The 2027 COLA: 3.6% and 2.6%

1. What 3.6% means in dollars

Before tax and before any Medicare Part B change. SSA estimates the average retired worker’s benefit rises from $2,095 to $2,170 a month, about $75. The 2026 COLA was 2.8% for CSRS and Social Security and 2.0% for FERS.

2. How the 3.6% was figured

The COLA is the rise in the average CPI-W for July, August and September 2026 over the same three months of 2025, rounded to the nearest tenth.

SSA announced the result on October 14, 2026, the day BLS released the September CPI. The same 3.6% applies to Social Security, SSI, CSRS, CSRS Offset and military retired pay. For the rules that don’t change year to year, see FERS and CSRS COLAs explained and the Social Security COLA.

3. Why FERS gets 2.6%

FERS annuities don’t get the full increase once it passes 2%. The law (5 U.S.C. 8462) sets three bands:

Regular FERS retirees get no COLA until 62; the first one arrives in the January after the 62nd birthday, prorated if needed. Disability and survivor annuitants get COLAs at any age. CSRS and CSRS Offset retirees get the full COLA at any age. That one-point gap is why a FERS pension loses ground to inflation over a long retirement; the diet-COLA erosion guide puts numbers on it.

4. Your number

Enter your monthly annuity or benefit. The COLA is set to the official 3.6%; FERS is figured at 2.6% automatically.

5. The Part B offset

For most retirees the Medicare Part B premium comes out of the same check the COLA is added to. The 2026 Medicare Trustees Report projects the standard 2027 premium at $209.50, up $6.60 from $202.90. That is still a projection: CMS sets the actual premium in November. On the average Social Security benefit, the $75 COLA is about $68 after a $6.60 Part B increase. On a $1,500 FERS annuity, the $39 COLA is about $32 after it.

Social Security’s hold-harmless rule stops a Part B increase from shrinking a Social Security check below its prior amount, but it doesn’t cover CSRS or FERS annuities, or anyone paying an IRMAA surcharge. See the Part B projection.

6. Who gets it, when, and proration

• Effective date: December 1, 2026. Paid: the OPM annuity payment dated January 2027 and the January 2027 Social Security payment. SSI rises with the payment dated December 31, 2026.
• Full COLA: anyone whose annuity or benefit was in pay for the full year before December 1, 2026.
• Prorated: if your annuity began during 2026, you get one-twelfth of the COLA for each month it was in pay before December 1. An annuity that began July 1, 2026 gets 5/12. This is one input into the December-vs-January decision.
• FERS under 62: no COLA, except disability and survivor annuitants and special-provision retirees (law enforcement, firefighters, air traffic controllers), who get 2.6% at any age. The FERS supplement never gets a COLA.
• Active employees: the COLA has nothing to do with the January pay adjustment, which under the 2027 alternative pay plan is zero for most civilian employees.

7. Update log

8. Frequently asked questions