Social Security benefits to rise 3.6% in 2027, $75 a month

The U.S. Social Security Administration announced Oct. 14, 2026, that benefits will rise 3.6 per cent in January 2027, an average of about $75 a month, according to the agency’s cost-of-living adjustment announcement as reported by The Associated Press.

It is the largest annual increase since the 8.7 per cent adjustment for 2023, Fox Business reported. The 2027 figure follows increases of 2.8 per cent for 2026, 2.5 per cent for 2025 and 3.2 per cent for 2024. The AP reported that about 73 million people receive monthly Social Security benefits and nearly 7.5 million receive Supplemental Security Income.

Commissioner Frank Bisignano said the adjustment will give recipients “greater financial stability,” the AP and NBC New York reported. The adjustment is based on the consumer price index for urban wage earners and clerical workers, known as CPI-W, Fox Business reported. NBC New York said overall U.S. consumer prices rose 4.3 per cent in August and 3.7 per cent in September. Our report on the September inflation figure has more on gasoline prices, which rose 9.1 per cent in the month.

The maximum amount of earnings subject to Social Security payroll tax will rise to $192,300 in 2027 from $184,500 in 2026, the AP and NBC New York reported. NBC New York said notices will go out by mail starting in early December and that SSI payments begin adjusting on Dec. 31.

Advocates and recipients said the increase may not be enough. Myechia Minter-Jordan, chief executive of AARP, called the adjustment “critically important” given financial pressures on older Americans, the AP reported. The AP said an AARP poll in September found about three-quarters of adults 50 and older disagreed that a 3.5 per cent increase would keep up with rising prices. Lorrie Ufkin, 71, told the AP the increase “doesn’t even meet what they’re going to do for changes to Medicare.” Jaime Jakubczak, 68, called it “a pittance.”

NBC New York reported that a temporary Medicare Part D subsidy program that helped offset premiums ends this year, and that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services projects a modest premium increase for most people. Neither report gave a 2027 Medicare Part B premium figure.

The adjustment comes as the program faces a longer-term shortfall. The AP said the trustees’ report released in June 2026 projects that the combined trust funds will be unable to pay full benefits starting in 2034, after which incoming revenue would cover about 83 per cent of scheduled benefits. U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat, and Bernie Moreno, a Republican, proposed in June to lift the cap on taxable earnings. The AP said the Peterson Foundation estimates that would raise roughly $3 trillion over 10 years.

For Canadians, the change matters to anyone who worked in the United States and collects, or expects to collect, a U.S. benefit. The Canada-U.S. social security agreement allows people to combine work credits from both countries to qualify. Neither the AP, Fox Business nor NBC New York addressed payments to people living outside the United States, and we could not read the SSA’s own release, so Canadians who receive a U.S. benefit should check the notice the agency mails in December.

The agency’s reported figures differ slightly between outlets. The AP put the number of Social Security recipients at 73 million, while a Bisignano quote carried by Fox Business referred to 76 million Americans, so we have used the AP figure.

Via The Associated Press (ABC News), Fox Business and NBC New York.

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