What Is COLA?
The essentials
Automatic since 1975. Before then, Congress raised benefits by individual votes, in irregular steps. The 1972 amendments replaced that system with a formula — the percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) from the third quarter of one year to the third quarter of the next, rounded to the nearest 0.1%, and never below zero.
It compounds. Each year's adjustment applies to a benefit that already includes every previous adjustment — which is how a $1,000 benefit from 2000 becomes $1,988 by January 2027 without any other change (replay it on the cumulative calculator).
It reaches beyond Social Security. The same measurement drives — through their own statutes — VA disability compensation, federal retirement annuities, railroad retirement and military retired pay, each covered in the ecosystem section below.
Start here, by what you need
Calculate your amount
2027 COLA calculator · Net calculator (after Medicare) · Spousal calculator · Earnings test calculator · Benefit tax calculator · Cumulative calculator
The 2027 numbers
Complete 2027 guide · Average benefits · Maximum benefit · SSI amounts · Everything else that changes · Increase chart
When you are paid
2027 payment dates · Payment date by birthday · SSI schedule 2027 · 2028 schedule · Your COLA notice · First COLA payment
Your benefit type
Retired workers · Spousal · Divorced spouse · Child & family · SSDI · SSI · Survivors
The rules around your raise
Part B premium 2027 · Hold harmless rule · IRMAA brackets · Are benefits taxable? · COLA and your taxes · Earnings test · State taxes
Other systems' COLAs
VA disability · VA DIC & survivors · Federal retirees (CSRS/FERS) · Railroad retirement · Military retirees
Understand it deeply
How the COLA is calculated · History 1975–2027 · Largest increases · Legislative timeline · Purchasing power · COLA vs. inflation · CPI-W vs. CPI-E · Glossary · FAQ · Scam warnings
Follow the cycle
COLA news log · The 2027 announcement · 2028 forecast tracker · Prediction track record · Benefits by state · SSI state supplements
Frequently asked questions
What does COLA stand for?
Cost-of-living adjustment. For Social Security it is the annual, automatic percentage increase applied to benefits to keep them in step with inflation, defined in §215(i) of the Social Security Act and paid since 1975.
Who receives a COLA?
Everyone receiving Social Security retirement, disability (SSDI), spousal, divorced-spouse, survivors or children's benefits, and every SSI recipient. Parallel adjustments — set by the same CPI measurement, sometimes through separate law — reach VA disability compensation and DIC, federal CSRS and FERS annuities, railroad retirement benefits, and military retired pay.
Is the COLA the same for everyone?
The percentage is identical across Social Security and SSI (3.6% for 2027). The dollars differ because they scale with each person's own benefit. Related systems mostly match the percentage, with two structural exceptions: FERS annuities get a reduced 'diet COLA' (2.6% for 2027), and railroad Tier II benefits get 32.5% of the CPI rise (1.2% for 2027).
Can the COLA be zero or negative?
Zero, yes — when prices do not rise over the measurement year (determinations of 2009, 2010 and 2015). Negative, never: the statute floors the adjustment at 0%.