Here's How Much the Average Social Security Check Could Increase in 2027 With a 3.6% COLA

For nearly 55 million Social Security recipients, the annual cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) is crucial for budgeting their retirement income. Starting in 2027, the COLA will increase benefits by 3.6%, one of the larger adjustments in the past three decades. This translates to roughly an additional $75 per month for those receiving the average monthly benefit of $2,087 in August.

The COLA is determined by comparing the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) for the current year to the previous year's average. The CPI-W, a subset of the broader CPI-U, covers about 30% of the U.S. population. Social Security calculates the COLA as the percentage increase between the two CPI-W averages, rounded to the nearest tenth of a percent.

In 2025, the CPI-W average was 317.265, which was 2.76% higher than the 2024 average of 308.729, resulting in a 2.8% COLA for 2026. The inflation data for 2026, with a CPI-W average of 328.746, which is 3.62% higher than 2025's average, led to the 3.6% COLA for 2027.

This 3.6% COLA is one of the higher adjustments in recent years, following larger increases of 5.9% in 2022 and 8.7% in 2023. However, even a substantial COLA may not fully compensate for the current high inflation rates, as it has not fully offset inflation over the years. For instance, a $100 in benefits in 2016 would only buy around $86.30 worth of goods today. While the 2027 COLA provides some relief, recipients should budget accordingly, anticipating the benefits may not stretch as far as they'd like.