2027 Social Security COLA Could Climb to 3.8% on Fresh Inflation Data

Officials haven’t announced the official 2027 COLA yet, but The Senior Citizens League now projects a 3.8% increase based on CPI-W readings from July–September, which would lift the average benefit by about $77/month and would be the largest COLA in four years. Still, COLAs lag retirees’ costs and CPI-W targets wage-earner inflation, not seniors’ expenses, so real purchasing power could remain pressured if inflation stays high; the final 2027 COLA decision will come around October and could change before then.