Social Security Cost-of-Living Adjustments COLA

Before 1975 Congress raised Social Security benefits only by passing laws. The 1972 amendments made raises automatic, tied to inflation, starting in 1975. Each October the Social Security Administration compares the average consumer price index for urban wage earners and clerical workers, known as CPI-W, for July through September with the same months a year earlier, and benefits rise by that percentage starting in January. If prices do not rise, there is no raise, as happened in 2010, 2011, and 2016.

Recent adjustments have tracked inflation closely: 5.9 percent for 2022, 8.7 percent for 2023, the largest since 1981, 3.2 percent for 2024, 2.5 percent for 2025, and 2.8 percent for 2026. On October 14, 2026, the agency announced a 3.6 percent increase for 2027 for about 76 million people, raising the average retired worker's check from about 2,095 to 2,170 dollars a month. The same percentage applies to Supplemental Security Income, veterans' disability pay, and federal retirement pay.

Medicare Part B premiums are usually deducted from Social Security checks, so premium increases can absorb part of the raise, though a hold-harmless rule keeps most people's net check from falling. Advocates for seniors argue the CPI-W understates their costs and favor an index weighted to older people's spending, such as health care and housing, while some budget experts favor a slower-growing chained index to reduce costs. Either change would require Congress to act.