2026 Social Security COLA
The 2026 Social Security COLA is 2.8%.
Effective 2026-01-01Source: Cost-of-Living Increase and Other Determinations for 2026 (SSA)Verified 2026-09-01
Compared with 2025
| Item | 2025 | 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living increase | 2.5% | 2.8% | +0.3% (+12.0%) |
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 2.8 percent. A title II benefit reflects the increase from the December 2025 benefit, which is payable in January 2026; an SSI payment reflects it from the payment made for January 2026. It is a single rate rather than a per-person calculation, so every benefit it applies to rises by the same 2.8 percent and what differs between people is the amount the rate is applied to. The same notice settles other program amounts for 2026 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 2.8 percent for 2026. Its notice states the increase as 2.8 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 2.8 percent. Under title II the increase reaches individuals eligible for December 2025 benefits, which are payable in January 2026. SSI payments increase by 2.8 percent effective for payments made for January 2026. The increase for 2025 was 2.5 percent; each year's figure is determined on its own and stated in its own notice.
Common questions
- What is the 2026 Social Security COLA?
- It is 2.8 percent. SSA's notice for 2026 states that the cost-of-living increase is 2.8 percent for benefits under title II of the Social Security Act and for payments under title XVI.
- When does the 2026 COLA take effect?
- Under title II it is effective for individuals eligible for December 2025 benefits, which are payable in January 2026. That is why an increase settled in the autumn of 2025 is the increase people see in their 2026 payments.
- Does the 2026 COLA apply to Supplemental Security Income?
- Yes. Federal SSI payments also increase by 2.8 percent, effective for payments made for January 2026. 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 2026". That notice is the document this page cites, and it is where 2.8 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 2026 that computation gave 2.8 percent.
- Does every beneficiary get the same increase?
- The rate is the same for every benefit it applies to: the notice states a single increase of 2.8 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 2.8 percent increase also settles other amounts for 2026, 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 2026 COLA compare with the year before?
- The increase for 2026 is 2.8 percent. The increase for 2025 was 2.5 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
Social Security's annual cost-of-living adjustment compares the Consumer Price Index for the third quarter of the current year (July, August, September) against the third quarter of the previous year. If the CPI has risen, benefits go up by that percentage. If the CPI is flat or lower, there is no increase at all - the law does not allow a reduction. The "last computation quarter" is simply the most recent third quarter for which data existed when the prior year's COLA was set. The COLA then applies to anyone who was already eligible for title II benefits before the year the increase takes effect; people who first become eligible in that year do not receive it.
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 2026 (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 2.8% 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 2026. 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 2026 (SSA)
It starts with December benefits, paid in January
Even though the COLA is called a 2026 adjustment, the first monthly payment that reflects it does not arrive until January 2026. Social Security benefits are always paid one month in arrears: the benefit "for December" is the check sent out the following month. The increase therefore attaches to the December 2025 benefit, which SSA issues in January 2026. Beneficiaries who were already receiving payments before 2026 see the 2.8% boost on that January check. People who first become eligible after 2025 do not receive the increase; it applies only to workers and family members whose eligibility began before 2026.
benefits will increase by 2.8 percent beginning with benefits for December 2025, which are payable in January 2026.
Cost-of-Living Increase and Other Determinations for 2026 (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, SSA may withhold some of your monthly benefit under the retirement earnings test. The withholding rate depends on whether you will reach full retirement age during the year. Beneficiaries who attain full retirement age in the year have $1 withheld for every $3 of earnings above the higher annual exempt amount, but only for earnings in the months before they reach that age. Everyone else below full retirement age faces a stricter withholding ratio on earnings above the lower exempt amount. Once you reach full retirement age, there is no earnings test at all; you may earn any amount without a reduction in benefits.
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 2026 (SSA)
The year you reach full retirement age has its own limit
The year you reach full retirement age is treated differently from other years under the earnings test. During that calendar year, a higher exempt amount applies, but only to earnings in the months before you actually attain full retirement age. Earnings in the months from the birthday onward are not counted at all. For the rest of the years before full retirement age, the lower exempt amount is used instead. The higher annual figure effectively gives you more room to earn in the months leading up to the birthday month without losing benefits. Once you reach full retirement age, the earnings test no longer applies.
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 2026 (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 program uses a monthly earnings threshold as a practical benchmark: a person earning more than that amount is ordinarily considered to be engaging in SGA and therefore is not eligible for disability benefits. The dollar figure is not the same for everyone; it depends on the nature of the person's disability. Statutorily blind individuals under title II have their own, higher SGA threshold, while non-blind individuals with a determined disability are held to a lower one. Both amounts are updated each year using a formula tied to changes in the national average wage index.
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 2026 (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 2026 (SSA)
- Cost-of-living increase
The cost-of-living increase is 2.8 percent for monthly benefits under title II and for monthly payments under title XVI of the Act.