2024 Social Security COLA
The 2024 Social Security COLA is 3.2%.
Effective 2024-01-01Source: Cost-of-Living Increase and Other Determinations for 2024 (SSA)Verified 2026-09-01
Compared with 2023
| Item | 2023 | 2024 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living increase | 8.7% | 3.2% | -5.5% (-63.2%) |
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 3.2 percent. A title II benefit reflects the increase from the December 2023 benefit, which is payable in January 2024; an SSI payment reflects it from the payment made for January 2024. It is a single rate rather than a per-person calculation, so every benefit it applies to rises by the same 3.2 percent and what differs between people is the amount the rate is applied to. The same notice settles other program amounts for 2024 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 3.2 percent for 2024. Its notice states the increase as 3.2 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 3.2 percent. Under title II the increase reaches individuals eligible for December 2023 benefits, which are payable in January 2024. SSI payments increase by 3.2 percent effective for payments made for January 2024. The increase for 2023 was 8.7 percent; each year's figure is determined on its own and stated in its own notice.
Common questions
- What is the 2024 Social Security COLA?
- It is 3.2 percent. SSA's notice for 2024 states that the cost-of-living increase is 3.2 percent for benefits under title II of the Social Security Act and for payments under title XVI.
- When does the 2024 COLA take effect?
- Under title II it is effective for individuals eligible for December 2023 benefits, which are payable in January 2024. That is why an increase settled in the autumn of 2023 is the increase people see in their 2024 payments.
- Does the 2024 COLA apply to Supplemental Security Income?
- Yes. Federal SSI payments also increase by 3.2 percent, effective for payments made for January 2024. 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 2024". That notice is the document this page cites, and it is where 3.2 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 2024 that computation gave 3.2 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 3.2 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 3.2 percent increase also settles other amounts for 2024, 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 2024 COLA compare with the year before?
- The increase for 2024 is 3.2 percent. The increase for 2023 was 8.7 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.
Every amount on this page is a published figure rather than yours. The Social Security benefit after the COLA takes the number you enter and works it out against them, showing which published figure it used.
How the increase is computed, and when there is none
The annual cost-of-living adjustment is tied to the Consumer Price Index. Each year the SSA compares the CPI for the third quarter of the current year (July, August, and September) to the CPI for the third quarter of the prior year. If the current quarter's index is higher, the percentage difference becomes the COLA; if it is the same or lower, there is no increase for the coming year. This is why the increase can be zero in a year of flat or falling prices. For 2024, the third-quarter CPI exceeded the prior year's third-quarter figure by 3.2 percent, so benefits rise by that amount. The COLA applies to anyone who was already eligible for Social Security benefits before 2024; those who first become eligible in 2024 or later do not receive the increase, because their initial benefit is already computed using the current price level.
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 2024 (SSA)
Only three months of the CPI decide it
Even though the COLA compares full calendar quarters, only three months of the year actually determine the result. The law defines the CPI figure for any computation quarter as the average of the index values published for July, August, and September. Those three monthly figures are added together and divided by three to produce the quarter's single CPI number. That single number is then compared with the equivalent number from the prior year's third quarter. Any inflation that occurred in the first six months of the year, or in October through December, does not enter the calculation at all. The rounding rules for the quarterly average are set by regulation, but the substance is simple: the entire COLA rests on the arithmetic mean of the CPI for those three months.
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.
Cost-of-Living Increase and Other Determinations for 2024 (SSA)
It starts with December benefits, paid in January
The COLA takes effect in a slightly unusual way. The increase is described as applying to benefits for December 2023, but those December benefits are not actually paid until January 2024. Social Security benefits are always paid one month in arrears: the check you receive in any given month is for the prior month's entitlement. So the first payment a beneficiary sees reflecting the 3.2 percent increase is the one that arrives in January 2024. Anyone who was already on the rolls before 2024 receives the higher amount. People who become newly eligible in 2024 do not receive the COLA, because their starting benefit is calculated using wage and price data that already reflect current conditions.
benefits will increase by 3.2 percent beginning with benefits for December 2023, which are payable in January 2024.
Cost-of-Living Increase and Other Determinations for 2024 (SSA)
Working before full retirement age withholds part of the benefit
If you claim Social Security retirement benefits before reaching full retirement age and continue to work, your benefit can be reduced under the retirement earnings test. The test applies a withholding formula that differs depending on how close you are to full retirement age. For beneficiaries who are below full retirement age for the entire year, the SSA withholds $1 in benefits for every $2 of earnings above the annual exempt amount. The rules are more lenient for the year in which you actually reach full retirement age: only earnings in the months before you attain that age count, and a different withholding rate applies using a higher exempt amount. Starting with the month you reach full retirement age, there is no withholding at all, regardless of how much you earn.
For all other beneficiaries under NRA, we withhold $1 in benefits for every $2 of earnings over the annual exempt amount.
Cost-of-Living Increase and Other Determinations for 2024 (SSA)
The year you reach full retirement age has its own limit
In 2024, Social Security applies a higher annual exempt amount of $59,520 under the retirement earnings test for beneficiaries who reach full retirement age (NRA) during the year. This higher limit applies only to earnings in the months before the person attains NRA. Once they reach NRA, the earnings test no longer applies at all, and benefits are no longer withheld regardless of how much they earn. The higher exempt amount is specific to that transition year; in all other years before NRA attainment, a lower exempt amount applies instead. The purpose of this rule is to give beneficiaries a more generous earnings allowance during the months leading up to their full retirement age, recognizing that they will soon be free from the earnings test altogether.
The higher annual exempt amount is $59,520 under the retirement earnings test.
Cost-of-Living Increase and Other Determinations for 2024 (SSA)
What earnings count as substantial gainful activity
To qualify for Social Security disability benefits, a person must be unable to engage in substantial gainful activity. The SSA uses a monthly earnings threshold as a practical screen: anyone earning above that amount is ordinarily treated as performing substantial gainful activity and is therefore not considered disabled. The threshold is not a single figure. Statutorily blind beneficiaries under title II have their own, higher amount, set by statute and adjusted each year by the same wage-index formula used for other COLAs. Non-blind individuals with a determined disability are subject to a separate, lower threshold set by regulation. Both amounts are updated annually. Earning above the applicable figure creates a presumption of substantial gainful activity; earning below it does not guarantee a finding of disability, because other aspects of the work may still be considered.
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 2024 (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 2024 (SSA)
- Cost-of-living increase
The cost-of-living increase is 3.2 percent for monthly benefits under title II and for monthly payments under title XVI of the Act.