Social Security COLA 2027: How It Is Set and When It Is Announced

The Social Security cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for 2027 has not been announced yet. It will equal the percentage rise in the CPI-W, a consumer price index published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, from July through September 2025 to July through September 2026, under 42 U.S.C. 415(i). The last of those three months, September 2026, is scheduled for release on October 14, 2026. The increase applies to benefits for December 2026, paid in January 2027. The current COLA, for 2026, is 2.8%.

This article explains how the federal Social Security COLA is calculated and applied, what it changes, and when the 2027 figures will be known. It covers Social Security retirement, survivors and disability (SSDI) benefits and federal SSI payments, which are the same in every state. State SSI supplements are covered briefly. The 2026 figures come from SSA's Federal Register notice for 2026, and the timing information is current as of September 28, 2026.

Social Security COLA 2027 at a glance

For the dollar figures that change with it (SSI payment levels, SGA, the trial work period), see SSI and SSDI amounts for 2027.

How the COLA is calculated

The COLA is automatic. Congress does not vote on it each year, and the Social Security Administration has no discretion over the number. The formula is in the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. 415(i), and SSA's regulations at 20 CFR 404.270 to 404.275.

The index. SSA uses the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W), published monthly by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. SSA's 2026 notice explains that the CPI-W was the only index when automatic COLAs began in 1975, and "we follow precedent by continuing to use the CPI-W."

The comparison. The law compares the average CPI-W for the third calendar quarter (July, August and September) of the current year with the average for the last quarter that produced a COLA. Since there was a COLA effective December 2025, the comparison for 2027 is the third quarter of 2026 against the third quarter of 2025.

The rounding. Under 20 CFR 404.275, SSA averages the three monthly figures, rounds the average to three decimals, divides the new average by the old one, and rounds the increase to the nearest 0.1%, with 0.05% and above rounding up. If the index did not rise, there is no COLA. The law defines a computation quarter as one where the increase is "greater than zero," so benefits never go down.

How the 2026 COLA of 2.8% was reached:

317.265 divided by 308.729 is 1.02765, an increase of 2.765%, which rounds to 2.8%. SSA's notice reports the same averages and the same result.

The 2027 calculation. The Q3 2025 average of 317.265 is now the base. The 2027 COLA will be the Q3 2026 average divided by 317.265, minus 1, rounded to 0.1%. The individual benefit then rises by that percentage, and under 415(i)(2)(A)(ii) each increased amount that is not a multiple of 10 cents is rounded down to the next lower 10 cents. SSA also rounds the final monthly payment down to a whole dollar (20 CFR 404.304(f)).

Watch out: Headlines about the "2027 COLA" before October usually report a forecast from an advocacy group or a financial publisher. Two of the three months that count are public, but September can still move the result, and SSA's announcement is the only official figure.

When the 2027 COLA will be announced

No law sets an announcement date. The COLA can be announced only after the Bureau of Labor Statistics releases the September CPI, because September is the last month in the formula.

• Scheduled data release: BLS's published 2026 schedule lists the September 2026 CPI for Wednesday, October 14, 2026, at 8:30 a.m. Eastern.
• Legal deadline: SSA must publish its determination in the Federal Register "within 45 days after the close of such quarter," which is November 14, 2026 (42 U.S.C. 415(i)(2)(D)).
• Last year's pattern: In 2025, the September CPI was released on October 24, 2025, later than usual, and the BLS release noted that September data collection had been completed before a lapse in appropriations. SSA's Federal Register notice with the 2.8% COLA and the other 2026 figures followed on November 3, 2025.

The practical reading is that the 2027 COLA should be known on or shortly after October 14, 2026, provided BLS publishes on schedule. A delay in the CPI release, as in 2025, delays the COLA with it.

What the CPI-W shows so far in 2026

BLS has already released two of the three months that count. These are official index levels, not a forecast.

The COLA uses the three-month average, so September matters as much as July or August. For example, the average of July and August 2026 is about 3.5% above the same two months of 2025, but a September figure that rose more or less than that would move the final number. We do not publish a COLA estimate. The actual figure will be here once SSA announces it.

The 2026 Social Security Trustees Report projected a 2.7% COLA for December 2026 under its intermediate assumptions. July and August 2026 CPI-W are each more than 3% above a year earlier, so that projection is already out of date. None of these is an official COLA.

When the increase shows up in your payment

Social Security and SSDI. The COLA applies to benefits for the month of December 2026. Social Security pays each month's benefit in the following month, so December's increased benefit arrives in January 2027. SSA's 2026 notice uses the same language: benefits increased "beginning with benefits for December 2025, which are payable in January 2026."

SSI. Federal SSI payment rates rise for January 2027. SSI is normally paid on the first of the month, but when the first falls on a weekend or legal holiday, SSA pays on the prior business day (20 CFR 416.502). January 1, 2027, New Year's Day, is a Friday, so the January 2027 SSI payment, the first one at the new rate, should arrive on Thursday, December 31, 2026. That follows the same pattern as the 2026 increase, which SSA's notice said was "effective for payments made for January 2026 but paid on December 31, 2025."

New beneficiaries. The COLA for a given December applies to people already eligible. SSA's 2026 notice explained that for people first eligible after 2025, "the 2.8 percent increase will not apply," because their benefit is computed with that year's own formula. The same logic applies in 2027.

What the COLA changes, and what it does not

The same Federal Register notice that announces the COLA also publishes figures tied to wages, and the two are often confused.

Tied to the COLA (rise by the same percentage):

• Social Security retirement, survivors and disability (SSDI) benefits
• Federal SSI payment levels, which rise by the COLA and are then rounded down to a multiple of $12 a year (20 CFR 416.405)
• The SSI student earned income exclusion
• The Title VIII special benefit for certain World War II veterans, and the fee limits for representative payees and for the assessment on direct payment of representatives' fees

Tied to the national average wage index (move with wages, not prices):

• The maximum earnings subject to Social Security tax (the contribution and benefit base, $184,500 in 2026)
• The retirement earnings test limits
• The earnings needed for a quarter of coverage
• Substantial gainful activity (SGA) for blind and non-blind workers with disabilities, and the trial work period amount
• The bend points in the benefit formula for people first eligible in 2027

Three of these, the taxable maximum, the earnings test limits and blind SGA, rise only in a year that also has a COLA.

Not indexed at all:

• SSI's resource limits, $2,000 for an individual and $3,000 for a couple, have been fixed in the statute since January 1, 1989 (42 U.S.C. 1382(a)(3)(A) and (B)).
• The income thresholds for taxing Social Security benefits, $25,000 and $34,000 for a single filer and $32,000 and $44,000 for a joint return, are written into 26 U.S.C. 86 with no inflation adjustment. As benefits rise with each COLA, more of them can cross those fixed lines.

A no-COLA year shows the difference. When there was no COLA for 2016, SSA's notice kept the taxable maximum, the earnings test limits and blind SGA at their 2015 levels, while still raising the non-blind SGA and trial work period amounts.

Medicare Part B and the COLA

The COLA and the Medicare Part B premium are set by different agencies. SSA sets the COLA, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) sets the premium. For most people the premium is deducted from the Social Security check, so both affect the net deposit.

• The 2026 premium. The standard Part B premium for 2026 is $202.90 a month, up $17.90 from $185.00 in 2025. CMS announced it on November 14, 2025, a few weeks after the COLA. The 2027 premium has not been announced.
• The hold-harmless rule. 42 U.S.C. 1395r(f) bars a Part B premium increase from lowering a person's net Social Security benefit from November to December, if the person received benefits for both months and had the premium deducted. In a year with a small COLA and a large premium increase, some people's premium rises only as much as their COLA allows.
• Who is not protected. The hold-harmless rule does not cover people who pay the income-related monthly adjustment amount (IRMAA), people whose premium is not deducted from their Social Security benefit, or people who were not receiving Social Security for November and December 2026 with the premium deducted for December 2026 and January 2027, such as new Part B enrollees. CMS's premium notice states that the rule "does not apply to beneficiaries who are required to pay an income-related monthly adjustment amount."

SSI state supplements and the COLA

Many states add their own payment on top of federal SSI. A state that pays a supplement and takes part in Medicaid must "pass along" federal SSI increases, meaning it cannot cut its supplement to absorb the federal COLA (42 U.S.C. 1382g; 20 CFR 416.2095). The rule has a flexible option: a state can lower some supplement levels if its total yearly spending on supplements does not fall. States with no supplement have nothing to pass along. Your state's supplement is covered on its page in the Social Security disability by state guide.

VA disability and the Social Security COLA

VA disability compensation usually rises by the same percentage as the Social Security COLA, but not automatically. Congress passes a Veterans' Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act each year that adopts the Social Security percentage. The 2026 version, for the December 2026 increase, had not been enacted as of September 28, 2026. The VA disability rates 2027 guide tracks it.

This article provides general information about the federal Social Security cost-of-living adjustment, not legal, tax or financial advice. RecordingLaw.com is not affiliated with the Social Security Administration. Figures were verified on September 28, 2026 against the Federal Register, the U.S. Code, the eCFR and Bureau of Labor Statistics data, and this page will be updated when SSA announces the 2027 COLA.

Statutes cited reflect their in-force version as of 2026-09-28.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Social Security COLA for 2027?

It has not been announced. It will be the percentage increase in the average CPI-W for July to September 2026 over the July to September 2025 average of 317.265, rounded to the nearest 0.1%. The September 2026 CPI is scheduled for release on October 14, 2026.

When will the 2027 COLA be announced?

After the Bureau of Labor Statistics releases the September 2026 CPI, scheduled for October 14, 2026. No law fixes the announcement date; the statute requires SSA to publish the determination within 45 days after September 30. In 2025 the CPI release slipped to October 24 during a lapse in appropriations.

When will I get the 2027 COLA increase?

Social Security and SSDI beneficiaries see it in the payment for December 2026, which arrives in January 2027. SSI recipients get the new rate in the January 2027 payment, which is paid on December 31, 2026, because January 1 is a holiday.

How is the Social Security COLA calculated?

By formula under 42 U.S.C. 415(i). SSA averages the CPI-W for July, August and September, compares that average with the same quarter in the last COLA year, and rounds the percentage increase to the nearest tenth of a percent. If prices did not rise, there is no COLA.

Does the COLA apply to SSI and SSDI?

Yes. SSDI is a Social Security benefit and gets the same percentage. Federal SSI payment levels rise by the same percentage and are then rounded down to a multiple of $12 a year. Some other disability figures, such as SGA and the trial work period, follow wage growth instead.

Will Medicare Part B take my whole COLA?

For most people, it cannot reduce the net check. The hold-harmless rule in 42 U.S.C. 1395r(f) limits the premium increase so a person's net benefit does not fall from November to December. It does not protect people who pay IRMAA, people whose premium is not deducted from their Social Security benefit, or people who did not have Social Security for November and December with the premium deducted, such as new Part B enrollees. The 2027 premium has not been announced.

Can Social Security benefits go down if prices fall?

No. The law allows a COLA only when the index increase is greater than zero, so a price decline means no COLA that year, not a cut. That happened for 2016, when there was no increase.