2027 Social Security COLA
Official: 3.6%

The 2027 Social Security cost-of-living adjustment is 3.6%. The Social Security Administration announced it on 14 October 2026, after the Bureau of Labor Statistics published September 2026 CPI-W, the last of the three months that set it.

It is up from the 2.8% COLA paid in 2026 and is the largest increase since 2023. It applies to Social Security benefits payable from January 2027; SSI payments rise from 31 December 2026.

For about 72 million Social Security beneficiaries, the 3.6% increase starts with benefits payable in January 2027. For about 7.3 million people receiving Supplemental Security Income (SSI), the higher payment begins on 31 December 2026.

SSA posts COLA notices in my Social Security accounts from late November and mails the rest in December.

By law the COLA equals the percentage increase in the average CPI-W (the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers) for July, August and September, compared with the same three months of the previous year, rounded to the nearest 0.1%. The Q3 2025 average was 317.265.

In 2026, July printed 327.104, August 328.481 and September 330.654, an average of 328.746. That is 3.619% higher, which rounds to 3.6%.

September 2026 CPI-W was 330.654 (BLS series CWUR0000SA0), up 3.93% from September 2025's 318.139 and 0.66% above August 2026's 328.481. It was the final month of the measurement quarter and the hottest of the three, which is what pushed the COLA to the top of the 3.4%–3.6% range forecasters had projected.

SSA estimates the average retired-worker benefit rises from $2,095 to $2,170 a month in January 2027, about $75 more per month or roughly $900 over the year. Your own increase is your benefit multiplied by 1.036; for example, a $1,500 benefit rises to $1,554.

Enter your benefit above to see your figure. Any increase in your Medicare Part B premium is deducted from the same payment, so the deposit can rise by less.

Because they are computed on different averages, and most coverage quotes the dollar figure without the base. SSA's own fact sheet uses the average for all retired workers ($2,095 before the COLA, $2,170 after).

Advocacy groups such as The Senior Citizens League often use the lower all-beneficiary average, which includes disabled workers and survivors, so their dollar figure is smaller. The percentage, 3.6%, is the same for everyone.

After the August CPI-W report on 11 September 2026, forecasts ranged from 3.4% to 3.6%. AARP's 3.6% was exact.

Independent analyst Mary Johnson and The Senior Citizens League projected 3.5%, and the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget was reported at 3.4%. A September CPI-W reading 0.66% above August took the final figure to the top of the range.

SSA's 2027 fact sheet also raises the maximum earnings subject to Social Security tax from $184,500 to $192,300, the retirement earnings test limit for people under full retirement age from $24,480 to $25,560 a year, and the SSI federal payment for an individual from $994 to $1,029 a month. The maximum benefit for a worker retiring at full retirement age rises from $4,152 to $4,188 a month.

It's larger than 2026's 2.8% and the highest since 2023. But a COLA only maintains purchasing power against measured inflation; it isn't a real raise.

Advocacy groups note CPI-W tracks working-age spending, not the housing and medical costs that weigh more heavily on retirees, so many feel a COLA doesn't fully keep pace. Medicare Part B premium changes for 2027 can offset part of the increase.