Is your May Social Security check running late? Here’s why and when you will receive it

Owing to a quirk in the calendar, millions of Social Security recipients have been hit with an unusually long wait for their benefits this month.

Most of the U.S.’s 66.4 million Social Security beneficiaries are paid on one of three Wednesdays each month, beginning on the second Wednesday.

Because May 2025 began on a Thursday, the first of these payment dates did not arrive until the 14th - the latest possible point in the month.

Here are May 2025’s Wednesday payment dates:

Under the three-Wednesdays system, recipients of Social Security retirement, disability or survivor benefits are paid on the second, third or fourth Wednesday in each month, depending on their date of birth.

In May 2025, this translates into the following payment timeline:

Who escapes the long May wait for Social Security benefits?

Beneficiaries who began claiming retirement, disability or survivor checks before May 1997 are paid on the 3rd of each month, regardless of their date of birth.

Indeed, these long-term Social Security recipients got their money early this month: the 3rd fell on a Saturday, so their payment date was brought forward to Friday, May 2.

What’s more, if you benefit from both Social Security and the Supplemental Security Income scheme - a separate program for low-income Americans who are over 65 or have a disability - you should also have got the former on the 2nd. (SSI was scheduled to be paid out on Thursday, May 1).

Will May’s long wait for benefits happen again in 2025?

No. May is the only month in 2025 when the three-Wednesdays system doesn’t kick in until as late as the 14th.

This month’s long wait for payment contrasts with January and October 2025 - both months in which the second Wednesday fell/will fall on the 8th, the earliest possible date.

What happens next month?

In June 2025, the second, third and fourth Wednesday fall on the 11th, 18th and 25th, respectively.

You can check out the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) full payment calendar for 2025 on the agency website.

How much is Social Security retirement, disability and survivor pay?

Retired workers - who account for nearly three-quarters of all Social Security recipients - are paid an average of $1,999.97 a month, according to the SSA.

Disabled workers get an average of $1,581.88 a month, and survivor benefits are worth a monthly average of $1,565.52.

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