Many Social Security changes are met with disdain from recipients, but some are much appreciated. Although the announcement was delayed due to the government shutdown, Social Security recipients finally received the most anticipated news and change of the year: the annual cost-of-living adjustment (COLA).
Intended to help deal with inflation, the annual COLA is one of the few Social Security changes that applies across the board to all recipients. However, recipients in 10 states can expect their checks to get the biggest dollar boost.
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How much can recipients expect their benefits to increase by in 2026?
Before we dive into what the 2026 COLA is, it's important to understand how Social Security sets the amount each year. It's all based on the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W), a metric that measures the inflation on common goods and services. It's a three-step process:
- Find the average CPI-W for July, August, and September (Q3) of the current year.
- Compare the current year's average to the previous year's average.
- Set the COLA at the percentage difference (rounded up to the nearest tenth of a percentage point). If the CPI-W data is the same or lower, there is no COLA for the upcoming year, but Social Security will never decrease your benefit.
The Q3 CPI-W average for 2024 was 308.729, and the average for 2025 was 317.265. This 2.76% increase is how we arrive at the 2.8% COLA for 2026. This is a higher boost than the 2.5% recipients received in 2025.
As of August, the average monthly Social Security benefit for retired workers is $2,008, so a 2.8% boost would increase that by $56 to $2,064. It might not seem like much dollar-wise, but it could help pay for everyday expenses like groceries, gas, or even a meal at a restaurant.
How the 2026 COLA compares to previous years
Although the 2026 COLA is higher than 2025's, it's still low compared to historical COLAs. Since COLAs became annual in 1975, the average has been 3.6%. In the past decade, the average has been around 2.8%, so 2026 is right on par with that. The only years without a COLA are 2010, 2011, and 2016.
What states will receive the highest boost under the 2026 COLA?
While recipients, regardless of state, will receive the same 2.8% boost in 2026, there are noticeable dollar differences in this boost by state. Below are the 10 states that will receive the highest dollar boost from the COLA, based on the median benefits for retired workers.
| State | Median Retired-Worker Benefit | Median Benefit After 2026 COLA |
|---|---|---|
| New Jersey | $2,099.70 | $2,158 |
| Connecticut | $2,083.70 | $2,142 |
| Delaware | $2,064.00 | $2,122 |
| New Hampshire | $2,039.00 | $2,096 |
| Maryland | $2,007.70 | $2,064 |
| Michigan | $2,004.70 | $2,061 |
| Washington | $1,991.70 | $2,047 |
| Minnesota | $1,981.70 | $2,037 |
| Indiana | $1,952.70 | $2,007 |
| Massachusetts | $1,946.00 | $2,000 |
Data source: Social Security Administration.
Social Security calculates your benefits using the 35 years when your income was the highest. Your lifetime earnings and when you claim are the two factors that determine how much you'll receive. So, the differences in median benefits largely come down to higher lifetime earnings in those states.
Notable states with high median income that are missing are California and New York. The likely reason is that these states are expensive to live in, so people tend to move when it's time to retire (and claim Social Security).
