Social Security recipients will learn next month how much of an increase they can expect in 2026.
Next year’s Cost of Living Adjustment, or COLA, will be announced around Oct. 15 after the data from the final fiscal quarter of 2025 is compiled. COLAs, the “raise” beneficiaries receive most years to help counteract the effects of inflation, are determined by the percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, or CPI-W, for the third quarter of the year (July, August and September.) That figure is compiled and then compared to the CPI-W for the same period the previous year, with the difference being the COLA for the coming year.
Based on current data, the latest COLA projection puts the increase at 2.7%. That figure, compiled by the non-partisan The Senior Citizens League,second-lowest is the same as last month’s forecast and would be 0.2% higher than last year’s increase. It would also be the second lowest pay bump since 2021 when the COLA was 1.3%.
A 2.7% increase would raise the average monthly benefit for retired workers by $54, from $2,008 to $2,062 and would be roughly average as that of the last 20 years. The highest COLA was 8.7% in 2023 while there was no increase in 2010 and 2011.
Much of the increase will be eroded by price hikes in Part B Medicare premiums. The latest Medicare Trustees Report estimated a 12% increase in 2026, from $185 to more than $207 a month.
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