The 2.8% cost-of-living adjustment for 2026
A rise in one price index between two summers, rounded to a tenth, becomes a raise for every beneficiary on the rolls.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · How we calculate
Social Security benefits rose by 2.8% for the month of December 2025, the first payment at the new rate arriving in January 2026. The increase comes from the consumer price index for urban wage earners and clerical workers (CPI-W): its average for July, August and September 2025 was 317.265, against 308.729 for the same quarter of 2024, a rise of 2.765% that the law rounds to the nearest tenth, 2.8%. It applies to everyone eligible for December 2025 benefits, which for retirement means anyone who turned 62 in 2025 or earlier, whether or not they had started collecting. People turning 62 in 2026 get their first COLA in December 2026. The increase is applied to the PIA and rounded down to the dime: a $2,000 PIA becomes $2,056.00. On the average retired-worker benefit of $2,087.52 in August 2026, the raise was worth roughly $57 a month, while the Medicare Part B premium rose $17.90 the same January.
Your check before and after the 2026 COLA
PIA from January 2026
$2,056.00
| Monthly raise (rounded down to the dime) | $56.00 |
| Raise over 12 months | $672.00 |
| Check at full retirement age, dollars | $2,056 |
| Part B premium rise the same month | $17.90 |
2.8% applies to people eligible before 2026.
The computation, number by number
The SSA notice of November 3, 2025 gives the monthly CPI-W readings: 316.349 for July 2025, 317.306 for August and 318.139 for September. Their mean is 317.265. The previous computation quarter, the third quarter of 2024, averaged 308.729.
- 317.265 ÷ 308.729 = 1.02765.
- Increase: 2.765%.
- Rounded to the nearest tenth of a percent: 2.8%.
One more test is written in the law. If the trust funds' reserves fell below 20% of a year's cost, the COLA would be capped at the growth of the average wage. For 2025 the ratio was 169%, so no cap applied.
Who receives it
The notice states the rule: benefits increase by 2.8% "for individuals eligible for December 2025 benefits." Eligibility, not entitlement. For retirement, that covers:
- everyone already collecting in December 2025;
- everyone who turned 62 in 2025 or earlier but has not claimed yet: the COLA is built into their PIA and will be there when they start;
- spouses, survivors and children paid on those records, whose amounts follow the worker's PIA.
Waiting does not forfeit anything. A person born in 1958 who turned 62 in 2020 and plans to claim at 70, in 2028, already carries the six increases from December 2020 to December 2025 in the PIA, 26.8% combined before rounding, and the delayed credits are then computed on that larger figure.
It does not reach the PIA of someone who turns 62 in 2026. Compare two neighbors with the same steady $60,000 career: born in 1963, eligible in 2025, the PIA is $2,239.00 under the 2025 formula, raised to $2,301.60 by the COLA. Born in 1964, eligible in 2026, the PIA is $2,345.80 under the 2026 formula, with no COLA yet. The 2026 bend points moved with wages, so the gap is small. The 1964 page has the full picture for that cohort.
What 2.8% does to a PIA
The increase is applied to the PIA, the product is cut to the dime, and your check is then derived from the new PIA and cut to the dollar. That is why two people with close PIAs can see raises a few cents apart.
| PIA in December 2025 (before) | PIA from the increase | Monthly raise | Check at full retirement age |
|---|---|---|---|
| $1,000.00 | $1,028.00 | $28.00 | $1,028 |
| $1,500.00 | $1,542.00 | $42.00 | $1,542 |
| $2,000.00 | $2,056.00 | $56.00 | $2,056 |
| $2,500.00 | $2,570.00 | $70.00 | $2,570 |
| $3,000.00 | $3,084.00 | $84.00 | $3,084 |
| $4,000.00 | $4,112.00 | $112.00 | $4,112 |
If you started early or late, your check is a fixed share of the PIA: it rises by about the same 2.8%. A retiree who claimed at 62 with a full retirement age of 67 and a $2,000 PIA receives 70% of it: $1,439 a month after the increase instead of $1,400.
The Medicare premium takes part of it
For people enrolled in Medicare Part B whose premium is deducted from the benefit, the standard premium went from $185.00 to $202.90, $17.90 more. On a $1,000 PIA, the 2.8% raise is $28.00: the premium rise absorbs a large share of it. On $3,000, the raise is $84.00 and most of it remains. The Medicare Part B page covers deductions in detail.
Twenty years of COLAs
The SSA series starts in 1975, the first year of automatic adjustments. The more recent part shows how uneven the increases are:
| Effective for | First paid | COLA |
|---|---|---|
| December 2025 | January 2026 | 2.8% |
| December 2024 | January 2025 | 2.5% |
| December 2023 | January 2024 | 3.2% |
| December 2022 | January 2023 | 8.7% |
| December 2021 | January 2022 | 5.9% |
| December 2020 | January 2021 | 1.3% |
| December 2019 | January 2020 | 1.6% |
| December 2018 | January 2019 | 2.8% |
| December 2017 | January 2018 | 2.0% |
| December 2016 | January 2017 | 0.3% |
| December 2015 | January 2016 | 0.0% |
| December 2014 | January 2015 | 1.7% |
| December 2013 | January 2014 | 1.5% |
| December 2012 | January 2013 | 1.7% |
| December 2011 | January 2012 | 3.6% |
| December 2010 | January 2011 | 0.0% |
| December 2009 | January 2010 | 0.0% |
| December 2008 | January 2009 | 5.8% |
| December 2007 | January 2008 | 2.3% |
| December 2006 | January 2007 | 3.3% |
| December 2005 | January 2006 | 4.1% |
The 8.7% of December 2022 is the largest since 1981. Zero years, 2009, 2010, 2015, followed quarters when the CPI-W did not exceed the level of the last increase. Over the five COLAs from December 2021 to December 2025, a PIA grew by 25.2% before rounding.
The next one
The December 2026 adjustment will compare the CPI-W average for July to September 2026 with 317.265. Nothing about it is known until the September 2026 index is out and the SSA announces the figure; the formal notice must appear in the Federal Register by November 1. This page does not forecast it and will show the published rate as soon as it is official.