Social Security Phone Number

Call Social Security customer service faster with GetHuman

  • Calls Social Security's Customer Service department
  • The average hold time is 38m
  • Hours are Mon-Fri 7am-7pm EST
  • The best time to call is 7:15am
  • Popular issues for this call center: Missing Payment, Question About Benefits, Report Fraud, Update Account Info, and Can't Login.
  • Reach a live Social Security agent: Press 0 then 1 then 2 then 1, then 0# then 1
  • What you hear when you call: How can I help you today?

What to expect when you call

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

Calling Social Security Customer Care at 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.

Social Security Customer Phone Number 800-772-1213 - Stats

Phone number to dial800-772-1213
Call-back availableYES
Call picked up by a real personYES
Department you're callingCustomer Service
Call center hoursMon-Fri 7am-7pm EST
Best time to dial7:15am
Average wait38 minutes
Current wait41 minutes
Rank (among phone numbers)1
Rank (overall)1
Communication channelsphone, web
Quality of communication55%
Quality of help40%
Customer votes41,772
Information last updatedMon Mar 25 2024 09:00:00 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)

Social Security's Best Toll-Free/800 Customer Phone Number

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 EST 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.

What is GetHuman's Relationship to Social Security?

In short, the two companies are not related. GetHuman builds free tools and shares information amongst 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 listening to their call technology music. We've created these shortcuts and apps to try to help customers like you (and ourselves!) navigate the messy phone menus, hold times, and confusion with customer service, especially with larger companies. And as long as you keep sharing it with your friends and loved ones, we'll keep doing it.

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Beyond the Phone Number

There are other ways to get in touch with Social Security, including their website / help desk. Visit our Social Security Customer Service page for more information.
Social Security Customer Service

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