Social Security Cost-of-Living Adjustment Estimate Raised to 2.7 Percent for 2026

Inflation pressures lift the cost-of-living adjustment forecast for next year’s benefits.

Blank U.S. Treasury checks are run through a printer at the U.S. Treasury printing facility in Philadelphia on July 18, 2011. William Thomas Cain/Getty Images

The Social Security cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for 2026 is projected to be 2.7 percent, according to an Aug. 12 estimate from The Senior Citizens League (TSCL), based on the latest inflation data.

The group’s updated projection is 0.2 percentage points higher than the 2.5 percent increase implemented at the start of 2025. Last month, TSCL’s model also pointed to rising inflation risks, marking several consecutive months of upward revisions.