2027 Social Security COLA Could Be Highest Since 2023

If the adjustment is 3.5 percent, the average monthly Social Security payment would rise by $67.90, from $1,940.08 to $2,007.98, according to the league. A person receiving $2,000 per month would receive about $70 more.

Gasoline helped drive the broader inflation rate higher in August. Gas prices climbed 3.9 percent for the month and accounted for more than one-third of the monthly increase in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers, or CPI-U, according to the bureau. Shelter costs rose 0.3 percent, while the index for food increased 0.1 percent.

The CPI-W is used to calculate Social Security adjustments, while the CPI-U covers a broader share of urban consumers to measure inflation.

“Family budgets have been under increasing pressure because of rising prices,” said Rich Johnson, vice president for financial security at the AARP Public Policy Institute. “The sooner that we can give them reliable information as to how much their benefits might [increase next year], the sooner they can start planning.”

Social Security compares the average CPI-W for July, August, and September with the average for the same three months a year earlier. The SSA then rounds the percentage increase to the nearest one-tenth of 1 percent, it said.

Benefits rose 2.8 percent in 2026, following adjustments of 2.5 percent in 2025 and 3.2 percent in 2024. The last larger increase was the 8.7 percent adjustment paid in 2023, according to Social Security records.

In its 2026 Senior Survey, the league said 89 percent of respondents believed the 2026 adjustment was too low, while 44 percent reported receiving all their income from Social Security.