Social Security COLA Calculator 2027: What Your Check Becomes After the 3.6% Increase

How much will my Social Security check go up in 2027?

By 3.6%, the official 2027 cost-of-living adjustment the Social Security Administration announced on 2026-10-14 (SSA 2027 COLA fact sheet). It applies to benefits payable from January 2027. Multiply your monthly benefit by 0.036000000000000004: a $2,000 benefit rises $72.00 a month to $2,072.00 ($864.00 a year); a $1,000 benefit rises $36.00; a $3,000 benefit rises $108.00. That is the gross raise: the Medicare Part B premium is taken out of the same check, and the premium for 2027 is set separately by CMS.

The official 2027 COLA applied to round monthly benefits. Your own notice from SSA is the final word: SSA applies the percentage to your primary insurance amount and rounds down, so a notice can differ from this estimate by a dollar or so.
Key number	2026
Monthly benefit $1,000	$36.00 more, $1,036.00 a month ($432.00 a year)
Monthly benefit $1,500	$54.00 more, $1,554.00 a month ($648.00 a year)
Monthly benefit $2,000	$72.00 more, $2,072.00 a month ($864.00 a year)
Monthly benefit $3,000	$108.00 more, $3,108.00 a month ($1,296.00 a year)
Monthly benefit $4,000	$144.00 more, $4,144.00 a month ($1,728.00 a year)

The percentage is the SSA figure quoted from the linked fact sheet; the dollars are arithmetic on it and on what you type. Not tax advice or a statement of your benefit.

Your 2027 Social Security raise

Your monthly benefit now ($)

Change in your monthly Medicare Part B premium for 2027 ($, optional)

Use the benefit before any Medicare deduction. Part B is deducted from the check of most beneficiaries; when CMS publishes the 2027 premium, enter how much it rises per month (see 2027 Medicare Part B premium). Income-related surcharges (IRMAA) are on top and not included.

How the 3.6% is set

The cost-of-living adjustment is the rise in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) in July to September compared with the same three months a year earlier, rounded to the nearest tenth of a percent (42 U.S.C. §415(i)). For 2027 SSA announced 3.6% on 2026-10-14 (fact sheet; press release). The month-by-month record of how it was reached is on the 2027 COLA page.

Why your deposit may rise by less

Three things sit between the COLA and the money in your account. The Medicare Part B premium is withheld from the benefit, and a rise in it eats into the raise; the law limits that squeeze for people whose premium is deducted from their benefit (the “hold harmless” rule in 42 U.S.C. §1395r(f)). Up to 85% of the benefit can be taxable depending on your other income, so a bigger benefit can raise your tax. And the higher income counts toward Medicare surcharge brackets two years later. The 2027 tax brackets and 2027 Social Security wage base are on their own pages.

Working and claiming

If you are under full retirement age and still working, the earnings test changes too: 2027 earnings test. If you have not claimed yet, the COLA also applies to the benefit you will start with: claiming age calculator.

Paid tool A COLA is one input to a retirement income plan; whether to fill a tax bracket with Roth conversions in the years your benefit and your Medicare surcharges move is the part that needs a schedule. The Roth Conversion Planner works out how much to convert in each year from now to your plan end age: the federal and state tax each conversion costs, the IRMAA tier that year’s MAGI sets two years later, and the ACA subsidy it affects — beside the same years with no conversions, and downloadable as a PDF you keep. A planning tool, not advice: the numbers move when your assumptions do. Build my conversion schedule — Personal PRO ($49) → Roth Conversion Planner: see what is included, and price this year free, first →

A COLA raises a benefit that can also raise the tax on it, your Medicare premium and the IRMAA bracket two years later. QuantCalc runs the whole retirement — benefits, withdrawals, taxes, Medicare surcharges — year by year.

Run the free tax-aware simulation →

Common questions

What is the Social Security COLA for 2027?

3.6%, announced by the Social Security Administration on 2026-10-14 (SSA fact sheet). It applies to benefits payable from January 2027.

How do I calculate my 2027 Social Security increase?

Multiply your monthly benefit by 0.036000000000000004. A $2,000 benefit rises $72.00 to $2,072.00; the calculator above does it for your number and subtracts any Part B premium rise you enter.

Will the COLA be eaten by the Medicare premium?

Part B is deducted from most benefits, so a premium increase reduces the net raise; for many people the law limits the reduction so that the net benefit does not fall (42 U.S.C. §1395r(f)). CMS sets the 2027 premium separately: 2027 Part B premium.

When does the 2027 COLA start?

With benefits payable from January 2027 (SSA fact sheet).

Is the COLA the same for everyone?

The percentage is the same for all Social Security beneficiaries; the dollar amount is that percentage of your own benefit, so a larger benefit gets a larger raise.

Sources

2027 Social Security COLA → 2027 Medicare Part B premium → 2027 IRMAA brackets → 2027 Social Security wage base → 2027 earnings test → Claiming age calculator → 2027 tax brackets →