[UPDATE] Social Security raises benefits 3.6% for 2027, its largest yearly increase since 2023

The Social Security Administration set the 2027 cost-of-living adjustment (the yearly raise tied to inflation) at 3.6% on Wednesday, Oct. 14. That is about $900 a year for the average retiree. Who gets it. Social Security beneficiaries see bigger checks starting in January. People on Supplemental Security Income (federal cash aid for low-income elderly and disabled people) get theirs earlier, on Dec. 31, 2026. The forecast miss. The raise came in 0.9 percentage points above the Social Security trustees' projection. Workers also pay more: the most income subject to Social Security tax rises to $192,300 in 2027, from $184,500.

Years Social Security raised checks 3.6% or more since 2000:

• January 2023: 8.7%
• January 2022: 5.9%
• January 2009: 5.8%