2027 Social Security Inflation Adjustment: Every benefit and payment that will increase with the latest COLA projection
Social Security beneficiaries are awaiting the 2027 Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA), with September inflation data set to complete the calculation for next year’s increase.
Millions of Americans receiving Social Security will see their monthly payments adjusted in 2027, but the size of that increase will depend on inflation data that has not yet been fully incorporated into the official calculation.
Social Security: When is COLA announced, how is it determined and how much can people expect?
The annual COLA is intended to help Social Security payments keep pace with inflation. It does not necessarily mean beneficiaries will gain purchasing power, since individual household expenses can rise at different rates.
The Social Security Administration bases the annual COLA on the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, or CPI-W. The agency compares the average CPI-W for July, August and September with the average for the third quarter of the previous year in which a COLA took effect.
September’s inflation figure is therefore the final piece needed to determine the 2027 adjustment. The Bureau of Labor Statistics is scheduled to release that month’s Consumer Price Index data in October, after which the Social Security Administration will announce the official COLA.
The 2026 COLA was 2.8%. The latest federal inflation data showed consumer prices increased 3.4% over the 12 months ending in August 2026, with food prices up 2.7%, shelter rising 3.0% and energy increasing 16.3%. Medical care services rose 2.5% over the same period.
Those figures provide context for the inflation environment but do not determine the 2027 COLA on their own. Only the required CPI-W third-quarter averages are used in the Social Security calculation.
The Social Security Administration estimated that the average monthly retirement benefit for a retired worker was approximately $2,071 in January 2026. A hypothetical 3.5% COLA would add about $72.49 to that payment, producing a monthly benefit of roughly $2,143.49.
However, that example is an illustration rather than a projection of the final adjustment, the actual 2027 COLA has not yet been announced.
A Social Security Administration office building in Nashvillea, Tennessee
Medicare costs could affect the increase beneficiaries see
A higher Social Security payment does not automatically translate into more disposable income as rising Medicare costs and other household expenses can change at the same time, possibly yielding no overall boost.
Currently, the standard Medicare Part B premium is $202.90 per month in 2026, an increase of $17.90 from the $185 monthly premium in 2025. The 2027 Part B premium has not yet been finalized.
For beneficiaries who have their Part B premiums deducted directly from their Social Security payments, any change in Medicare costs can affect how much of their COLA remains in their monthly check.
The same principle applies to other expenses. COLA is designed to adjust benefits according to a specific inflation measure, not to reimburse each beneficiary for their individual increase in living costs.
Until the September CPI-W data is available and the Social Security Administration announces the official figure, the 2027 adjustment remains unconfirmed.
Beneficiaries can use current inflation figures and hypothetical percentages to estimate possible changes, but those calculations should not be mistaken for the final COLA.