When there is no COLA
If the CPI-W does not rise, or the rise rounds to zero, there is no COLA that year, and benefits stay the same rather than falling. That has happened three times since automatic COLAs began in 1975: no increase was paid in January 2010, January 2011 or January 2016.
A zero year also changes the next calculation. Because the comparison is always against the last year in which a COLA took effect, prices have to climb back above that earlier level before benefits rise again. After the 0.0% result in 2015, the 0.3% COLA for December 2016 was measured from the third quarter of 2014.
The largest recent increases followed the inflation surge of 2021 and 2022: 5.9% for January 2022 and 8.7% for January 2023. The largest in SSA’s series was 14.3% in 1980. Big COLAs protect purchasing power, but they only catch up with prices that have already risen, so a retiree still lives through the gap in the year before each increase.
What a COLA does and does not change
A COLA raises the benefit itself, and it reaches further than many people expect: it applies before you claim, and it flows to everyone paid on your record. Several other Social Security figures change every year too, but they follow wages or a different price index, and Medicare premiums often take back part of the raise. Knowing which is which keeps you from counting inflation twice, or from assuming a limit will rise with prices when it will not.
- Your primary insurance amount gets every COLA from December of the year you turn 62, even if you have not claimed.
- Spousal, survivor and disability benefits rise by the same percentage.
- The taxable maximum, the earnings test limits and the PIA bend points follow the national average wage index, not the CPI-W.
- Federal tax brackets use a different index, the chained CPI-U, and the $25,000 and $32,000 thresholds for taxing benefits are not indexed at all.
- The Medicare Part B premium rose $17.90 to $202.90 a month for 2026 and is usually deducted from benefits.
- A hold-harmless rule stops a Part B increase from shrinking most people’s net check. It does not protect IRMAA payers, people who were not receiving benefits for the prior November and December, or anyone whose premium is not deducted from their benefit.
Illustrative numbers
The 2026 COLA on an average retirement benefit
- CPI-W
- Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, published monthly by BLS
- Last COLA year
- the most recent year a COLA took effect; 2024 for the COLA paid from January 2026
If the result is zero or negative, there is no COLA and benefits stay the same.
CPI-W, July–September 2024 average308.729
CPI-W, July–September 2025 average317.265
COLA, rounded to 0.1%2.8%
Average retired-worker benefit, before and after$2,015 to $2,071
Medicare Part B premium, 2025 and 2026$185.00 to $202.90
Change in the monthly deposit if Part B is deducted+$38.10
The COLA adds $56 a month, but the higher Part B premium absorbs $17.90 of it, so the deposit rises from $1,830.00 to $1,868.10, about 2.1% rather than 2.8%. SSA’s averages are estimates for January 2026.
At a glance
Recent Social Security COLAs (SSA lists each under the year it took effect)
| COLA effective for December | First paid in January | Increase |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 2009 | 5.8% |
| 2009 | 2010 | 0.0% |
| 2010 | 2011 | 0.0% |
| 2015 | 2016 | 0.0% |
| 2016 | 2017 | 0.3% |
| 2021 | 2022 | 5.9% |
| 2022 | 2023 | 8.7% |
| 2023 | 2024 | 3.2% |
| 2024 | 2025 | 2.5% |
| 2025 | 2026 | 2.8% |
Put it in your plan
COLA in MoneyWhatIf
When a Social Security income card estimates from your record, MoneyWhatIf carries the benefit forward with the plan’s inflation assumption after the claim, the way real benefits carry a cost-of-living adjustment; it does not reproduce SSA’s yearly COLA notices. A pension entered as an income card can stay in flat dollars, track inflation or change at a set rate, and a pension worked out from the job takes its own cost-of-living adjustment, simple or compounded. Turn on Today’s money to see which income keeps its purchasing power.
Common questions
COLA FAQs
When will the 2027 COLA be announced?
The COLA for 2027 depends on the CPI-W for July, August and September 2026, so it cannot be set until BLS publishes September’s index, scheduled for October 14, 2026. It would apply to December 2026 benefits paid in January 2027. By law it is measured from the third-quarter 2025 average of 317.265, because 2025 was the last year a COLA took effect.
Why isn’t the COLA based on a price index for retirees?
SSA measures the COLA with the CPI-W, which tracks prices paid by households of urban wage earners and clerical workers, about 30% of the population, not retirees in particular. BLS also publishes a research index built from the spending of Americans 62 and older, the R-CPI-E. BLS says official uses of it have been considered but not implemented because of its limitations, including a small sample of older households, and that conclusions drawn from it should be treated as tentative.
Can a COLA ever reduce my Social Security benefit?
No. If the CPI-W falls or its rise rounds to zero, SSA simply pays no COLA, and benefits stay where they are. Your net deposit can still shrink, though, if a higher Medicare premium is deducted and you are not covered by the hold-harmless rule, or if you owe IRMAA because your income two years earlier crossed a threshold.
Is the Social Security COLA taxable?
A COLA is simply part of your benefit, so it is taxed like the rest of it. Up to 85% of benefits can be taxable depending on your provisional income. Because the $25,000 and $32,000 thresholds have never been indexed, years of COLAs gradually push more retirees past them and into the phase-in range behind the tax torpedo.
Do COLAs apply before I start Social Security?
Yes, from the year you turn 62. The law raises the primary insurance amount of anyone who has reached that eligibility year by each COLA, regardless of when they claim. A worker who waits until 67 or 70 therefore starts from a PIA that already includes every COLA since 62, and the claiming-age factor is applied on top.