Every year, by law, Social Security recipients are eligible for a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA). The increase in benefits is designed to help beneficiaries keep up with rising prices. Retired workers receive the annual COLA from the Social Security Administration (SSA), as do survivors, those getting Social Security Disability Income (SSDI) and recipients of Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments.
Although these beneficiaries are eligible for COLA increases annually, the amount of the increase can vary greatly from year to year — and there’s no guarantee of an increase in any given year.
SSA starts with the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W), an official measure of the monthly price change in a basket of goods and services, such as food, energy and medical care. The CPI-W is tracked by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). SSA then calculates the COLA by comparing the average of the CPI-W for July, August and September of the previous year with the average for the same three-month period in the current year. The percentage change is the COLA for the following year.
For example, in 2023, the third-quarter average CPI-W was 3.2 percent higher than it was in the third quarter of 2022. As a result, benefits will rise by 3.2 percent starting in 2024. The average monthly retirement benefit will increase from $1,848 to $1,907, and the average benefit for disabled workers will go up from $1,489 to $1,537, according to the SSA. The COLA amount is typically announced in October and takes effect the following January.