Social Security COLA history by year.

What the COLA series shows

A Social Security cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, is the general benefit increase that SSA applies each year. Since 1975 these increases have been automatic and tied to inflation; before 1975 Congress set each increase by legislation. The 1975 to 1982 COLAs took effect for benefits payable for June, and since then every COLA takes effect for benefits payable for December. The table's year label follows SSA, so a COLA labelled 2025 applies to December 2025 and shows up in the checks that begin in January 2026.

That labelling trips people up. The 3.6% in the 2026 row is the increase people will see beginning in January 2027, which SSA's press release calls the "2027" COLA. Always read the "Applies to" column rather than the year alone.

COLA by year, 1975 to 2026

The percentages are SSA's own. Three years have a 0.0% entry, 2009, 2010 and 2015, and the biggest increases came in 1980 (14.3%), 1981 (11.2%) and 1979 (9.9%). The largest recent increase was 8.7% in 2022.

*The December 1999 COLA was first determined as 2.4% and is effectively 2.5% under Public Law 106-554.

How SSA works out the COLA

The first COLA, for June 1975, used the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) from the second quarter of 1974 to the first quarter of 1975. The 1976 to 1983 COLAs compared the first quarter of the prior year with the same quarter of the current year. After 1983 the comparison is the third quarter of the prior year against the third quarter of the current year, so the figure cannot be known until the third-quarter CPI-W data are complete. For the latest COLA, SSA's fact sheet states the basis exactly: the CPI-W increase from the third quarter of 2025 through the third quarter of 2026.

Supplemental Security Income COLAs are generally the same percentage, though SSI increases have generally taken effect for the month after the Social Security increase. SSA says SSI recipients get the new 2027 payments starting December 31, 2026.

Worked example with real numbers

This is a hypothetical retired worker whose benefit is $1,500 a month before the latest COLA. A 3.6% increase adds $54.00, taking it to $1,554.00 before any Medicare premium or other deduction. SSA's own fact sheet shows the same effect on averages: all retired workers go from an estimated $2,095 to $2,170 a month.

Cumulative effects are larger than any single year. A $1,000 benefit that received the 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 COLAs (5.9%, 8.7%, 3.2% and 2.5%) grows by 21.77% to $1,217.67 before rounding. Applying every COLA from 2020 through 2026 gives 31.37%, and all COLAs from 2000 through 2026 roughly double a benefit: $1,000 becomes $2,006.23 unrounded.

What else changes with the 2027 COLA

SSA's 2027 fact sheet lists the other automatic adjustments that arrive with the 3.6% COLA. The taxable maximum rises from $184,500 to $192,300, the amount for one Social Security credit from $1,890 to $1,970, and the retirement earnings test exempt amounts from $24,480 to $25,560 (under full retirement age) and from $65,160 to $67,920 (the year you reach it). The monthly substantial gainful activity amount for non-blind disabled people goes from $1,690 to $1,770 and the trial work period amount from $1,210 to $1,270.

For SSI the federal payment standard goes from $994 to $1,029 for an individual and from $1,491 to $1,544 for a couple. The maximum benefit for a worker retiring at full retirement age goes from $4,152 to $4,188 a month. Each of these has its own by-year table on this site: taxable maximum, quarters of credit, earnings limit and SSDI SGA limit.

Common mistakes and edge cases

• Reading the year as the year checks rise. SSA's label is the December of the COLA, and checks rise the following January.
• Adding percentages instead of compounding them. Eight COLAs of 5% are about 47.7%, not 40%.
• Expecting the whole increase to reach your bank account. Medicare premiums and taxes can absorb part of it.
• Expecting an increase every year. SSA's table shows no COLA for 2009, 2010 and 2015.
• Treating the 1999 row as 2.4%. SSA footnotes that the effective figure is 2.5%.

Who this is for and what it does not cover

This page is for beneficiaries, planners and journalists who want the full COLA record or a quick compounded figure. It does not predict future COLAs, round benefits the way SSA does, or estimate a COLA from CPI inputs; the Social Security COLA calculator does that part. The compounding calculator above is deliberately unrounded and ignores Medicare premiums.