoy a lower cost of living by moving abroad, but it requires careful planning.
-
You Were Planning to Retire This Year: Should You Go Ahead?
If the economic climate is making you doubt whether you should retire this year, these three questions will help you make up your mind.
-
Are You Owed Money Thanks to the SSFA? You Might Need to Do Something to Get It
The Social Security Fairness Act removed restrictions on benefits for people with government pensions. If you're one of them, don't leave money on the table. Here's how you can be proactive in claiming what you're due.
-
From Wills to Wishes: An Expert Guide to Your Estate Planning Playbook
Consider supplementing your traditional legal documents with this essential road map to guide your loved ones through the emotional and logistical details that will follow your loss.
-
Why Retirees Need a Budget, According to a New Retiree
A new retiree explains why retirees need a budget.
-
Hiring a Financial Adviser: 10 Questions to Ask
When hiring a financial adviser, ask these 10 questions to weed out the duds and find the right person to manage your nest egg. After all, you're the boss.
-
Your Home + Your IRA = Your Long-Term Care Solution
If you're worried that long-term care costs will drain your retirement savings, consider a personalized retirement plan that could solve your problem.