Social Security checks will grow 3.6% in 2027, about $75 more a month for the average retiree.
Story Highlights
- The 3.6% cost-of-living raise reaches about 76 million Americans who get Social Security or SSI.
- The average retirement check goes up about $75 a month, before any Medicare premium or tax changes.
- Social Security checks rise starting in January 2027; SSI payments rise starting December 31, 2026.
- Social Security announced the raise on Wednesday, October 14.
Why Your Check Is Going Up
The raise is set by how much prices climbed. Each year, Social Security compares a government price measure for July, August and September with the same months a year earlier. That measure is the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, or CPI-W, which tracks what everyday goods and services cost. Prices rose this summer, so benefits rise by the same 3.6% to help retirees keep up.
Commissioner Frank Bisignano, who heads the Social Security Administration, said, “Social Security will implement this cost-of-living adjustment for 76 million Americans.” He said the raise is aimed at “giving them greater financial stability.”
When the Bigger Check Arrives
About 72 million people who get Social Security will see the higher amount in their January 2027 payments. About 7.3 million people on SSI, or Supplemental Security Income, the monthly program for people with very low income who are older, blind or disabled, will see the raise in the payment that arrives December 31, 2026.
The $75 figure is an average. Your own raise depends on the size of your current check, since everyone gets the same 3.6%. A person getting $1,500 a month, for example, would get about $54 more.
How to See Your Exact New Amount
Social Security will mail a one-page notice in December with your exact new benefit and payment dates. If you have a my Social Security online account, you can see the notice starting in late November, up to three weeks before the paper copy. To see it online, you need to create an account and sign up for paperless notices by November 18.
Many retirees have Medicare Part B premiums taken out of their Social Security check. The 2027 Part B premium has not been announced yet. Your 2027 Medicare premium amount will be posted in the my Social Security Message Center starting in late November, and Medicare changes for 2027 will be listed at medicare.gov. That premium will decide how much of the $75 average raise lands in your bank account.
What It Means at Home
Retirees have felt rising prices at the grocery store, the pharmacy and on the power bill. A 3.6% raise does not erase every price hike, but it is real money each month, set by law and paid on schedule. Keeping inflation in check in Washington is the best way to make every future raise go further.
Sources:
foxbusiness.com, bls.gov, ssa.gov