COLA Ledger

An independent reference — not affiliated with the Social Security Administration. Every figure traced to the government publication that produced it.

The 2027 Social Security COLA is 3.6%

Cost-of-living adjustment for 2027, announced 14 October 2026

3.6%

Effective with benefits payable for December 2026; first paid in January 2027.

3.6% is the largest adjustment since 2023's 8.7%. Each year named is the one the adjustment first reached a check. Every adjustment since 1975.

Determined in
2026December-effective
First in a check
January 2027
Comparison quarter
Q3 2026CPI-W 328.746
Base quarter
Q3 2025CPI-W 317.265

Reproduced from the six CPI-W readings behind it

The adjustment is the increase from the third-quarter 2025 CPI-W average — 2025 being the last year in which an adjustment became effective — to the third-quarter 2026 average, rounded to the nearest tenth of a percent.

CPI-W monthly index values and quarterly averages behind the 2027 adjustment
QuarterMonthCPI-W index
Base — Q3 2025July 2025316.349
August 2025317.306
September 2025318.139
Base quarter average317.265
Comparison — Q3 2026July 2026327.104
August 2026328.481
September 2026330.654
Comparison quarter average328.746

The build's blocking gate, passed

Recomputed from the committed series: (328.746 − 317.265) ÷ 317.265 = 3.619%, which rounds to 3.6% — equal to SSA’s announced figure. Had the two disagreed, nothing on this site would have published.

What 3.6% does to a benefit — gross

Gross only — the new year’s Part B premium is not in these figures

SSA announced a 3.6% cost-of-living adjustment for 2027 on 14 October 2026. No 2027 Part B premium is used here. CMS announces it separately, on a date that varies from year to year, and this site does not estimate it — so no net 2027 figure is shown.

Gross monthly benefit from January 2027, floored to the whole dollar, for a benefit of the stated amount in 2026
Benefit in 2026Gross from January 2027Change
SSA's average retired-worker benefit in 2026, $2,071$2,145+$74
A $1,000 benefit in 2026$1,036+$36
A $2,000 benefit in 2026$2,072+$72
A $3,000 benefit in 2026$3,108+$108

These rows start from the benefit as paid in 2026, after the 2.8% 2026 adjustment. The per-amount ledger pages start a year earlier: the $3,000 page follows a $3,000 benefit from 2025, which the 2026 adjustment made $3,084, and carries that amount forward.

The 2027 Part B premium is a separate announcement

CMS announces the following year’s Part B premium on its own schedule, not the adjustment’s: it released the 2018 to 2026 premiums on dates from 27 September (the 2023 premium) to 17 November (the 2018 premium). Until it does, a gross figure exists and a net one does not, and this site will not estimate the premium to close that gap. In 2026 the premium was $202.90 and it took 31.96% of the raise on a $2,000 benefit. That is the shape of what the premium does, not a prediction of its size. When CMS announces it, year by year.

What this page projected before September was published

This URL carried the projection from August until announcement morning and was superseded in place. The last band it could have shown — on July and August data — is kept here so the record stays legible.

Superseded projection — kept for the record

Projection based on July and August 2026 CPI-W, two of the three third-quarter months that decide the 2027 COLA. Superseded by the announced 3.6%; kept so the record of what this page projected stays legible.

The 2027 projection on CPI-W through August 2026, against the announced figure
IfThird-quarter averageWould have been
CPI-W holds at its August 2026 level of 328.481 through September.328.0223.4%
Each unpublished month grows at the geometric mean monthly change over the 12 months to August 2026.328.3383.5%
Each unpublished month grows at the geometric mean monthly change over the 3 months to August 2026.327.9833.4%
Announced328.7463.6%

Use this table

Free to use with a link to this page. Download the per-amount table (CSV) — $100 steps from $500 to $5,000 as 2026 benefits, plus SSA’s average, from the same computation as the table above. Every adjustment since 1975, with its recomputation (CSV).

Embed the table

Paste this anywhere. It carries its own styling, loads nothing, keeps its sources with it, and credits COLA Ledger with a link.

<table style="border-collapse:collapse;max-width:720px;font:14px/1.5 Georgia,serif;font-variant-numeric:tabular-nums;color:#17170f">
  <caption style="text-align:left;font-weight:700;padding:0 0 8px">The 2027 Social Security COLA (3.6%) by benefit amount, gross</caption>
  <thead>
    <tr style="background:#f6ecdc"><th scope="col" style="padding:6px 10px;text-align:left">Benefit in 2026</th><th scope="col" style="padding:6px 10px;text-align:right">From January 2027</th><th scope="col" style="padding:6px 10px;text-align:right">Change</th></tr>
  </thead>
  <tbody>
    <tr><td style="padding:6px 10px;border-bottom:1px solid #e4e1d8">SSA's average retired-worker benefit in 2026, $2,071</td><td style="padding:6px 10px;border-bottom:1px solid #e4e1d8;text-align:right">$2,145</td><td style="padding:6px 10px;border-bottom:1px solid #e4e1d8;text-align:right">+$74</td></tr>
    <tr><td style="padding:6px 10px;border-bottom:1px solid #e4e1d8">A $1,000 benefit in 2026</td><td style="padding:6px 10px;border-bottom:1px solid #e4e1d8;text-align:right">$1,036</td><td style="padding:6px 10px;border-bottom:1px solid #e4e1d8;text-align:right">+$36</td></tr>
    <tr><td style="padding:6px 10px;border-bottom:1px solid #e4e1d8">A $2,000 benefit in 2026</td><td style="padding:6px 10px;border-bottom:1px solid #e4e1d8;text-align:right">$2,072</td><td style="padding:6px 10px;border-bottom:1px solid #e4e1d8;text-align:right">+$72</td></tr>
    <tr><td style="padding:6px 10px;border-bottom:1px solid #e4e1d8">A $3,000 benefit in 2026</td><td style="padding:6px 10px;border-bottom:1px solid #e4e1d8;text-align:right">$3,108</td><td style="padding:6px 10px;border-bottom:1px solid #e4e1d8;text-align:right">+$108</td></tr>
  </tbody>
  <tfoot>
    <tr><td colspan="3" style="padding:8px 10px 0;font-size:12px;color:#4a4739">SSA announced a 3.6% cost-of-living adjustment for 2027 on 14 October 2026. Gross, floored to the whole dollar. No 2027 Part B premium is used here. CMS announces it separately, on a date that varies from year to year, and this site does not estimate it — so no net 2027 figure is shown. Source: <a href="https://colaledger.com/cola-2027/" rel="nofollow">COLA Ledger</a>.</td></tr>
  </tfoot>
</table>

One month in this series will never exist

BLS did not publish an October 2025 Consumer Price Index. Due to a lapse in appropriations, BLS could not collect October 2025 reference period survey data and was unable to retroactively collect these data.

It did not affect this adjustment — the third quarter of 2026 and the third quarter of 2025 are both intact. What the gap does, and what it does not do.

Common questions

What is the 2027 COLA?

3.6%. SSA announced a 3.6% cost-of-living adjustment for 2027 on 14 October 2026. It takes effect with benefits payable for December 2026, so it first reaches checks in January 2027.

How much will my check go up in 2027?

Gross, by 3.6% floored to the whole dollar: a $2,000 benefit becomes $2,072. Net depends on the 2027 Medicare Part B premium, which CMS announces separately, on a date that varies from year to year. This site does not estimate it.

Can the announced figure be checked?

Yes, and this page does it. The third-quarter 2026 CPI-W average of 328.746 against the third-quarter 2025 average of 317.265 is an increase of 3.619%, which rounds to 3.6%. The build refuses to publish if that does not equal SSA's figure.

What did this page project before September was published?

Projection based on July and August 2026 CPI-W, two of the three third-quarter months that decide the 2027 COLA. The flat-carry scenario gave 3.4%; all three scenarios are kept below, labelled as superseded.

The arithmetic behind all of this

Sources and freshness

The 2027 figure is SSA's announced adjustment, reproduced from the committed CPI-W series before publication.

Figures effective December 2026, first paid January 2027. Page figures last verified against the sources above on 15 October 2026. BLS data retrieved 15 October 2026. BLS.gov cannot vouch for data or analyses derived from these data after retrieval. Corrections: the correction log · support@inventum.com.au