Social Security COLA history: every increase since 1975
Every year Social Security raises benefits to keep up with prices. The cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, has been automatic since 1975, and over that time it has ranged from 14.3% to nothing at all. For 2027 it is 3.6%. Looking at the whole record helps put any single year's number in context, and shows how much a benefit grows over a long retirement.
This guide uses the Social Security Administration's own COLA series, every adjustment from 1975 on, to show how the COLA is set, the biggest and smallest years, averages by decade, and what the increases add up to.
How the COLA is set
Social Security says that since 1975 general benefit increases have been cost-of-living adjustments; before that, increases were set by legislation. Since 1983 the COLA is based on the increase in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) from the third quarter of the prior year to the third quarter of the current year. The 2027 increase, for example, comes from the CPI-W rise from the third quarter of 2025 to the third quarter of 2026.
Timing changed once. The 1975 to 1982 COLAs took effect with benefits payable for June of those years. Since then they take effect with benefits payable for December, which are paid in January. That is why a COLA announced in the fall shows up in the January check.
The biggest increases
The largest adjustments were set in 1979, 1980 and 1981. The 2022 increase of 8.7% was the largest since then.
The years with no increase
There have been 3 years with no COLA at all: 2009, 2010, 2015. In those years the CPI-W measure did not rise from one third quarter to the next, so benefits stayed the same.
Averages by decade
| Years set | Average COLA | Highest | Lowest |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1975 to 1979 | 7.3% | 9.9% | 5.9% |
| 1980 to 1989 | 5.7% | 14.3% | 1.3% |
| 1990 to 1999 | 2.9% | 5.4% | 1.3% |
| 2000 to 2009 | 2.8% | 5.8% | 0% |
| 2010 to 2019 | 1.5% | 3.6% | 0% |
| 2020 to 2026 | 4.0% | 8.7% | 1.3% |
The last ten years
| Set in | First paid | COLA |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | January 2018 | 2% |
| 2018 | January 2019 | 2.8% |
| 2019 | January 2020 | 1.6% |
| 2020 | January 2021 | 1.3% |
| 2021 | January 2022 | 5.9% |
| 2022 | January 2023 | 8.7% |
| 2023 | January 2024 | 3.2% |
| 2024 | January 2025 | 2.5% |
| 2025 | January 2026 | 2.8% |
| 2026 | January 2027 | 3.6% |
What the increases add up to
COLAs compound: each one applies to the benefit already raised by the ones before. Multiplying the adjustments together from SSA's series:
- A benefit of $1,000 in 1975 would be about $6,581 after every COLA through the 2027 increase.
- A benefit of $1,000 that started in 2000 would be about $2,006.
- One that started in 2016 would be about $1,404.
Our arithmetic: the product of each year's (1 + COLA) from the year shown through the COLA set in 2026, before Medicare premiums or rounding.
The average retired worker's benefit, which Social Security estimates at $2,095 before the 2027 increase, becomes about $2,170 after it.
The full record
| Set in | COLA | Set in | COLA |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1975 | 8% | 2001 | 2.6% |
| 1976 | 6.4% | 2002 | 1.4% |
| 1977 | 5.9% | 2003 | 2.1% |
| 1978 | 6.5% | 2004 | 2.7% |
| 1979 | 9.9% | 2005 | 4.1% |
| 1980 | 14.3% | 2006 | 3.3% |
| 1981 | 11.2% | 2007 | 2.3% |
| 1982 | 7.4% | 2008 | 5.8% |
| 1983 | 3.5% | 2009 | 0% |
| 1984 | 3.5% | 2010 | 0% |
| 1985 | 3.1% | 2011 | 3.6% |
| 1986 | 1.3% | 2012 | 1.7% |
| 1987 | 4.2% | 2013 | 1.5% |
| 1988 | 4% | 2014 | 1.7% |
| 1989 | 4.7% | 2015 | 0% |
| 1990 | 5.4% | 2016 | 0.3% |
| 1991 | 3.7% | 2017 | 2% |
| 1992 | 3% | 2018 | 2.8% |
| 1993 | 2.6% | 2019 | 1.6% |
| 1994 | 2.8% | 2020 | 1.3% |
| 1995 | 2.6% | 2021 | 5.9% |
| 1996 | 2.9% | 2022 | 8.7% |
| 1997 | 2.1% | 2023 | 3.2% |
| 1998 | 1.3% | 2024 | 2.5% |
| 1999 | 2.5% | 2025 | 2.8% |
| 2000 | 3.5% | 2026 | 3.6% |
One footnote in the record
The COLA for December 1999 was first announced as 2.4%. Social Security notes that, under Public Law 106-554, it is effectively 2.5%, which is the figure in its series.
What a COLA does not change
- It raises your benefit, but Medicare Part B premiums are usually taken from the same check, so the net change can be smaller. See the Part B premium page.
- SSI payments generally rise by the same percentage; Social Security says SSI COLAs are generally the same as Social Security's.
- A larger benefit can make more of it taxable, depending on your other income; the taxable benefits calculator shows how.
Every year has its own page with how it ranks, starting from the 2027 COLA page, where you can also apply the increase to your own benefit.
Check our work
Every figure on this page was read from these official documents. Follow the links and compare.
- Cost-of-Living Adjustments, 1975 to dateSocial Security Administration. Read on November 12, 2026.
- 2027 Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) Fact SheetSocial Security Administration. Read on November 12, 2026.