What 3.6% does to a monthly benefit
Multiply the benefit you receive now by 1.036. The Social Security Administration estimates the average retired worker's benefit goes from $2,095 to $2,170 a month, an increase of $75.
| Monthly benefit in 2026 | With the 3.6% increase | Change |
|---|---|---|
| $1,200 | $1,243.20 | +$43.20 |
| $1,800 | $1,864.80 | +$64.80 |
| $2,500 | $2,590.00 | +$90.00 |
| $3,000 | $3,108.00 | +$108.00 |
Your own notice can differ by a dollar or so, because the agency applies the increase to your base benefit and rounds down. The highest benefit for someone retiring at full retirement age in 2027 is $4,188 a month.
When the increase arrives
The new amount starts with the payment you receive in January 2027. Supplemental Security Income payments rise first, on December 31, 2026. Notices appear in the online my Social Security message center from late November, and by mail in December for people who have not chosen paperless notices.
Why the deposit may rise by less
If Medicare Part B is taken out of your benefit, the premium comes off after the increase is added. The 2027 premium had not been published when this page was written; the Social Security announcement says it will appear at medicare.gov, and that your own new benefit amount will be in the December COLA notice and the my Social Security message center. A higher premium takes back part of the increase, so wait for your own notice before budgeting on the full amount.
Does the increase raise the tax on your benefits?
It can. Benefits become taxable once your combined income (adjusted gross income, plus tax-exempt interest, plus half of your benefits) passes $25,000 for a single filer or $32,000 on a joint return. Up to 50% of benefits can be taxed above those amounts, and up to 85% above $34,000 or $44,000. Those thresholds are written into the law as fixed dollar figures and are not raised for inflation. The benefit goes up every year and the thresholds do not, so each increase moves a little more of it into taxable income. Is Social Security taxable? walks through the worksheet.
If you are still working
Two other 2027 figures changed with the same announcement.
The wage base. Social Security tax applies to earnings up to $192,300 in 2027, up $7,800 from $184,500. At 6.2%, the most an employee can pay rises from $11,439.00 to $11,922.60, which is $483.60 more for someone earning at or above the new limit. A self-employed person pays both halves, 12.4%, for a maximum of $23,845.20. Medicare tax has no ceiling.
The earnings test. If you collect benefits before full retirement age and keep working, $1 of benefits is withheld for every $2 you earn above $25,560 in 2027. In the year you reach full retirement age the limit is $67,920, the rate is $1 for every $3, and only earnings in the months before the month you reach full retirement age count. From that month on there is no limit.
How the figure is set
The adjustment is automatic. It equals the rise 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, here from 2025 to 2026. Congress does not vote on it and the agency has no discretion over it.
Key takeaways
- Benefits rise 3.6% from January 2027; the average retired worker gets $75 more a month.
- A Medicare Part B premium increase comes out of the same check.
- The thresholds for taxing benefits ($25,000 single, $32,000 joint) did not move.
- The Social Security wage base rises to $192,300; the earnings-test limits to $25,560 and $67,920.
Sources
- Social Security Administration: 2027 Social Security Changes (COLA fact sheet): the increase, wage base, earnings test and average benefits
- Social Security Administration press release: 3.6 percent benefit increase for 2027: October 14, 2026
- IRS Publication 915: Social Security and Equivalent Railroad Retirement Benefits: the base amounts for taxing benefits