2022 Social Security COLA
The 2022 Social Security COLA is 5.9%.
Effective 2022-01-01Source: Cost-of-Living Increase and Other Determinations for 2022 (SSA)Verified 2026-09-01
Compared with 2021
| Item | 2021 | 2022 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living increase | 1.3% | 5.9% | +4.6% (+353.8%) |
Who it applies to
The increase applies to people receiving Social Security retirement, survivors or disability benefits under title II of the Social Security Act, and to people receiving Supplemental Security Income under title XVI. Both rise by 5.9 percent. A title II benefit reflects the increase from the December 2021 benefit, which is payable in January 2022; an SSI payment reflects it from the payment made for January 2022. It is a single rate rather than a per-person calculation, so every benefit it applies to rises by the same 5.9 percent and what differs between people is the amount the rate is applied to. The same notice settles other program amounts for 2022 as well, among them the contribution and benefit base, the retirement earnings test exempt amounts and the substantial gainful activity amounts; this page states the cost-of-living increase only, and each of those is a separate figure with its own sentence in the notice.
What changed this year, and why
The Social Security Administration determined a cost-of-living increase of 5.9 percent for 2022. Its notice states the increase as 5.9 percent for benefits under title II of the Social Security Act and for payments under title XVI, so retirement, survivors and disability benefits and Supplemental Security Income payments all rise by the same 5.9 percent. Under title II the increase reaches individuals eligible for December 2021 benefits, which are payable in January 2022. SSI payments increase by 5.9 percent effective for payments made for January 2022. The increase for 2021 was 1.3 percent; each year's figure is determined on its own and stated in its own notice.
Common questions
- What is the 2022 Social Security COLA?
- It is 5.9 percent. SSA's notice for 2022 states that the cost-of-living increase is 5.9 percent for benefits under title II of the Social Security Act and for payments under title XVI.
- When does the 2022 COLA take effect?
- Under title II it is effective for individuals eligible for December 2021 benefits, which are payable in January 2022. That is why an increase settled in the autumn of 2021 is the increase people see in their 2022 payments.
- Does the 2022 COLA apply to Supplemental Security Income?
- Yes. Federal SSI payments also increase by 5.9 percent, effective for payments made for January 2022. The notice states the same increase for title XVI payments as for title II benefits.
- Who settles the COLA, and where is it published?
- The Social Security Administration does, and it publishes the determination as a notice in the Federal Register titled "Cost-of-Living Increase and Other Determinations for 2022". That notice is the document this page cites, and it is where 5.9 percent is stated in a sentence.
- How is the cost-of-living increase worked out?
- From the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, which the Bureau of Labor Statistics produces. SSA compares that index for the calendar quarter ending in September with the same quarter of the most recent year in which an increase was determined, and rounds the result. For 2022 that computation gave 5.9 percent.
- Does every beneficiary get the same increase?
- The rate is the same for everyone it applies to: the notice states a single increase of 5.9 percent for benefits under title II and payments under title XVI. What differs between people is the benefit the rate is applied to, not the rate itself.
- What else does the same notice decide?
- The notice that carries the 5.9 percent increase also settles other amounts for 2022, including the contribution and benefit base, the retirement earnings test exempt amounts, the substantial gainful activity amounts and the SSI student earned income exclusion. Each of those is a separate figure with its own sentence in the notice, and this page publishes the cost-of-living increase only.
- How does the 2022 COLA compare with the year before?
- The increase for 2022 is 5.9 percent. The increase for 2021 was 1.3 percent. Each year's figure is settled on its own and stated in its own notice, so an increase in a given year does not carry into the next.
How the increase is computed, and when there is none
Social Security's cost-of-living adjustment is calculated by comparing the Consumer Price Index for the third quarter of the current year against the third quarter of the previous year. If the CPI has risen, benefits increase by that percentage; if the CPI is flat or lower, there is no increase at all. The law does not allow a negative adjustment - benefits cannot go down because of deflation. The percentage increase, if any, in the CPI from the last computation quarter to the third quarter of the current year determines whether beneficiaries receive a raise. For 2022, the comparison showed the CPI exceeded the prior year's third quarter by 5.9 percent, so that became the COLA effective with December 2021 benefits. The computation uses only three months of price data - July, August, and September - making the third quarter the sole determinant of whether beneficiaries see higher payments the following year.
The law states that a cost-of-living increase for benefits is determined based on the percentage increase, if any, in the CPI from the last computation quarter to the third quarter of the current year.
Cost-of-Living Increase and Other Determinations for 2022 (SSA)
Only three months of the CPI decide it
The increase is not measured over a year of prices. The Act defines a cost-of-living computation quarter as three months, and the index for that quarter is one number: the arithmetic mean of the index for the 3 months in it. That mean is rounded to the nearest 0.001 before any comparison is made, and the comparison is then between two such means a year apart. Two things follow for anyone reading the 5.9% on this page against inflation reported elsewhere. Prices in the other nine months of the year never enter the calculation directly; they matter only insofar as they are still showing in the third quarter when it comes round. And a sharp move late in the year does not raise the increase announced for 2022. It falls inside the following year's quarter, so it is carried into the next announcement instead.
Section 215(i)(1) of the Act states that the CPI for a cost-of- living computation quarter is the arithmetic mean of this index for the 3 months in that quarter. In accordance with 20 CFR 404.275, we round the arithmetic mean, if necessary, to the nearest 0.001.
Cost-of-Living Increase and Other Determinations for 2022 (SSA)
It starts with December benefits, paid in January
The COLA does not appear in the month it technically begins. The increase is effective for benefits for December 2021, which are payable in January 2022. Social Security benefits are always paid one month behind: the benefit earned in a given month is deposited at the start of the following month. So even though the 5.9 percent raise is dated December 2021, recipients first see the higher amount in their January 2022 payment. People who become eligible after 2021 do not receive this particular increase - the COLA applies only to those whose eligibility (the worker turning 62, or becoming disabled or dying before 62) occurred before 2022. This timing rule means that every annual adjustment reaches beneficiaries in the first month of the new calendar year, regardless of which month the increase is formally effective.
In accordance with section 215(i) of the Act, for workers and family members for whom eligibility for benefits (that is, the worker's attainment of age 62, or disability or death before age 62) occurred before 2022, benefits will increase by 5.9 percent beginning with benefits for December 2021, which are payable in January 2022.
Cost-of-Living Increase and Other Determinations for 2022 (SSA)
Working before full retirement age withholds part of the benefit
Beneficiaries who are under full retirement age for the entire year and who work face a benefit reduction if their earnings exceed the annual exempt amount. The Social Security Administration withholds part of their benefit when earnings go above that limit. A different, more lenient rule applies in the year a person reaches full retirement age: for those months, the withholding is at a slower rate and the exempt amount is higher. This higher threshold and slower withholding rate apply only to earnings in months before the month the beneficiary reaches full retirement age. Starting with the month of attainment, there is no limit on earnings and no benefit withholding. The exempt amounts are adjusted annually for wage growth, so the dollar limits change each year even though the withholding ratios remain fixed by statute. Once a worker is past full retirement age, no benefits are withheld regardless of how much they earn.
For beneficiaries who attain NRA in the year, we withhold $1 in benefits for every $3 of earnings over the annual exempt amount for months before NRA.
Cost-of-Living Increase and Other Determinations for 2022 (SSA)
The year you reach full retirement age has its own limit
Social Security's Retirement Earnings Test reduces benefits for people who work while receiving benefits before reaching full retirement age. The law provides a special, higher exempt amount for the calendar year in which a person attains full retirement age, but this higher amount applies only to earnings in the months before they actually reach that age. Once they reach full retirement age, the earnings test no longer applies to any months in that year or afterward. For beneficiaries who have not yet reached full retirement age, a lower exempt amount applies throughout the year. In 2022, the cost-of-living adjustment was 5.9%, which affected benefit amounts subject to these earnings test rules. The higher exempt amount in the year of attaining full retirement age recognizes that some people will stop working partway through the year, so it provides more generous earnings protection for the months before they reach that milestone.
A higher exempt amount applies in the year in which a person attains NRA, but only for earnings in months before such attainment.
Cost-of-Living Increase and Other Determinations for 2022 (SSA)
What earnings count as substantial gainful activity
A person who is earning more than a certain monthly amount is ordinarily considered to be engaging in SGA. Substantial gainful activity is the earnings threshold that the Social Security Administration uses to decide whether someone is able to work despite a disability. If monthly earnings exceed the SGA amount, the agency generally presumes the person is not disabled and is ineligible for benefits. The threshold differs for statutorily blind individuals and for non-blind individuals; blind beneficiaries have a higher SGA limit. The amounts are adjusted each year for wage growth. A finding of disability requires that a person be unable to engage in SGA, so the monthly SGA figures serve as a bright line: earn above them and the disability claim is typically denied or benefits terminated, unless special circumstances such as subsidized employment or impairment-related work expenses bring the countable earnings below the threshold.
A person who is earning more than a certain monthly amount is ordinarily considered to be engaging in SGA.
Cost-of-Living Increase and Other Determinations for 2022 (SSA)
How each figure was verified
Each number below was read from a stored copy of the document named beside it, and checked to occur word for word in the quoted sentence. The digest is of that stored text.
Cost-of-Living Increase and Other Determinations for 2022 (SSA)
- Cost-of-living increase
The cost-of-living increase is 5.9 percent for monthly benefits under title II and for monthly payments under title XVI of the Act.