The paper utilizes panel data from 31 provinces and cities in China spanning from 2012 to 2021. Integrating the current status of digital economy and high-quality development of social security, the study employs the entropy method to compute composite development indices for both. Building upon this, fixed effects models and mediation models are employed to empirically analyze the mechanisms through which the digital economy impacts the high-quality development of social security. Additionally, spatial Durbin models are used to further explore the impact of the digital economy on high-quality social security development. The research findings indicate, after rigorous robustness checks, that the digital economy continues to exhibit a significant positive effect, promoting the high-quality development of social security. In driving high-quality social security development, technological innovation plays a critical role as a conduit pathway.