4New benefit, down to the dime$2,000.00 × 1.034 = $2,068.00 → $2,068.00
5Payment, down to the dollar$2,068.00 − $202.90 Part B = $1,865.10 → $1,865
Every COLA since 1975
SSA’s table, dated by the December each COLA took effect; it is paid from the next January. From 2008 each COLA is also recomputed here from the BLS CPI-W third quarter, and every one matches.
Paid from Jan.
COLA
Q3 CPI-W
2026
2.8%
317.265
2025
2.5%
308.729
2024
3.2%
301.236
Calculated in your browser — the numbers you enter are never sent to our servers.
Estimate next year’s Social Security cost-of-living adjustment from the official CPI-W figures, see your new monthly benefit and what reaches your account after Medicare Part B, or carry a benefit through every COLA since 1975.
Best for: Your 2027 benefit, Checking the COLA estimate, Budgeting around Part B, How far past COLAs carried a benefit
Updated September 2026 · Estimates only, not financial advice.
The 2026 raise: 317.265 ÷ 308.729 − 1 = 2.8%
Social Security does not guess at inflation. The rules tie the raise to one index, the CPI-W, and one window: the average of July, August and September. That third-quarter average is compared with the same quarter of the last year that produced a COLA, and the rise is rounded to the nearest tenth of a percent.
COLA = Q3 CPI-W (this year) ÷ Q3 CPI-W (last COLA year) − 1
For the raise paid from January 2026, the CPI-W averaged 317.265 over July–September 2025 and 308.729 a year earlier. The ratio is 1.02765, a rise of 2.765%, which rounds to 2.8%. Every COLA from 2008 to 2025, worked out this way from the BLS figures, matches the figure SSA published.
Two of the three months are in. The CPI-W was 327.104 in July 2026 and 328.481 in August. If September matches August, the quarter averages 328.022, which is 3.39% above the 2025 base of 317.265, so the COLA rounds to 3.4%.
September moves the answer by a tenth either way. At 327.5 the estimate is 3.3%; at 329.466, 0.3% above August, it is 3.5%. BLS publishes September on October 14, 2026, and that release settles the raise paid from January 2027. Type a September figure into the calculator to test your own.
Rounded twice: to the nearest 0.1%, then down to the dime
The regulation rounds the rise first: 0.05% and above goes up, anything less goes down, so a 3.15% rise is a 3.2% COLA. SSA then applies that percentage and rounds every raised amount down to the next lower dime. A $1,234.56 benefit raised 2.8% is $1,269.12768, which becomes $1,269.10.
new benefit = ⌊benefit × (1 + COLA) × 10⌋ ÷ 10
The payment is rounded again. After Medicare and any other deductions, a monthly benefit that is not a whole number of dollars is reduced to the next lower dollar. SSA applies the COLA to your primary insurance amount before any early or delayed claiming adjustment, so working from the benefit on your statement can land a few cents to a dollar away from SSA’s figure.
Part B took $18 of the 2026 raise on a $2,000 benefit
For people who get Social Security, the Medicare Part B premium is normally deducted from the benefit. The standard premium rose from $185.00 in 2025 to $202.90 in 2026, an increase of $17.90. A $2,000 benefit gained $56 from the 2.8% COLA, but the payment went from $1,815 to $1,853: $38 more, not $56.
CMS sets the 2027 premium in November, after the COLA is known, so the calculator lets you enter both years separately. Higher-income beneficiaries pay more than the standard premium, and people whose premium is not deducted from their check see the full raise.
No raise in 2009, 2010 or 2015, and $1,000 from 2000 is now $1,935.10
When prices fall, there is no COLA and no cut. The CPI-W third quarter of 2009 was below 2008’s, so benefits stayed flat for 2009 and again for 2010, and the next COLA, 3.6% for 2011, was measured from the 2008 quarter. The same happened in 2015; the 0.3% COLA for 2016 was measured from 2014.
Compounded, the raises add up. A $1,000 monthly benefit first paid in 2000 has been through 26 COLAs and is $1,935.10 after the 2025 one, each year rounded down to the dime. One that started in 2020 is $1,267.80, most of the gain from the 5.9% and 8.7% COLAs of 2021 and 2022.
The COLA follows a price index built for 29% of Americans
The CPI-W tracks prices for households whose income comes mainly from clerical or wage jobs. The Bureau of Labor Statistics puts that group at about 29% of the population, against about 93% for the headline CPI-U, and it excludes households with no one in the labor force, which includes most retirees.
So the raise retirees get is measured on the prices faced by working households. The calculator follows the CPI-W because that is the index the COLA rules name; a household whose own costs rise faster than that basket falls behind even with a COLA.
Worked example
The COLA paid from January 2026, and what it did to a $2,000 benefit.
Worked example
Q3 2025 CPI-W = 317.265
Q3 2024 CPI-W = 308.729
Rise = 2.765% → 2.8%
$2,000 benefit = $2,056.00
Paid after Part B ($202.90) = $1,853
Limitations
SSA raises your primary insurance amount, not the payment you see, so its figure can differ by a few cents to a dollar.
The 2027 figure is an estimate until September’s CPI-W is published; Part B for 2027 is set in November.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the COLA for 2026?
Benefits paid from January 2026 rose 2.8%, the COLA SSA dates December 2025. It came from the CPI-W: the July–September 2025 average of 317.265 against 308.729 a year earlier.
When is the 2027 COLA announced?
The last figure it needs, the September 2026 CPI-W, is published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on October 14, 2026. SSA announces the COLA from that release; the raise is paid from January 2027.
What will the 2027 COLA be?
With July and August 2026 published, the estimate is 3.4% if September’s CPI-W matches August’s, 3.3% if it falls to 327.5 and 3.5% if it rises to 329.466.
Why did my payment rise less than the COLA?
The Medicare Part B premium is taken from the same check. In 2026 it rose from $185.00 to $202.90, so a $2,000 benefit that gained $56 paid only $38 more.
Does SSI get the same COLA?
Generally yes. SSA says SSI COLAs are generally the same as Social Security’s, effective for the month after the Social Security increase.
Sources & References
Figures on this page are checked against primary, authoritative sources. Links open in a new tab.
InflationWhat a US dollar from any year since 1913 is worth in another year, from the BLS CPI-U, with future inflation too.
RetirementProject your retirement pot from current savings, contributions, and growth, and gauge whether it meets your goal.
Inflation RateThe inflation rate between two CPI readings, with the index change alongside the percentage.
Retirement WithdrawalEstimate how long savings last under regular withdrawals (SWP) — drawdown, safe withdrawal rate, inflation, and a year-by-year schedule.
401(k)Project a 401(k) balance with employer match, 2026 IRS limits, fees, inflation, and a match maximiser.
Real Interest RateThe exact Fisher real rate and the subtract-and-go approximation side by side, so the gap between them is visible.
Coast FIREFind the inflation-adjusted amount you need invested today to coast to your retirement target on growth alone — and the exact gap to get there.
Barista FIREFind the smaller corpus you need when part-time income covers part of your expenses, with a full-FIRE comparison and the gap to get there.
Results are estimates based on the figures you enter and standard formulas. Rates, fees, taxes, and lender terms vary and change over time, so confirm important numbers with your lender or a qualified professional. This is educational information, not financial advice.
How the Social Security COLA Is Calculated: CPI-W, the Third Quarter and Rounding
The Social Security COLA compares third-quarter CPI-W averages, rounds to 0.1%, then rounds benefits down to the dime, shown with the 2.8% raise for 2026.
Published a Social Security COLA calculator: the 2027 COLA estimated from the July and August 2026 CPI-W (September published October 14, 2026), the new benefit with SSA's rounding (20 CFR 404.275 and 404.304), the payment after Medicare Part B, a benefit carried through past COLAs, and every COLA since 1975.
Every COLA SSA published for 2008–2025 recomputed from the BLS CPI-W and matching; COLA table from SSA, Part B premiums from CMS.
Added an automated formula suite with SSA's published COLAs as the outside authority.
Show it to your clients, not just tell them
Mortgage brokers, accountants, and advisors embed this to walk clients through the numbers live — nothing they enter ever leaves their browser.