What is this year’s Social Security cost of living increase?
In December 2025, the average monthly Social Security benefit was $1,923, which increased by 2.8% in 2026 after the cost-of-living adjustment.
The Social Security Administration adjusts benefit payments annually to account for inflation — a change known as the cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA. For 2026, that adjustment is set at 2.8%.
The 2026 cost-of-living adjustment for Social Security benefits is 2.8%.
Estimated average monthly Social Security benefits payable in January 2026
What is COLA and how is it calculated?
The COLA is based on the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W), a measure tracked by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. SSA compares CPI-W data from the third quarter of the current year to the third quarter of the last year a COLA was applied. The percentage difference becomes the next year's COLA. If there's no increase, there's no adjustment.
The CPI-W hit a 3-year high in May 2026.
12-month percent change in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W), Jan 1975–Jul 2026
Legislation in 1973 instituted automatic Social Security COLA adjustments, with the first automatic adjustment occurring in 1975. Before that, benefit increases required separate legislation each time.
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How has COLA changed over time?
The SSA’s Cost-of-Living Adjustments were above 5% from 1975 to 1982, and again in 1990, 2008, 2021, and 2022. Between 1975 and 2026, there have only been three years that had no adjustment: 2009, 2010, and 2015. The highest-ever adjustment was in 1980, at 14.3%.
There were three years between 1975 and 2026 with no Social Security cost-of-living adjustment.
Social Security Cost-Of-Living Adjustments (COLA), 1975–2026
How many Americans will benefit from the COLA?
Seventy-five million Americans have received larger payments as a result of the 2.8% cost-of-living adjustment in 2026. That includes approximately 7.5 million people who will benefit from increased Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments. (Some people receive both.)
How is the COLA applied to Social Security and Disability Insurance benefits?
Cost of living adjustments are automatically applied to benefits paid out through Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) and Disability Insurance (DI) programs. Beneficiaries receive adjusted payments beginning in January of each year following an adjustment.
The average monthly Social Security benefit in December 2025 was $1,923.
Average Social Security benefits were $1,923 in December of 2025.
Social Security average monthly benefits by type, adjusted for inflation (2025 dollars), 1967–2025
Social Security beneficiaries over time
As America’s population ages, the number of people getting Social Security benefits has increased. In December 2025, 70.5 million Americans received benefits (62.3 million through OASI and 8.2 million through DI), up from 60.0 million in December 2015.
Total Social Security recipients have increased 174% since 1970.
Number of Social Security recipients by beneficiary type, 1970–2025
The Social Security Administration’s cost of living adjustment also applies to the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program, which provides payments to people with disabilities and older people with little or no other source of income.
In 2026, the federal maximum for SSI for eligible individuals will increase to $11,929.46 for the year, $17,892.21 for eligible couples, and $5,978.41 for anyone who qualifies as an “essential person.”
The monthly maximum amount for individual SSI recipients is $994.
Supplemental Security Income (SSI) amounts for 2025 and 2026
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Page sources
Social Security Administration
2026 Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) Fact Sheet
Bureau of Labor Statistics
Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W), 12-Month Percent Change
