Social Security COLA 2027: The Official 3.6% Increase and What Your Check Will Be

The Social Security COLA for 2027 is official: 3.6 percent. The Social Security Administration announced it on October 14, 2026, and it raises Social Security and SSI payments for about 76 million people.

For a retired worker, SSA says the average check goes up by about $75 a month. Most people see the raise in their January 2027 payment. People on SSI get it a little sooner, on December 31, 2026.

Below you will find the key 2027 figures SSA published, a set of worked examples so you can estimate your own check, and the part most news stories skip: how Medicare Part B, SSI rules and taxes change what actually lands in your bank account.

Key Takeaways

• The 2027 cost-of-living adjustment is 3.6 percent, up from 2.8 percent for 2026. It applies to retirement, survivor, disability (SSDI) and SSI payments.
• The average retired worker’s estimated benefit rises from $2,095 to $2,170 a month. The average disabled worker goes from $1,642 to $1,701.
• The maximum federal SSI payment rises to $1,029 a month for one person and $1,544 for a couple.
• Social Security payments with the raise start in January 2027. SSI and some older claimants get theirs on December 31, 2026.
• The 2027 Medicare Part B premium is not out yet. It is taken out of most checks, so your net raise may be smaller than 3.6 percent.

How much is the Social Security COLA for 2027?

The Social Security COLA for 2027 is 3.6 percent. SSA announced it on October 14, 2026. It raises Social Security benefits starting with the payment people receive in January 2027, and SSI payments starting December 31, 2026. On average, retirement benefits rise by about $75 a month.

SSA put it this way in its October 14, 2026 press release: “Nearly 72 million Social Security beneficiaries will see a 3.6 percent cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) beginning in January 2027.” About 7.3 million SSI recipients get the raise too, and some people receive both.

You do not need to apply for the increase. SSA adds it to your benefit on its own each year when inflation rises. Annual COLAs have worked that way since 1975, after Congress passed the change in the 1972 Social Security Amendments, according to SSA’s COLA page.

That also means anyone who calls, texts or emails asking for a fee to “unlock” your 2027 raise is running a scam. SSA’s own COLA page says plainly that its services are free and that no government agency will ask for payment by wire transfer or gift card. Our scam watch page lists the current tricks.

Why is the 2027 increase 3.6 percent?

The number comes from a formula written into the Social Security Act, not from a vote. SSA compares the average Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) for July, August and September of this year with the same three months of the last year a COLA took effect.

For 2027, SSA’s Office of the Chief Actuary shows the third-quarter 2025 average CPI-W at 317.265 and the third-quarter 2026 average at 328.746. The gap works out to 3.6 percent once it is rounded to the nearest tenth, as the law requires. The full math is on SSA’s latest COLA page.

Month	CPI-W 2025	CPI-W 2026
July	316.349	327.104
August	317.306	328.481
September	318.139	330.654
Third-quarter average	317.265	328.746

The CPI-W tracks prices paid by urban wage earners and clerical workers, not retirees in particular. Whatever you think of that choice, it does not change your 2027 check. SSA’s COLA page says the CPI-W is, by law, the official measure it must use.

Here is how 3.6 percent compares with recent years on SSA’s history list: 2.8 percent for 2026, 2.5 percent for 2025, 3.2 percent for 2024, 8.7 percent for 2023 and 5.9 percent for 2022. The last time the COLA was exactly 3.6 percent was in January 2012. There was no increase at all in 2010, 2011 and 2016.

What will my Social Security check be in 2027?

To estimate your 2027 check, multiply your current monthly benefit before any Medicare deduction by 1.036. A $1,500 benefit becomes about $1,554, a raise of $54 a month. SSA rounds down at two steps, so your real figure can land a dollar or so below the simple math.

The table below shows our own arithmetic for a range of monthly benefits. These are examples, not SSA figures, and they show the amount before Medicare Part B or any other deduction. Plug your own number into our COLA calculator for a quick estimate.

2026 monthly benefit (gross)	Estimated 2027 benefit	Monthly raise	Raise over 12 months
$1,200	$1,243.20	$43.20	$518.40
$1,500	$1,554.00	$54.00	$648.00
$2,000	$2,072.00	$72.00	$864.00
$2,500	$2,590.00	$90.00	$1,080.00
$3,000	$3,108.00	$108.00	$1,296.00

Why your raise may not be exactly 3.6 percent

SSA does not multiply your check by 1.036 directly. It raises your primary insurance amount (PIA), the base benefit tied to your work record, and then rebuilds your payment from there. SSA’s actuaries list the steps on their page about how a COLA is applied.

1. Your PIA is increased by 3.6 percent and cut down to the next lower dime.
2. Any early or delayed retirement factor is applied, and the result is again cut to the next lower dime.
3. Deductions, such as the Medicare Part B premium, are subtracted.
4. The result is cut down to the next lower whole dollar. That is your payment.

SSA gives its own example: a PIA of $2,197.50 raised by 3.6 percent becomes $2,276.60 after the dime rounding. Because of these steps, SSA notes that your dollar increase “may differ somewhat from the COLA.” For most people, the gap from the simple estimate is under a couple of dollars.

How much do average benefits go up in 2027?

SSA’s 2027 COLA fact sheet estimates what typical households will receive in January 2027, before and after the raise. These are averages, so a single person’s check can be far above or below them.

Type of beneficiary	Before 3.6% COLA	After 3.6% COLA	Monthly change
All retired workers	$2,095	$2,170	+$75
Aged couple, both receiving benefits	$3,238	$3,355	+$117
Aged widow(er) alone	$1,936	$2,005	+$69
All disabled workers	$1,642	$1,701	+$59
Disabled worker, spouse and one or more children	$2,970	$3,077	+$107

The chart shows the same dollar gains side by side. Couples gain the most in dollars simply because two benefits are rising at once. The percentage is the same 3.6 for everyone.

If you get survivor benefits, the same 3.6 percent applies to your monthly payment. Our guide to Social Security survivor benefits covers who qualifies and how the amount is set.

When will I get the first payment with the 2027 COLA?

Most people get their first raised Social Security payment in January 2027: January 13, 20 or 27, depending on birthday. SSI recipients, and people paid on the 3rd of the month, get theirs early, on Thursday, December 31, 2026, because January 1 is a holiday and January 3 is a Sunday.

The raise technically applies to the benefit for December 2026. SSA’s COLA page notes that since 1983, COLAs take effect with the December benefit, which people receive in January. SSI works differently: its raise applies to the January 2027 payment itself.

SSA pays most retirement and disability benefits on a Wednesday tied to your birthday, per its 2027 payment calendar. In January 2027 that works out like this:

• Birthday on the 1st to 10th: second Wednesday, January 13, 2027.
• Birthday on the 11th to 20th: third Wednesday, January 20, 2027.
• Birthday on the 21st to 31st: fourth Wednesday, January 27, 2027.
• Benefits that started before May 1997, or Social Security plus SSI: normally the 3rd, so Thursday, December 31, 2026.
• SSI: normally the 1st, so Thursday, December 31, 2026.

SSA’s rule is that when a payment date falls on a weekend or legal holiday, you are paid the business day before, according to its FAQ on payment dates. That is why some people see two SSI deposits in December 2026 and none in January 2027.

The December 31 SSI deposit is your January money, not a bonus. Set it aside for January bills. For every month’s dates, see our Social Security payment schedule.

How much will SSI pay in 2027?

In 2027 the maximum federal SSI payment is $1,029 a month for an eligible person and $1,544 a month for an eligible couple. That is up from $994 and $1,491 in 2026, a raise of $35 for one person and $53 for a couple. The first raised payment arrives December 31, 2026.

Those are the federal maximums. Your own SSI check is the federal rate minus your countable income, and some states add a supplement on top. The SSI resource limits do not change with the COLA: they stay at $2,000 for a person and $3,000 for a couple, per SSA’s fact sheet.

Students on SSI who work also get a little more room. The SSI student earned income exclusion rises to $2,500 a month and $10,080 a year, from $2,410 and $9,730.

What happens if you get both Social Security and SSI?

This is where many people get confused. If you receive both, your Social Security check goes up by 3.6 percent, but your SSI usually goes down a little, because SSA counts Social Security as unearned income. The two changes mostly cancel out, and your combined total rises by the SSI raise.

SSA’s own SSI income page uses a person with a $300 Social Security benefit. SSA ignores the first $20, counts $280, and pays $994 minus $280, or $714 in SSI, according to SSA’s guide to SSI income. Total for 2026: $1,014.

Now apply the 2027 numbers to that same person. This is our example, assuming no other income:

• Social Security: $300 times 1.036 is $310.80, which becomes about $310 after SSA rounds down.
• Countable income: $310 minus the $20 that is not counted, or $290.
• SSI: $1,029 minus $290, or $739.
• Total for 2027: $310 plus $739, or $1,049. That is $35 more than in 2026, exactly the rise in the federal SSI rate.

So if you get both, do not expect the full 3.6 percent on your Social Security check to be extra money. The rest of the SSI rules, including in-kind support and deeming, are in our SSI income limit guide and on our SSI program page.

What changes for SSDI and people who work in 2027?

SSDI checks rise by the same 3.6 percent. Several work limits that matter to disabled workers also go up. Per SSA’s actuaries, these generally move with the national average wage index, not with the COLA. These are the 2027 numbers from SSA’s fact sheet:

Disability threshold	2026	2027
Substantial gainful activity (SGA), non-blind	$1,690 a month	$1,770 a month
Substantial gainful activity (SGA), blind	$2,830 a month	$2,950 a month
Trial work period month	$1,210 a month	$1,270 a month

SSA ordinarily treats monthly earnings above the SGA amount, net of impairment-related work expenses, as substantial work, which can end disability eligibility. The blind SGA amount applies to SSDI only, not SSI, per SSA’s SGA page.

Any month you earn more than $1,270 in 2027 counts as a trial work month. SSDI recipients can work 9 such months within a rolling 60-month period before that work is used to decide whether the disability has ended. The trial work period does not apply to SSI, according to SSA’s trial work period page.

For how SSDI qualification works in the first place, see our SSDI program page and our guide to SSDI work credits. If you are unsure which disability program you are on, our SSI vs SSDI comparison lays out the differences.

The retirement earnings test for 2027

If you take retirement benefits before full retirement age and keep working, SSA can hold back part of your benefit. The limits rise in 2027:

• Under full retirement age all year: $25,560 a year ($2,130 a month). SSA withholds $1 for every $2 you earn above that.
• The year you reach full retirement age: $67,920 a year ($5,660 a month), counting only earnings before the month you reach it. SSA withholds $1 for every $3 above that.
• From the month you reach full retirement age: no limit.

Money withheld under this test is not lost for good. SSA says it will “recalculate your benefit amount to give you credit for the months we reduced or withheld benefits” once you reach full retirement age, in its guide to working while receiving benefits.

Will Medicare Part B take part of my 2027 raise?

Yes, for most people with Medicare. The Part B premium is usually taken straight out of the Social Security check, so any premium increase comes off the top of your COLA. CMS has not announced the 2027 premium yet. For 2026 the standard premium is $202.90 a month, and CMS released it on November 14, 2025.

We checked CMS on October 18, 2026, and there is no 2027 Part A and Part B fact sheet yet. You may see “projected” 2027 premiums in news stories. Those are estimates, not CMS figures, so we are not repeating them here. If CMS follows last year’s timing, the official number should come out in mid-November.

Here is how the math works once the premium is known. Take someone with a $2,000 gross benefit who pays the standard $202.90 premium. In 2026, SSA subtracts $202.90 and rounds down, so the deposit is $1,797. In 2027 the gross benefit becomes about $2,072, and every dollar the premium rises comes off that $72 raise.

The hold-harmless rule

Federal law protects many people from seeing a smaller check because of Part B. Under section 1839(f) of the Social Security Act, the premium increase cannot be large enough to make your benefit after the premium lower than it was the month before. You can read the rule in section 1839 on SSA’s site.

In plain terms, if the premium rises by more than your dollar COLA, your premium increase is capped at the size of your raise, so your net check stays flat instead of dropping. With a 3.6 percent COLA, this mainly matters for small benefits. A $400 benefit, for example, rises by only $14.40.

The protection does not cover everyone. The law limits it to people who:

• Were entitled to Social Security or railroad retirement benefits for November and December of the year before;
• Had the Part B premium deducted from their benefit for December and January; and
• Do not pay the higher-income surcharge (IRMAA), which for 2026 starts above $109,000 for single filers and $218,000 for joint filers.

New Medicare enrollees and people who pay the income-related amount generally pay the full standard premium. If your state pays your Part B premium through a Medicare Savings Program, the premium is not taken out of your check.

For premium tiers and IRMAA appeals, see our Medicare Part B premium guide. If money is tight, check whether you qualify for one of the Medicare Savings Programs, which can pay the premium for you.

How can I see my exact new benefit amount?

Your exact 2027 amount is in your COLA notice. If you have a my Social Security account and get notices online, it shows up in the account’s Message Center in late November 2026. Everyone else gets a paper notice by mail in December. The notice lists your new benefit and any deductions.

To see it online, follow these steps:

1. Create or sign in to your personal my Social Security account.
2. Choose to get notices online instead of by mail. SSA says people without an account must create one and enroll in paperless notices by November 18, 2026 to see the COLA notice online.
3. Turn on text or email alerts so you hear when a new message arrives.
4. In late November, open the Message Center and read the COLA notice.

SSA says the online notice can arrive up to three weeks earlier than the paper one. This year’s notice is a simplified one-page letter that lists the exact dates and dollar amounts of your new benefit and any deductions, according to the press release.

If you have Medicare, the notice is also where you will first see your 2027 Part B premium deduction. SSA says that premium amount will be in the Message Center starting in late November. Check the gross and net lines against your bank deposit in January.

What other Social Security numbers change in 2027?

The COLA is only one of the yearly changes. Several limits for workers change too. These figures come from SSA’s 2027 fact sheet:

Item	2026	2027
Maximum earnings taxed for Social Security	$184,500	$192,300
Earnings needed for one work credit (quarter of coverage)	$1,890	$1,970
Maximum benefit, worker retiring at full retirement age	$4,152 a month	$4,188 a month
Payroll tax rate, employee (Social Security plus Medicare)	7.65%	7.65%
Payroll tax rate, self-employed	15.30%	15.30%

The maximum benefit line surprises people because it rises only $36, about 0.9 percent. It is not last year’s maximum plus the COLA. It describes a new worker who retires at full retirement age in 2027. Someone already collecting the maximum still gets the full 3.6 percent raise on their own check.

Workers earning more than $192,300 in 2027 stop paying the 6.2 percent Social Security tax on earnings above that cap. The 1.45 percent Medicare tax has no cap. In 2027, each $1,970 you earn counts toward one work credit.

Could the 2027 COLA make more of my benefit taxable?

It can for some people. The income lines that decide whether your Social Security is taxed are fixed in dollars and do not rise with inflation. So when your benefit grows, you edge closer to them.

SSA explains on its tax withholding page that you will pay federal income tax on your benefits if your combined income, which counts half your benefit plus your other income, is over $25,000 a year for single filers or $32,000 for joint filers.

For a single person whose combined income is right at the line, a $75 monthly raise adds $900 of benefits over a year, and half of that, $450, counts toward combined income. That is our example; your tax result depends on all of your income.

If you expect to owe, you can ask SSA to withhold federal tax from each payment at 7, 10, 12 or 22 percent. That avoids a bill in April. A free tax counseling program or a tax professional can tell you which rate fits.

What to check before your January payment

A short list keeps the new year’s first deposit from catching you off guard:

1. By November 18: sign up for paperless notices in my Social Security if you want the COLA notice online.
2. Late November: read the notice. Compare the new gross benefit with the 3.6 percent estimate and note the Part B deduction.
3. Mid-November onward: watch for CMS’s official 2027 Part B premium on Medicare.gov.
4. December 31: on SSI or paid on the 3rd? That deposit is January’s money. Save it for January bills.
5. January: check that your deposit matches the notice. If it does not, call SSA at 1-800-772-1213.
6. Any time: ignore anyone who asks for money or your Social Security number to “activate” the raise.

If the raise still leaves you short, our guide to Medicare help for people with low income covers programs that can lower health costs. Those savings often matter more than the COLA itself.

Related reading

• How to apply for SSDI: the steps, the forms and what to do after a denial.
• SSDI back pay: how SSA figures what it owes from your disability onset date.
• Medicare Part A premium: who pays $0 and who pays to buy in.
• Extra Help with Medicare drug costs: lower Part D premiums and copays.
• Replacing a Social Security card: how to get a replacement card.