Social Security Customer Service

Phone Number & Contact Information

800-772-1213
Toll-free·Calls Customer Service·Most popular Social Security number
Q:How do I get a live human at Social Security?
A:Press 0 then 1 then 2 then 1, then 0# then 1
Q:Does Social Security offer 24 hour customer service?
A:Not at this number; hours here are Mon-Fri 7am-7pm EST. The least busy day is Wednesday, and the most busy day is Monday. Details
Q:How long will I have to wait on hold?
A:The average hold time is 38 minutes. The longest hold times are on Monday, and the shortest are on Tuesday.
Read below for more aboutother numbersgetting a repmenuspromptshold timesbusy timescommon issuesother contact information

More Social Security Customer Phone Numbers

800-269-0271 - Fraud Detection
Toll-free · This is the number for the Social Security Administration ID Theft/Fraud Reporting · Fraud Hotline - Received a call from someone, press 1. Report identity theft, press 2. Report Medicare or Medicaid fraud, press 3. Need help with social security benefits, press 4. To report social security fraud, press 5.
410-965-9334 - International Customer Service
Calling this Social Security number should go right to a real human being ·

How do I get through the phone menu to a real live person?

GetHuman researchers routinely call this Social Security phone number to document the phone system.
Here is our latest tip for weaving through the phone menu to get to a real person the fastest: Press 0 then 1 then 2 then 1, then 0# then 1
Here is how our research team describes the way the Social Security phone system greets you: How can I help you today?
Below are some clips we've found from Social Security's phone menus and tips that help give an idea of what you will encounter when you call. We've highlighted why they are important as well:
Heard when the phone system first answers
"Thank you for calling Social Security. Our website, w w w dot s s a dot g o v, is the best way to get help. Please be of individuals impersonating Social Security employees over the phone. If you suspect you have received a scam call, you should report details of the call to the office of the inspector general online at w w w dot o I g dot s s a dot gov slash report. To ensure quality, your call may be monitored or recorded. At the conclusion of your call, we would like you to participate in a short survey and tell us about your experience. If you would like to participate in the survey, please stay on the line after the agent hangs up. The twenty twenty four cost of living adjustment or COLA for Social Security and Security Income or SSI beneficiaries will be three point two percent. Changes in payment amount resulting from the COLA will be included in the SSI payments dated December twenty ninth twenty twenty three, and the Security payments dated January twenty twenty four. If you opted to receive messages in message center through your My Social Security account, we will send email or text when your colon notice is available."
Excerpt from a call with Social Security
Sunday, January 21, 2024 6:42 AM
They may ask you to say or enter information
"Thank you for calling Social Security. To ensure quality, your call may be monitored or recorded. Please be aware of individuals impersonating social Security employees over the phone. If you suspect you have received a scam call, you should report the details of the call to the office of the inspector general online at o I g dot s s a dot g o v forward slash report. You can find the Social Security Administration online at w w w dot social security dot g o v. Just so you're aware, our offices are currently closed, but I can help you. If you need to speak with someone, please call back during our regular office hours Monday through Friday, eight AM to seven PM. How can I I need
Let's try again?
You can say claim status or press one."
Excerpt from a call with Social Security
Saturday, March 16, 2024 5:26 PM

What are the hours and when should I call?

Social Security operates the call center for this 800-772-1213 phone number Mon-Fri 7am-7pm ET. The short answer is that you should call on a Wednesday. This observation and the following section are based on analysis of a sample set of 213 calls made in the last 90 days using our free, web-based phone (see above).
An important note: busy times vs hold times vs best time to call
When we refer to busy or less busy times, we are talking about the volume of calls. The busiest times are when the most people are calling this Social Security phone number (least busy times have fewer people calling). This high call volume does not necessarily mean that you will have a long hold time when you call. Companies like Social Security staff their call centers differently based on the time of day and day of the week, so you may experience a shorter wait on hold at the busiest of times. When we refer to the best time to call, we are referring to the optimal combination of lower call volume and shorter wait times.
The least busy time to call
The least busy day to call Social Security is Wednesday. The most busy day to call is Monday, which averages 54% more phone calls by comparison. Again, this is based on a sample of 213 calls made with our AI-powered, web-based phone in the last 90 days.
Mon
Busiest
Tue
Wed
Quietest
Thu
Fri
The shortest wait on hold
We measured the shortest hold times to be on Tuesday. The longest wait in the queue on average occurs on Monday.
The best time to call
In summation, the best day to call Social Security is Wednesday. This is not the day with the shortest wait on hold in the phone system, but we still recommend it for its ideal combination of low call volume and short hold times. Plus we believe that Social Security staffs the call center well on Wednesday.

Why call this Social Security number?

Below is a sample of recent calls to Social Security, and their purpose. Are any of these similar to the reason you are trying to call?
Update deposit information: "I would like to update my deposit information."
- From a call lasting 22m 31s , Apr 12, 2024 10:37 PM
Requesting replacement SSA forms: "Need to find out how I go about printing out a replacement SSA ten ninety nine or an SSA ten forty two f."
- From a call lasting 14m 18s , Apr 11, 2024 7:51 PM
Seeking agent assistance: "I need help from an agent."
- From a call lasting 3m 50s , Apr 11, 2024 3:50 PM
Seeking assistance with account: "How can I help you today? Thank you representative."
- From a call lasting 2m 50s , Apr 10, 2024 5:43 PM
Assistance with amended returns: "Hello. I sent a new ten forty for the years twenty nineteen and twenty twenty with a higher income, and it's not reflecting in my earning statement."
- From a call lasting 46m 7s , Mar 27, 2024 2:00 PM
Inquiring about spousal benefits: "I'm calling about Social Security, inquiring about spousal benefits."
- From a call lasting 71m 9s , Mar 26, 2024 9:56 PM
Payment inquiry: "Why is my payment short?"
- From a call lasting 3m 28s , Mar 23, 2024 10:31 AM
Information request: "I need to find out about the"
- From a call lasting 6m 44s , Mar 16, 2024 3:17 AM
Requesting tax information: "How do I get some tax information?"
- From a call lasting 1m 56s , Mar 11, 2024 6:19 PM
Online support: "I need help with my online account."
- From a call lasting 4m 25s , Mar 7, 2024 10:37 PM

My Experience Calling 800-772-1213

Nov 20, 2023

I have been putting off calling Social Security to change my name after my marriage because I knew that the phone lines would probably be ridiculous. The Social Security office is known for being backed up, and the service is notoriously bad. Some of this is probably not their fault, but they have to deal with so many different things, from SSI to Medicare to Social Security cards for every single person in the US. That probably means they have more people who need help than people who work there. 

For this reason, I was delighted to get through the call in under ten minutes. This is largely because it turns out that I didn't need to talk to someone to finish my name request. This in itself was actually a delight. I would rather use an automated system than sit for hours waiting to talk to someone who will tell me the same thing. Therefore, in the end, it turns out that calling Social Security is not as bad as I thought it would be. 

When I first called, they said, "Thank you for calling Social Security." This part was annoying because I had to listen to many messages that had nothing to do with my phone call. I had to listen to a speech about some type of COLA product, and I don't even know what that is. Then, I had to listen to them announce the 2024 Medicare premium amount, which again was unrelated to my request. I also learned that I could sign up for benefit updates via text, but since I don't have Medicare, this was useless information. 

The next lecture was a warning that people impersonate Social Security workers online. Then, I was told to go online to access a lot of information. Finally, the automated voice assistant said, "How can I help you? You can say things like update my personal information or find a social security office near you." I told it I needed to update my personal info, and then I got this list: "You can say name, or press 1. 
Address or phone number, or press 2. Bank account details, press 3. Or for something else, press 4."

I chose name, and then it told me, "There is no charge to correct or change your information." Then I got a lot of information about how I had to get a certain form and fill it out. In addition, people not born in the US have to do more work. After that, it gave me more options, which included: "Get an application form. Get help fling out a form. Get information about supporting offices. Or find an office." I chose to get a form, and it walked me through how to get it mailed to me. It took a few minutes to work through the system and give out my address, but now I have to worry about the form arriving in my mailbox, and I can finish the task. 

Christian has been writing about long hold times and customer service call center experiences since 2010. He's been featured in Bloomberg, the Wall Street Journal and the Boston Globe.

More Ways to Contact Social Security Customer Service

There are of course other ways to contact Social Security customer service besides the phone. Below we list the best ones, by medium.
Social Security's website
As a last, sometimes only, resort- Social Security customer service can be accessed through their website. This can entail digging through help articles before finding a form and "being allowed" to submit a problem to their team, and rarely leads to a real-time conversation, which is why GetHuman does not recommend this unless it's the only way.

Conclusion and closing notes

This is Social Security's best phone number, the real-time current wait on hold and tools for skipping right through those phone lines to get right to a Social Security agent. This phone number is Social Security's best phone number because 212,472 customers like you used this contact information over the last 18 months and gave us feedback. Common problems addressed by the customer care unit that answers calls to 800-772-1213 include Missing Payment, Question About Benefits, Report Fraud, Update Account Info, Can't Login and other customer service issues. The Social Security call center that you call into has employees from Illinois, Massachusetts, New Mexico and is open Mon-Fri 7am-7pm ET according to customers. In total, Social Security has 3 phone numbers. It's not always clear what is the best way to talk to Social Security representatives, so we started compiling this information built from suggestions from the customer community. Please keep sharing your experiences so we can continue to improve this free resource.

GetHuman does not provide call center services or customer support operations for Social Security. The two organizations are not related. GetHuman builds free tools and shares information to help customers of companies like Social Security. For large companies that includes tools such as our GetHuman Phone, which allows you to call a company but skip the part where you wait on the line to get a live human rep. We continue to work on these tools to help customers like you (and ourselves!) navigate the messy phone menus, hold times, and confusion with customer service. As long as you keep sharing it with your friends and loved ones, we'll keep doing it.

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