Social Security’s phone line averaged 7 minutes of wait time by September 2025, down from 30 minutes in January 2025. However, the agency’s own inspector general found that the figure leaves out a group of callers who waited far longer.
The Social Security Administration (SSA) Office of the Inspector General’s December 2025 audit of the agency’s phone metrics found that the average speed of answer does not include time spent waiting for a callback.
When a caller accepted a callback offer, SSA counted the wait as zero. Callback waits averaged 1 hour and 49 minutes in October 2024 and 1 hour and 2 minutes in September 2025, the audit found.
The audit also reported that about 25 million calls in fiscal 2025 (October 2024 to September 2025) ended without callers receiving service, including hang-ups and unanswered callbacks. Abandoned calls peaked at 3.4 million per month in January 2025 and fell to 911,000 per month by September.
The picture is not all bad: SSA handled 68 million callers in fiscal 2025, up 65% from fiscal 2024, with employees handling about 33 million and automation handling about 35 million.
The agency’s case
Commissioner Frank Bisignano said in June 2026 that wait times on the 1-800 number had fallen from 42 minutes to under 5 minutes, Federal News Network reported. He has argued that technology, not extra headcount, is what improves service.
SSA leadership has also said the audit confirmed the accuracy of the figures the agency reports, according to Nextgov. The inspector general did not issue recommendations.
Fewer staff
SSA has about 50,000 employees, the lowest in decades, after roughly 7,000 left through separation incentives in 2025, Federal News Network reported.
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a research group that has criticized the agency’s personnel policies, reported that SSA lost about 7,500 employees, or 13%, between January 2025 and January 2026, leaving it with the fewest workers since 1967.
The group also reported that fewer than 100 people were hired in 2025, the disability hearing backlog reached nearly 344,000 cases by February 2026, and local offices held 12 million unprocessed transactions.
The audit adds a wrinkle. Beginning in July 2025, roughly 1,000 field office employees each day were assigned to answer national 800-number calls, and on those days they did not do field office work. The audit did not evaluate whether that affected service at local offices.
How to avoid the phone line
A my Social Security account lets you change your address or direct deposit, print proof of benefits or tax forms, request a replacement Social Security card, review your earnings and generate benefit estimates, according to SSA. Setting one up before you need it also helps, because opening your account early can block thieves from rerouting your benefits.
If the call is only about when money arrives, check the calendar on the SSA’s website.
If you do call, a callback may spare you the hold, but the audit’s September 2025 average callback wait was about an hour, and calls that went unanswered when SSA rang back counted among those that ended without service. Keep your phone free while you wait.
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