Average Wage Indexing Series

Automatic Increases

We use the national average wage indexing series to index the earnings of individuals for benefit computation purposes. We also use the series to index several amounts that are important to the operation of Social Security's Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability program.

The graph at right shows the growth in the Average Wage Index (AWI) from 1951 through 2006. Click on the graph to see the underlying AWI values and annual percentage increases.