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Social Security COLA announcement could come as soon as Wednesday

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FOX Local
Money
Published October 11, 2026 6:10 PM PDT
Published October 11, 2026 6:10 PM PDT
article

In this photo illustration, a Social Security card sits alongside checks from the U.S. Treasury on October 14, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Photo illustration by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

The Brief

    • The Social Security Administration will soon announce the 2027 cost-of-living adjustment for recipients.
    • On Wednesday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics will release the final piece of data needed to determine the COLA.
    • In 2025, the BLS release and the SSA COLA announcement came on the same day.

Social Security recipients across the United States should soon know how much of an increase they will see in their monthly checks next year.  

Big picture view:

On Wednesday, October 14, the Bureau of Labor Statistics will publish its September 2026 Consumer Price Index (CPI). That report contains the last bit of data needed by the Social Security Administration (SSA) to determine its 2027 Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA).

When is the Social Security COLA announced?

Any COLA change could be announced as soon as Wednesday. The SSA has only stated that the COLA for 2027 would be announced in October of this year. However, once the BLS data is released, the agency will have all of the information it needs. In 2025, both the CPI data and the adjustment announcement came on the same day.

How much will the increase be?

There is no official indication of how much more recipients will get. The annual adjustment for a coming year is based on the year-to-year Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) for July, August, and September of the current year. The CPI-W for July was 3.4%, while August’s increase was 3.5%, according to BLS numbers.

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By the numbers:

Following the release of the August CPI-W, the Senior Citizens League predicted that the COLA would be 3.5% next year. According to its numbers, the average recipient is currently getting $1,940.08 per month, and a 3.5% increase would push that number to $2,007.98.

The backstory:

If the COLA were 3.5% in 2027, that would be a sharp rise from the 2.8% adjustment made last year. After making the announcement last year, the SSA stated that people who have a personal Social Security account would be able to see their individual adjustment notices for that year immediately on its website, and notices would be sent by mail in December. 

The Source: Information for this article was taken from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Social Security Administration, the Senior Citizens League, and previous coverage. This story was reported from Orlando.


 

Money