CPI-W (CWUR0000SA0) · Average of the third quarter, all items, not seasonally adjusted · Worked out by 500metrics
What was the Social Security cost-of-living increase (COLA) each year?
The Social Security cost-of-living increase for 2027 was 3.6% (the year ended ), up 0.8 percentage points from a year earlier.
Cost-of-living increase for Social Security benefits, worked out from the CPI-W, not seasonally adjusted, each year
Shaded bands are US recessions as the National Bureau of Economic Research dates them: to , to , to , to .
Shaded bands are US recessions as the National Bureau of Economic Research dates them: to .
Cost-of-living increase for Social Security benefits, worked out from the CPI-W, change from a year earlier, each year (ours)
Shaded bands are US recessions as the National Bureau of Economic Research dates them: to , to , to , to .
Shaded bands are US recessions as the National Bureau of Economic Research dates them: to .
Each point is one year of the series as the source publishes it, or a change worked out from those values (ours). The US recessions are shaded. Pointing at the chart shows the year and the value.
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Inspect and compare dates
The newest year beside the one before it and the nearest ones five and ten years earlier. The last ten years are in the table under "The numbers behind the chart".
| Measure | Latest | The year before | Five years earlier | Ten years earlier |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | ||||
| Cost-of-living increase for Social Security benefits, worked out from the CPI-W | 3.6% | 2.8% | 5.9% | 0.3% |
| Change over a year | +0.8 pts | +0.3 pts | +4.6 pts | +0.3 pts |
The table scrolls sideways; the first column stays in place.
Observed .
Right now
The Social Security cost-of-living increase was 3.6% in 2027, the highest since 2023.
Over a year it is up 0.8 percentage points (ours).
ChangeOurs
| Period | Then | Change |
|---|---|---|
| One year | 2.8%, the rate in | +0.8 percentage points |
| Five years | 5.9%, the rate in | −2.3 percentage points |
| Ten years | 0.3%, the rate in | +3.3 percentage points |
In historyOurs
The Social Security cost-of-living increase of 3.6% in was higher than in 31 of the 41 other years since , the same in 1 and lower in 9.
Highest since : 8.7% in . Lowest since : 0.0% in .
AverageOurs
Average since : 2.79% (ours, a plain mean of the 42 years).
Understanding the Social Security cost-of-living increase
Where it stands today
The Social Security cost-of-living increase was 3.6% in 2027.
What does the Social Security cost-of-living increase measure?
Social Security benefits rise each year by a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) that the Social Security Act ties to the CPI-W, the consumer price index for urban wage earners and clerical workers. The increase applies to the benefits for December of the year before, which are paid in January, and the Social Security Administration names it by the year of that January.
Read more
The rule works on third quarters. The CPI of a quarter is the average of its three months, rounded to three decimals (to one decimal before 2007, when the Bureau of Labor Statistics published the index to one decimal). A third quarter whose CPI is higher than that of the previous computation quarter becomes the new computation quarter. The increase is the rise of its CPI over the CPI of the previous computation quarter, in percent rounded to one decimal. When the CPI has not risen, there is no increase, and the earlier quarter stays the base for the next year.
What 500metrics adds: the increase for each year since 1986, worked out by us from the CPI-W with that rule, the highest and lowest since then, and the change from the year before in percentage points. Each increase carries the year the Social Security Administration names it by, which is the year after the third quarter it is worked out from: the increase of 2027 is the rise of the third quarter of 2026 over that of 2025, and it raises the benefits paid from January 2027.
The numbers behind the chart
What was the Social Security cost-of-living increase in each year?The last ten years, 10 years, newest first; the chart and the file have every year since 1986
| Year | Value | Change over a year |
|---|---|---|
| 3.6% | +0.8 pts | |
| 2.8% | +0.3 pts | |
| 2.5% | −0.7 pts | |
| 3.2% | −5.5 pts | |
| 8.7% | +2.8 pts | |
| 5.9% | +4.6 pts | |
| 1.3% | −0.3 pts | |
| 1.6% | −1.2 pts | |
| 2.8% | +0.8 pts | |
| 2.0% | +1.7 pts |
What do these figures leave out, and how are they cited?Limits, dates and how to cite
What this number cannot tell you
- These figures are ours. We work the rule out from the index values the Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes; we do not copy the table of the Social Security Administration, which announces the increase each year after the BLS publishes the CPI-W of September.
- The increases before the one named 1986, which is worked out from the third quarter of 1985, are left out. Those were worked out from other quarters or set by acts of Congress, and the rule above does not give them.
- One increase was set by law, not by the rule: the one named 2000 shows 2.5%, the figure Public Law 106-554 gave it after an error in the CPI. The rule gives 2.4% from the index as published.
- A year with no increase shows 0.0%: the third-quarter CPI-W did not rise above that of the previous computation quarter. The next increase is then worked out from that earlier quarter, so it can cover more than one year of price changes.
- If a month of a third quarter has no value in the BLS file, the page ends with the previous increase, because the next one could not be worked out without it. A year is never filled in by a guess.
- The CPI-W is the index not adjusted for the season, as BLS publishes it. The percentages are rounded to one decimal, and the change from the year before is the difference of two rounded percentages.
Observed .
How to cite this
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, CPI-W; the increase is worked out by 500metrics, Average of the third quarter, all items, not seasonally adjusted, Worked out by 500metrics, through 2027. Compiled by 500metrics, "What was the Social Security cost-of-living increase (COLA) each year?", https://500metrics.com/social-security-cola.
Can the data be downloaded?social-security-cola.csv
Download the full history as CSV: 42 rows, to , 590 bytes.
Our text and compilation: CC BY 4.0.
Recession dates from the National Bureau of Economic Research.
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