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Social Security COLA

The official Social Security cost-of-living adjustment, every COLA since 1975, and the monthly CPI-W data the next one will be based on.

Last updated
Last checked
Source
Social Security Administration

About this data: figures are collected automatically from Social Security Administration and checked before publication. They are for general information only and are not advice. Confirm with the source before acting. Last verified Sep 30, 2026, 5:53 AM ET. Report an error →

Methodology · Download CSV · Cite this

What changed: Loaded SSA's 2025 COLA worksheet: third-quarter CPI-W average 317.265 vs 308.729 in 2024, 2.8%. (Sep 30, 2026)

The COLA now

2026 COLA Official · SSA 2.8%

Announced in 2025, first paid January 2026.

CPI-W so far in 2026

The 2027 COLA will be the rise in the July–September 2026 average CPI-W over the 2025 third-quarter average of 317.265. 2 of the 3 third-quarter months are published.

Published CPI-W values (BLS, not seasonally adjusted). Only July, August and September (in bold) count toward the COLA. The last column compares each month with the 2025 third-quarter average.
Month (2026)CPI-Wvs 2025 Q3 average
January317.942+0.2%
February319.422+0.7%
March323.500+2.0%
April326.541+2.9%
May328.829+3.6%
June327.075+3.1%
July327.104+3.1%
August328.481+3.5%

COLA history

Every COLA since 1975.
Social Security COLA by year, 1975–20250%5%10%15%1975: 8.0%19751976: 6.4%1977: 5.9%1978: 6.5%1979: 9.9%1980: 14.3%19801981: 11.2%1982: 7.4%1983: 3.5%1984: 3.5%1985: 3.1%19851986: 1.3%1987: 4.2%1988: 4.0%1989: 4.7%1990: 5.4%19901991: 3.7%1992: 3.0%1993: 2.6%1994: 2.8%1995: 2.6%19951996: 2.9%1997: 2.1%1998: 1.3%1999: 2.5%2000: 3.5%20002001: 2.6%2002: 1.4%2003: 2.1%2004: 2.7%2005: 4.1%20052006: 3.3%2007: 2.3%2008: 5.8%2009: 0.0%2010: 0.0%20102011: 3.6%2012: 1.7%2013: 1.5%2014: 1.7%2015: 0.0%20152016: 0.3%2017: 2.0%2018: 2.8%2019: 1.6%2020: 1.3%20202021: 5.9%2022: 8.7%2023: 3.2%2024: 2.5%2025: 2.8%2025
Years are when the COLA was determined, as the SSA labels them. From 1983 on, each COLA is first paid the following January. The 1999 COLA was set at 2.5% by Public Law 106-554 (originally 2.4%).
DeterminedFirst paidCOLAStatus
2025January 20262.8%Official
2024January 20252.5%Official
2023January 20243.2%Official
2022January 20238.7%Official
2021January 20225.9%Official
2020January 20211.3%Official
2019January 20201.6%Official
2018January 20192.8%Official
2017January 20182.0%Official
2016January 20170.3%Official
2015January 20160.0%Official
2014January 20151.7%Official
2013January 20141.5%Official
2012January 20131.7%Official
2011January 20123.6%Official
2010January 20110.0%Official
2009January 20100.0%Official
2008January 20095.8%Official
2007January 20082.3%Official
2006January 20073.3%Official
2005January 20064.1%Official
2004January 20052.7%Official
2003January 20042.1%Official
2002January 20031.4%Official
2001January 20022.6%Official
2000January 20013.5%Official
1999January 20002.5%Official
1998January 19991.3%Official
1997January 19982.1%Official
1996January 19972.9%Official
1995January 19962.6%Official
1994January 19952.8%Official
1993January 19942.6%Official
1992January 19933.0%Official
1991January 19923.7%Official
1990January 19915.4%Official
1989January 19904.7%Official
1988January 19894.0%Official
1987January 19884.2%Official
1986January 19871.3%Official
1985January 19863.1%Official
1984January 19853.5%Official
1983January 19843.5%Official
1982July 19827.4%Official
1981July 198111.2%Official
1980July 198014.3%Official
1979July 19799.9%Official
1978July 19786.5%Official
1977July 19775.9%Official
1976July 19766.4%Official
1975July 19758.0%Official

How the COLA is set

  • The Social Security Act ties the COLA to the CPI-W, the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, published monthly by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
  • The COLA is the percentage increase in the average CPI-W for July, August and September over the same average for the last year a COLA took effect. Averages are rounded to three decimals and the result to one decimal place.
  • If the average does not rise, there is no COLA that year (as in 2009, 2010 and 2015).
  • The same percentage applies to SSI. The SSA announces the COLA in October, when September CPI-W is released. The increase applies to December benefits, which are paid in January.

Methodology

Source
Social Security Administration — Cost-of-Living Adjustments
Update cadence
Annual (October); CPI-W monthly. Checked every 6 hours.
Last updated
Sep 30, 2026, 5:53 AM ET
Also uses
Bureau of Labor Statistics, CPI-W (series CWUR0000SA0), fetched automatically.
How it is produced
Official COLA figures come from the SSA's COLA history table and its latest COLA worksheet. Monthly CPI-W comes from the BLS. Every official figure we can reproduce is recomputed from BLS data with the statutory formula and must match exactly. When September CPI-W is published, the new COLA is calculated right away and labelled as calculated until the SSA's official figure is loaded; if the two ever differ, the page stops updating and the editor is alerted.
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CSV of all data on this page
Cite this

Money Tracker Daily, "Social Security COLA", updated September 30, 2026, https://moneytrackerdaily.com/trackers/social-security-cola. Data: Social Security Administration, Cost-of-Living Adjustments.

Change log

  • Loaded SSA's 2025 COLA worksheet: third-quarter CPI-W average 317.265 vs 308.729 in 2024, 2.8%.
  • Loaded SSA COLA history, 1975–2025.
  • Loaded BLS CPI-W, 2023-01 to 2026-08.

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