acalculator

What is my COLA raise?

Enter a monthly benefit and the year it was paid to see it after each Social Security cost-of-living adjustment (COLA), year by year.

Your numbers

Leave empty to use published COLAs only.
Monthly benefit
$2,503.53

A monthly benefit of $2,000.00 paid in 2021 is $2,503.53 in 2026, 25.18% more.

Raise a month
$503.53
Total raise
25.18%
COLAs applied
5
A year
$30,042.32
Years
5

Monthly benefit: $2,503.53. A monthly benefit of $2,000.00 paid in 2021 is $2,503.53 in 2026, 25.18% more.

How has the benefit grown?

Which COLA applied each year?

The results are estimates for information only. They are not financial, tax, or legal advice. Check the numbers with your lender or a qualified professional before you decide. Terms of use

How to calculate

Raises a monthly Social Security or SSI benefit by each year’s cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) from SSA, from any year since 1984 to 2026, with an optional rate for later years.

Example with the default inputs (Monthly benefit $2,000.00, Paid in (year) 2021, Raise it to (year) 2026): A monthly benefit of $2,000.00 paid in 2021 is $2,503.53 in 2026, 25.18% more.

Method: New benefit = benefit × (1 + COLA₁) × (1 + COLA₂) × … for each COLA set from the start year to the year before the end year.

  • SSA sets each COLA in October, effective with December benefits, paid from January of the next year. A benefit paid in 2021 gets the COLAs set in 2021 to 2025 by 2026.
  • Published COLAs from SSA for 1984 to 2025; later years use your assumed rate.
  • SSA rounds a raised benefit down to the dime (and the payment down to the dollar); this page does not round, so SSA’s figure can be up to a few dollars lower.
  • Medicare Part B premiums, taken out of many checks, are not included.

Machine-readable copies: Markdown, JSON.

Worked examples

Each example is checked against the calculator on every build.

  1. Monthly benefit $1,000.00, Paid in (year) 2025, Raise it to (year) 2026 gives Monthly benefit $1,028.00, Raise a month $28.00, COLAs applied 1.Source: SSA, Latest Cost-of-Living Adjustment: 2.8% from December 2025 benefits, payable January 2026
  2. Monthly benefit $2,000.00, Paid in (year) 2021, Raise it to (year) 2026 gives Monthly benefit $2,503.53, Total raise 25.176321%.Source: SSA COLA series (5.9%, 8.7%, 3.2%, 2.5%, 2.8% for 2021 to 2025)
  3. Monthly benefit $1,500.00, Paid in (year) 2009, Raise it to (year) 2011 gives Monthly benefit $1,500.00, Total raise 0%.Source: SSA COLA series: no COLA for 2009 or 2010 (0.0%)
  4. Monthly benefit $2,000.00, Paid in (year) 2026, Raise it to (year) 2028, COLA for later years 2.5% gives Monthly benefit $2,101.25.

How it works

SSA sets a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) each October. It is effective with the benefits for December of that year, which are paid in January of the next year. So the COLA set in year Y first shows in the check paid in year Y + 1.

For a monthly benefit B paid in start year S, the benefit paid in end year E is:

B × (1 + c(S)/100) × (1 + c(S + 1)/100) × … × (1 + c(E − 1)/100)

where c(Y) is the COLA set in year Y, in percent. The table shows one row per year, from S + 1 to E. When E = S, no COLA applies.

Published COLAs. From SSA’s COLA history, 1984 to 2025 (for example 5.9% in 2021, 8.7% in 2022, 3.2% in 2023, 2.5% in 2024, 2.8% in 2025; 0% in 2009, 2010 and 2015). The page starts at 1984, the first year SSA paid every COLA from January.

Later years. For a year after the last published COLA, the page uses the rate you enter. Without one, an end year after 2026 gives no answer. An end year before the start year gives no answer either.

Outputs. Raise a month = new benefit − B. Total raise = (new benefit ÷ B − 1) × 100%. A year = new benefit × 12.

Assumptions

  • SSA rounds a raised primary insurance amount down to the next lower dime each year, and a monthly payment down to the whole dollar. This page does not round, so SSA’s figure can be a few dollars lower.
  • Medicare premiums and other deductions from the check are not included.

Worked examples by hand

One COLA. $1,000 paid in 2025, raised to 2026: $1,000 × 1.028 = $1,028, a raise of $28.

Five COLAs. $2,000 paid in 2021, raised to 2026: $2,000 × 1.059 × 1.087 × 1.032 × 1.025 × 1.028 = $2,503.53, a total raise of 25.18%.

No COLA. $1,500 paid in 2009, raised to 2011: the COLAs for 2009 and 2010 were 0%, so it stays $1,500.

Assumed COLA. $2,000 paid in 2026, raised to 2028 at an assumed 2.5% a year (the COLAs set in 2026 and 2027): $2,000 × 1.025 × 1.025 = $2,101.25.

Other questions people ask

What is the Social Security COLA for 2026?

The COLA is 2.8%. It applies to benefits for December 2025, paid in January 2026. SSI payments rose 2.8% in January 2026 too. A $2,000 benefit became $2,056.

How is the COLA calculated?

SSA compares the average Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) for July to September with the same average in the last year a COLA was paid, and rounds the increase to the nearest 0.1%. For 2026 that was (317.265 − 308.729) ÷ 308.729 = 2.8%.

When is the next COLA announced?

SSA announces each COLA in October, after the September CPI-W is published. The COLA for 2027 will be set in October 2026. Until then you can enter an assumed rate for later years.

Why is my check smaller than this?

Medicare Part B premiums are usually taken out of the check, and they often rise in January too. SSA also rounds the raised benefit down to the dime and the payment down to the whole dollar each year.

Were there years with no COLA?

Yes. There was no COLA for 2009, 2010 and 2015 (paid in 2010, 2011 and 2016), because prices fell or did not rise between the measured quarters.