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Social Security's 2027 COLA is 3.6%, the largest raise since 2023
By Bear Creek Staff, . Bear Creek Capital Network.
Social Security benefits will rise 3.6% in 2027, the Social Security Administration said on October 14, once September's inflation reading completed the calculation. The cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, applies to retirement, survivor and disability benefits paid from January 2027, and to Supplemental Security Income, according to Wolf Street, which reported the SSA figure. It reaches about 71.5 million beneficiaries and is the largest annual increase since 2023's 8.7%.
How the 3.6% was set
The COLA is the average year-over-year rise in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, a version of the main inflation measure, across July, August and September. Those three readings were 3.40%, 3.52% and 3.93%. On October 1, with only July and August published, The Motley Fool put the estimates at 3.5% to 3.6%; the September number settled it at the top of that range.
What it means for a monthly check
As an illustration, a benefit of $1,800 a month rises by about $65 at 3.6%, before any change in Medicare premiums. The 2027 Medicare Part B premium, which comes out of many checks, had not been published in the reports behind this update, so the net change for any one household is not yet known.
A bigger COLA is not a gain in buying power. It follows prices that have already risen, so it restores what inflation took over the past year rather than adding to it, and a beneficiary whose own costs rose faster than this index still falls behind.
Updated October 15, 2026, with the official figure. The earlier version of this article reported the 3.5% to 3.6% estimate published before the September data.
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