2027 Social Security COLA
No official 2027 COLA has been announced. As of Aug. 29, published forecasts tracked here run from 3.4% to 3.6%. Only July’s CPI-W is official so far; August and September are still needed.
No official 2027 COLA has been announced. As of Aug. 12, 2026, published forecasts tracked here range from 3.4% to 3.6%. The 3.5% displayed scenario is an illustrative midpoint of that range — not a COLA Benefit forecast.
Official 2027 COLA
Pending
Pending until SSA publishes the official COLA.
Displayed scenario
3.5%
Projected — illustrative midpoint of the displayed 3.4%–3.6% range
Official 2026 COLA
2.8%
Official. Announced Oct. 24, 2025.
Q3 CPI-W progress
1/3
CPI-W third-quarter progress
1/3July 2026
Verified327.104
August 2026
PendingAwaiting release
September 2026
PendingAwaiting release
Previous relevant Q3 CPI-W average: 317.265
Only one Q3 month is published. This is progress only — not a COLA estimate.
Published forecast range: 3.4%–3.6% as of Aug. 12, 2026
COLA Benefit does not publish a house forecast. A midpoint, if shown, is an illustrative midpoint — not a proprietary forecast.
Mary Johnson
Projected- Rate
- 3.4%
- Published
- Aug 12, 2026
Independent analyst estimate published Aug. 12, 2026 (USA TODAY via Yahoo Finance). Previous July estimate was 3.7%. Not official.
View sourceAARP
Projected- Rate
- 3.5%
- Published
- Aug 12, 2026
AARP estimate dated Aug. 12, 2026. Not an official SSA COLA and not a COLA Benefit forecast.
View sourceThe Senior Citizens League
Projected- Rate
- 3.6%
- Published
- Aug 12, 2026
TSCL projection dated Aug. 12, 2026, revised from 3.8% on Jul. 14, 2026. Not official.
View source
What changed after July?
- BLS published July 2026 CPI-W at 327.104. That month was 3.4% higher than July 2025. That year-over-year figure is not the 2027 COLA.
- The Senior Citizens League moved its projection from 3.8% to 3.6%.
- Mary Johnson’s estimate moved from 3.7% to 3.4%.
- AARP currently estimates 3.5%.
Named forecasts can move again after the Sep. 11 August CPI release and the Oct. 14 September CPI release.
Official vs projected
Official means SSA has published the COLA. Projected means a named organization published a forecast with a date. Pending means the value is unreleased or unverified. Estimated result is calculator output only.
CPI-W tracker · Announcement timing · Medicare net impact
Is the 2027 Social Security COLA official?
No. SSA says the next COLA will be announced in October 2026.
What are current 2027 COLA estimates?
As of Aug. 12, 2026, the named forecasts tracked by COLA Benefit range from 3.4% to 3.6%: Mary Johnson 3.4%, AARP 3.5%, TSCL 3.6%.
Is July's 3.4% CPI-W year-over-year increase the 2027 COLA?
No. July is only one of three Q3 readings.
When is the next update?
BLS is scheduled to release August CPI on Sep. 11, 2026 at 8:30 a.m. ET.
When will the official 2027 COLA be announced?
SSA says October 2026. BLS is scheduled to publish the final September CPI reading Oct. 14, but SSA has not confirmed an exact announcement date on its COLA summary page.
2026-08-12
July 2026 CPI-W published
BLS published July 2026 CPI-W at 327.104. This is the first of three Q3 readings used for the 2027 COLA calculation.
Related page2026-08-12
2027 published forecast range updated to 3.4%–3.6%
Current tracked estimates: Mary Johnson 3.4%, AARP 3.5%, TSCL 3.6%. These are named forecasts, not an official COLA and not a COLA Benefit house forecast.
Related page2026-06-09
2027 Medicare Part B Trustees projection updated
The 2026 Medicare Trustees Report estimates the 2027 standard Part B monthly premium at $209.50. This is a projection, not the final CMS premium.
Related page2025-10-24
2026 Social Security COLA announced at 2.8%
SSA announced the official 2026 COLA on Oct. 24, 2025. It was computed from Q3 2025 CPI-W (317.265) versus Q3 2024 CPI-W (308.729).
Related page
This hub will show the official 2027 COLA only after SSA publishes it. Until then, treat calculator output as an estimate.