The Social Security Administration announced Oct. 14 that benefits will rise 3.6% in January 2027, which adds about $75 a month to the average retirement check, according to the agency’s press release. Supplemental Security Income recipients will see higher payments beginning Dec. 31, 2026.
What the 2027 COLA Changes
The release says nearly 72 million Social Security beneficiaries will receive the cost-of-living adjustment and that about 7.3 million people on Supplemental Security Income will see higher payments starting Dec. 31. Accounts of how many people the increase reaches differ within the agency’s own material. The release counts nearly 72 million beneficiaries, while the quote from Commissioner Frank J. Bisignano in the same release and the agency’s bulletin for advocates both cite 76 million Americans.
Bisignano said the adjustment will give recipients “greater financial stability,” according to the release. The agency’s 2027 fact sheet lists estimated average monthly benefits before and after the increase. All retired workers go from $2,095 to $2,170, a gain of $75. An aged couple with both spouses receiving benefits goes from $3,238 to $3,355, a gain of $117. An aged widow or widower living alone goes from $1,936 to $2,005, a gain of $69. All disabled workers go from $1,642 to $1,701, a gain of $59.
Two larger family categories also rise. A disabled worker with a spouse and one or more children goes from $2,970 to $3,077, and a widowed mother with two children goes from $3,932 to $4,074. The dollar gains of $107 and $142 are calculations from the fact sheet’s figures. Across a full year, the $75 monthly gain for the average retired worker comes to $900, a calculation from the fact sheet’s averages.
How the CPI-W Produces the Number
The agency sets the adjustment from the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, known as the CPI-W, which the Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes. The agency’s CPI-W page lists the monthly index values for the third quarter of each year, and the adjustment compares the third-quarter average in one year with the same average a year earlier. The third-quarter average was 317.265 in 2025 and 328.746 in 2026. Dividing the second by the first gives a 3.62% increase, which rounds to 3.6%. That arithmetic comes from the agency’s published index values.
The monthly values show that prices accelerated through the quarter. The CPI-W stood at 327.104 in July, 328.481 in August and 330.654 in September of 2026. Against the same months of 2025, the index was up 3.4% in July, 3.5% in August and 3.9% in September. All three are calculations from the agency’s table.
The September reading sits above the 3.6% adjustment because the adjustment averages all three months and the last month ran highest. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported separately on Oct. 14 that the broader consumer price index rose 3.7% over the 12 months ending in September, according to its CPI release. That index covers a different population than the CPI-W, so its rate does not match the CPI-W rate.
SSI Payments and the Rounding Rule
The agency’s SSI page lists the 2027 federal maximum at $1,029 a month for an eligible individual, $1,544 for an eligible individual with an eligible spouse and $516 for an essential person. The fact sheet shows the 2026 amounts were $994 for an individual and $1,491 for a couple.
The increases work out to 3.5% for an individual and 3.6% for a couple, both calculated from those figures. The individual amount grows by slightly less than 3.6% because of a rounding rule the agency describes on the same page. It raises the unrounded annual amount by the January adjustment, divides by 12 and rounds down to the next lower multiple of $1. The page lists the unrounded 2026 individual amount as $11,929.46 a year.
Multiplying by 1.036 and dividing by 12 gives $1,029.91, which the rule lowers to $1,029. The 2027 SSI resource limits stay at $2,000 for an individual and $3,000 for a couple, according to the fact sheet. Some states add their own supplement to the federal payment, the SSI page says.
Work Limits and the Taxable Maximum
The fact sheet lists the other figures that move with average wages. The maximum amount of earnings subject to the Social Security payroll tax rises from $184,500 to $192,300, an increase of $7,800 or 4.2%. Medicare’s portion of the payroll tax has no earnings limit. The employee tax rate stays at 7.65% and the self-employed rate at 15.30%.
Beneficiaries who claim before full retirement age and keep working face an earnings test. The annual limit rises from $24,480 to $25,560. For the year a worker reaches full retirement age, it rises from $65,160 to $67,920. A quarter of coverage requires $1,970 in earnings in 2027, up from $1,890. For people with disabilities, the monthly substantial gainful activity amount rises from $1,690 to $1,770 for non-blind workers and from $2,830 to $2,950 for blind workers.
The trial work period amount rises from $1,210 to $1,270. The maximum benefit for a worker who retires at full retirement age rises from $4,152 to $4,188 a month. That is a $36 gain, or 0.9%, which is a smaller percentage than the 3.6% adjustment. The fact sheet lists both figures and does not comment on the gap.
When Recipients Will See the Change
Beneficiaries with a my Social Security account can view their notice online starting in late November, according to the release. People who sign up for paperless notices by Nov. 18 can see it online, and everyone else will receive a paper notice in December. The agency said the notice is a simplified one-page document that shows exact dates and dollar amounts.
The release says each person’s 2027 Medicare premium will appear in the my Social Security Message Center starting in late November. The release does not give the premium amount, so recipients will not know how much of the increase Medicare deductions absorb until then.
