How to use this calculator
- Enter your benefit before deductions. It’s on the benefit letter Social Security sends each December and in your my Social Security account. Use the amount before Medicare premiums and tax withholding.
- Check the COLA. It’s set to the official 3.6%.
- Choose how you pay Medicare Part B. Most people on Medicare have the standard premium taken from their check. If you pay a higher premium because of your income (IRMAA), enter your own amounts.
Social Security applies the COLA to your underlying benefit, called the primary insurance amount, and rounds down, so the exact amount on your letter can differ from this estimate by a few cents. The payment after deductions is rounded down to the whole dollar.
The 2027 COLA
Social Security announced on October 14, 2026 that benefits will rise 3.6% in 2027, after a 2.8% increase in 2026. On the average retired worker’s benefit of $2,095, that adds $75.40 a month, or $904.80 over the year, before Medicare premiums.
The same 3.6% applies to SSI: the federal maximum rises from $994.00 to $1,029.00 a month for an individual, and from $1,491.00 to $1,544.00 for a couple. The first increased SSI payment arrives December 31, 2026.
2027 increase by benefit amount
Your 2027 benefit before deductions at the 3.6% COLA:
| Benefit in 2026 | 2027 benefit | Increase per month | Increase per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| $1,000 | $1,036.00 | +$36.00 | +$432.00 |
| $1,500 | $1,554.00 | +$54.00 | +$648.00 |
| $2,000 | $2,072.00 | +$72.00 | +$864.00 |
| $2,095 (average retired worker) | $2,170.40 | +$75.40 | +$904.80 |
| $2,500 | $2,590.00 | +$90.00 | +$1,080.00 |
| $3,000 | $3,108.00 | +$108.00 | +$1,296.00 |
| $3,500 | $3,626.00 | +$126.00 | +$1,512.00 |
| $4,152 (maximum at full retirement age) | $4,301.40 | +$149.40 | +$1,792.80 |
Amounts are before Medicare premiums and tax withholding.
How the COLA is calculated
The COLA is set by law. Social Security takes the average of the consumer price index for urban wage earners and clerical workers (CPI-W) for July, August and September, and compares it with the average for the same three months a year earlier. The increase, rounded to the nearest tenth of a percent, is the COLA for benefits paid from the next January.
If prices don’t rise, there’s no COLA, and benefits don’t go down. That happened in 2010, 2011 and 2016. The CPI-W tracks the spending of working households; advocates for retirees argue it understates their costs, because older households spend more on health care and housing.
Medicare Part B and the hold-harmless rule
Most people on Medicare have their Part B premium taken straight out of their Social Security check, so part of the COLA goes to Medicare. The standard premium is $202.90 a month in 2026. The 2026 Medicare Trustees Report projects $209.50 for 2027, an increase of $6.60; Medicare usually announces the actual premium in November. See the Medicare Part B premium page for the deductible and the premiums since 2015.
For the average retired worker, that means a payment after Part B of $1,892 in 2026 and about $1,960 in 2027: $68 more a month at a 3.6% COLA and the projected premium.
The hold-harmless rule protects smaller checks. If the COLA’s dollar increase is smaller than the rise in the Part B premium, your premium goes up only by the amount of the COLA, so your payment doesn’t fall. You’re protected if you got Social Security benefits in November and December of the year before and had the Part B premium taken from them. The rule doesn’t protect:
- people who pay a higher premium because of their income (IRMAA);
- people who are new to Medicare or to Social Security in the new year;
- people who pay Part B directly rather than from their check;
- Part D, Medigap and Medicare Advantage premiums, which it doesn’t cover.
If your state pays your Part B premium through a Medicare Savings Program, the premium isn’t taken from your check, so you keep the whole COLA.
When the increase arrives
The new amount starts with the benefit for January 2027. Social Security sends a notice with your new amount in December, by mail and in the Message Center of your my Social Security account. January 2027 payment dates:
| Who | January 2027 payment |
|---|---|
| SSI (paid early because January 1 is a holiday) | Thursday, December 31, 2026 |
| Benefits that started before May 1997, or people who get both SSI and Social Security | Thursday, December 31, 2026 |
| Birthday on the 1st to 10th | Wednesday, January 13, 2027 |
| Birthday on the 11th to 20th | Wednesday, January 20, 2027 |
| Birthday on the 21st to 31st | Wednesday, January 27, 2027 |
COLA history
The COLA has averaged 3.1% over the last ten years, from 0.3% in 2017 to 8.7% in 2023, when inflation peaked. Each year below is the year the increase was first paid:
| Year paid | COLA | Increase on a $2,000 benefit |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 2.8% | +$56.00 a month |
| 2025 | 2.5% | +$50.00 a month |
| 2024 | 3.2% | +$64.00 a month |
| 2023 | 8.7% | +$174.00 a month |
| 2022 | 5.9% | +$118.00 a month |
| 2021 | 1.3% | +$26.00 a month |
| 2020 | 1.6% | +$32.00 a month |
| 2019 | 2.8% | +$56.00 a month |
| 2018 | 2.0% | +$40.00 a month |
| 2017 | 0.3% | +$6.00 a month |
| 2016 | 0.0% | None |
| 2015 | 1.7% | +$34.00 a month |
Other figures that change with the COLA
Social Security announces several other yearly amounts on the same day as the COLA, including the earnings limits for people who work while collecting benefits.
| Figure | 2026 | 2027 |
|---|---|---|
| Maximum earnings taxed by Social Security | $184,500/year | $192,300/year |
| Earnings limit before full retirement age ($1 withheld for every $2 above) | $24,480/year | $25,560/year |
| Earnings limit in the year you reach full retirement age ($1 withheld for every $3 above) | $65,160/year | $67,920/year |
| Earnings for one Social Security credit (up to 4 a year) | $1,890 | $1,970 |
| Maximum benefit at full retirement age | $4,152/month | $4,188/month |
| SSI federal payment, individual | $994/month | $1,029/month |
| SSI federal payment, couple | $1,491/month | $1,544/month |
| Substantial gainful activity (disability), non-blind | $1,690/month | $1,770/month |
| Substantial gainful activity (disability), blind | $2,830/month | $2,950/month |
| Trial work period month (disability) | $1,210/month | $1,270/month |
The earnings limits apply only before your full retirement age, and the benefits withheld aren’t lost: your benefit is recalculated upward once you reach full retirement age. See how much would be withheld with the Social Security earnings limit calculator.
Will the COLA raise your taxes?
Social Security benefits are still federally taxable for many people; the 2025 tax law didn’t change that. Up to 50% of benefits are taxable when your combined income (adjusted gross income, plus tax-exempt interest, plus half your benefits) is over $25,000, or $32,000 for married couples filing jointly, and up to 85% above $34,000 or $44,000. These thresholds have never been adjusted for inflation, so as benefits rise with each COLA, more retirees end up paying tax on them. Check your own share with the Social Security tax calculator.
What the law did add is an extra $6,000 deduction for people 65 and older, for 2025 through 2028, which offsets that tax for many retirees. The COLA doesn’t affect your 2027 Medicare IRMAA, which is based on your income from two years earlier.
Frequently asked questions
When was the 2027 Social Security COLA announced?
How much will Social Security go up in 2027?
Do SSI and SSDI get the COLA too?
Will the Medicare premium take my whole COLA?
Is the COLA taxable?
How is the COLA calculated?
Sources
- Cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) information for 2027 — Social Security Administration
- Latest cost-of-living adjustment — Social Security Administration
- Cost-of-living adjustments, 1975 to present — Social Security Administration
- 2027 cost-of-living adjustment fact sheet — Social Security Administration
- 2026 cost-of-living adjustment fact sheet — Social Security Administration
- Schedule of Social Security benefit payments, 2026–2027 — Social Security Administration
- 2026 Medicare Trustees Report — Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
- Increases in Part B premiums and the hold harmless provision — Medicare Rights Center
- Publication 915: Social Security and equivalent railroad retirement benefits — Internal Revenue Service