2026 Social Security Increase to Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA)

The Social Security Administration (SSA) has announced a 2.8% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for 2026. This increase provides welcome relief for millions of Americans—especially those who depend on Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) to make ends meet.

For individuals living with disabilities, even modest increases in benefits can make a meaningful difference. The annual COLA update helps ensure your payments keep pace with inflation and the rising cost of essential goods and services.

2026 COLA 2.8%

The Social Security Administration announced a 2.8% cost-of-living adjustment for 2026

COLA Announcement - Key Takeaways

The Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) for 2026 is 2.8%
Disability beneficiaries will see an increase of approximately $44/month
Annual COLA adjustments are set by the Social Security Administration
Individual benefit increases can be seen through your mySocialSecurity account

How Will COLA Affect My Monthly Benefits?

Starting January 2026, nearly 71 million Social Security beneficiaries will see a 2.8% increase in their monthly payments. On average, Social Security Disability recipients will see an increase of about $44 per month.

For approximately 7.5 million SSI recipients, the increase will take effect on December 31, 2025. Beneficiaries will receive official notices from the SSA in early December detailing their new benefit amounts.

What is COLA?

The COLA is intended to preserve beneficiaries’ purchasing power as living costs rise. Each year, the SSA calculates this adjustment using the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W), a measure tracked by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Over the past decade, the average annual COLA has been about 3.1%, with this year’s 2.8% aligning closely with national inflation trends.

Consumer Price Index

Social security disability beneficiary sitting on bench

How Do I Find Out My Updated Benefit Amount?

The SSA will begin sending benefit update notices in early December 2025. If you have a mySocialSecurity account, you can conveniently and securely view your COLA notice online, which is often faster than waiting for a paper letter. To ensure you can access this update, create or verify your mySocialSecurity account before November 19, 2025.

How Will Medicare Be Affected?

Information about Medicare premiums and coverage changes for 2026 will be available on the official Medicare site. If you receive both Social Security and Medicare, your benefit notice will automatically reflect any adjustments to your Medicare premiums. These updates typically appear in your mySocialSecurity Message Center in late November.

More about SSDI Cost-of-Living Adjustments

The Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) was first introduced to Social Security benefits in 1975 to help recipients keep pace with inflation automatically, without requiring new legislation each year. Before that time, any increase in benefits required an act of Congress, which often led to long gaps between adjustments. The automatic COLA was established as part of the 1972 Social Security Amendments, linking annual benefit increases to the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W). Below is the cost-of-living adjustment over time based on the year the increase was applied.

COLA Information by Year

YEAR	COLA	SSI Individuals	SSI Couples	SSDI Beneficiaries	SGA: Blind	SGA: Non-Blind	TWP	RESOURCES
1976	8.00	167.80	251.80	225.89	230.00	230.00	50.00	https://www.ssa.gov/oact/cola/SSIamts.html
1977	6.40	177.80	266.70	245.17	240.00	240.00	50.00	https://www.ssa.gov/oact/cola/sga.html
1978	5.90	189.40	284.10	265.19	334.00	260.00	50.00	https://www.ssa.gov/oact/cola/twp.html
1979	6.50	208.20	312.30	288.25	375.00	280.00	75.00	https://www.ssa.gov/cgi-bin/currentpay.cgi
1980	9.90	238.00	357.00	322.03	417.00	300.00	75.00
1981	14.30	264.70	397.00	370.74	459.00	300.00	75.00
1982	11.20	284.30	426.40	413.15	500.00	300.00	75.00
1983	7.40	304.30	456.40	440.60	550.00	300.00	75.00
1984	3.50	314.00	472.00	456.20	580.00	300.00	75.00
1985	3.50	325.00	488.00	470.67	610.00	300.00	75.00
1986	3.10	336.00	504.00	483.86	650.00	300.00	75.00
1987	1.30	340.00	510.00	487.86	680.00	300.00	75.00
1988	4.20	354.00	532.00	508.21	700.00	300.00	75.00
1989	4.00	368.00	553.00	529.50	740.00	300.00	75.00
1990	4.70	386.00	579.00	555.99	780.00	500.00	200.00
1991	5.40	407.00	610.00	587.23	810.00	500.00	200.00
1992	3.70	422.00	633.00	609.35	850.00	500.00	200.00
1993	3.00	434.00	652.00	626.07	880.00	500.00	200.00
1994	2.60	446.00	669.00	641.67	930.00	500.00	200.00
1995	2.80	458.00	687.00	661.37	940.00	500.00	200.00
1996	2.60	470.00	705.00	681.76	960.00	500.00	200.00
1997	2.90	484.00	726.00	703.94	1,000.00	500.00	200.00
1998	2.10	494.00	741.00	721.57	1,050.00	500.00	200.00
1999	1.30	500.00	751.00	733.08	1,110.00	700.00	200.00
2000	2.50	513.00	769.00	754.12	1,170.00	700.00	200.00
2001	3.50	531.00	796.00	786.40	1,240.00	740.00	530.00
2002	2.60	545.00	817.00	814.46	1,300.00	780.00	560.00
2003	1.40	552.00	829.00	834.32	1,330.00	800.00	570.00
2004	2.10	564.00	846.00	861.56	1,350.00	810.00	580.00
2005	2.70	579.00	869.00	894.13	1,380.00	830.00	590.00
2006	4.10	603.00	904.00	938.19	1,450.00	860.00	620.00
2007	3.30	623.00	934.00	977.86	1,500.00	900.00	640.00
2008	2.30	637.00	956.00	1,004.11	1,570.00	940.00	670.00
2009	5.80	674.00	1,011.00	1,063.14	1,640.00	980.00	700.00
2010	0.00	674.00	1,011.00	1,064.31	1,640.00	1,000.00	720.00
2011	0.00	674.00	1,011.00	1,067.79	1,640.00	1,000.00	720.00
2012	3.60	698.00	1,048.00	1,110.51	1,690.00	1,010.00	720.00
2013	1.70	710.00	1,066.00	1,130.34	1,740.00	1,040.00	750.00
2014	1.50	721.00	1,082.00	1,146.43	1,800.00	1,070.00	770.00
2015	1.70	733.00	1,100.00	1,165.39	1,820.00	1,090.00	780.00
2016	0.00	733.00	1,100.00	1,165.79	1,820.00	1,130.00	810.00
2017	0.30	735.00	1,103.00	1,171.15	1,950.00	1,170.00	840.00
2018	2.00	750.00	1,125.00	1,196.87	1,970.00	1,180.00	850.00
2019	2.80	771.00	1,157.00	1,233.70	2,040.00	1,220.00	880.00
2020	1.60	783.00	1,175.00	1,257.65	2,110.00	1,260.00	910.00
2021	1.30	794.00	1,191.00	1,277.05	2,190.00	1,310.00	940.00
2022	5.90	841.00	1,261.00	1,358.30	2,260.00	1,350.00	970.00
2023	8.70	914.00	1,371.00	1,483.10	2,460.00	1,470.00	1,050.00
2024	3.20	943.00	1,415.00	1,537.00	2,590.00	1,550.00	1,110.00
2025	2.50	967.00	1,450.00	1,580.79	2,700.00	1,620.00	1,160.00
2026	2.80	994.00	1,491.00	1,630.00	2,830.00	1,690.00	1,210.00
YEAR	COLA	SSI Individuals	SSI Couples	SSDI Beneficiaries	SGA: Blind	SGA: Non-Blind	TWP

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