2027 Social Security COLA: How much extra money will retirees get each month?

The Social Security Administration is expected to announce the Cost-of-Living-Adjustment (COLA) increase for 2027 in the coming days. Typically, the boost the agency will apply to benefits comes shortly after the Bureau of Labor Statistics releases September’s Consumer Price Index data, which is scheduled for October 14 at 8:30 a.m. eastern time this year.

Early forecasters are predicting that it will surpass the 2.8% boost Social Security benefits received at the beginning of 2026. The Senior Citizens League’s (TSCL) latest projection is that the 2027 COLA will be 3.5%, which is based on government inflation data published last month for August.

This prediction would translate to a $67.90 boost per month on the current monthly average of $1,940.08. But as the TSCL pointed out, there is still more inflation data that needs to come in before the final COLA determination is made.

“Of the three CPI-W figures used to calculate the COLA, two are already in,” says TSCL Executive Director Shannon Benton. “The biggest thing we’re watching with the COLA announcement coming are short-term shocks to the economy that push inflation way up or down,” in the run-up to the September inflation data release.

Price increases in August ticked down slightly from the previous month to 3.4%. However, Trading Economics is forecasting that September’s inflation rate could spike to 3.7%, which could push the average used to calculate the 2027 COLA higher.

“No matter if the COLA announcement comes in slightly higher or slightly lower than our prediction, seniors will probably end up disappointed in the long run,” Benton added. TSCL has repeatedly warned that while the annual COLA is intended to help keep benefits from losing purchasing power, that has not been the case for seniors.

How is the COLA calculated?

The SSA compares the average CPI-W for July, August, and September of the current year to the same period in the previous year. The percentage difference determines the COLA, which is applied to Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments starting in January of the following year.

Unfortunately for seniors, TSCL highlights that the COLA increase doesn’t fully fulfil its mission of keeping benefits in line with inflation. This is due to the use of the CPI-W to calculate the annual boost to benefits but this indicator doesn’t necessarily cover the household price increases that seniors experience.

The non-profits said in a 2024 report that the average Social Security payment has lost around 20% of its buying power since 2010. Furthermore, seniors have already had to deal with the effects of inflation over the year before that receive their first payment with the COLA boost seen in their January benefits.

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