Why the COLA matters
The COLA is measured annually (during the third quarter), based on more than 200 spending categories in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W).
The Social Security Administration (SSA) started making annual cost-of-living adjustments in 1975, designed to help Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits keep pace with inflation. That means, as a beneficiary, you shouldn’t lose your purchasing power over time.
Since 1975, when the COLA came into being, there have only been 16 years where the COLA fell below 2.5%, including three years where there was no COLA (where deflation occurred).
For the past 15 years, the COLA has averaged 2.45%, so this year’s COLA is pretty average — despite higher-than-average COLAs during the pandemic.
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Learn MoreHow much the average American receives
Each beneficiary’s check is based on a primary insurance amount, or PIA. This determines your benefit amount at full retirement age (FRA), which falls between ages 66 and 67, depending on the year you were born.
If you take your retirement benefit early (as early as age 62), your benefit amount will be lower than your PIA. If you take your benefit after FRA, your benefit will be higher than your PIA.
The COLA increases your PIA. This means Americans with a higher benefit (based on 35 years of earnings) will get a bigger bump than those with a lower benefit.
In 2025, the maximum monthly benefit at FRA has also increased to $4,018, which means you need to reach or exceed the maximum taxable earnings over 35 years to get it.
Retired workers make up a big chunk of Social Security beneficiaries (75.6%). The average monthly check for retired workers increased from $1,927 in 2024 to $1,976 in 2025, based on estimates from the SSA’s 2025 Fact Sheet.
A worker with a disability can expect an average increase of $38, for an average monthly benefit of $1,580. And survivors, such as an aged widow or widower can expect an average increase of $44, for an average monthly benefit of $1,832, while a widowed mother with two children now receives $92 more, up to an average monthly benefit of $3,761.
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