The cost-of-living adjustment was set to come out on Wednesday, but was delayed due to the ongoing government shutdown.
WASHINGTON — The 2026 cost-of-living adjustment announcement for Social Security recipients has a new official date.
The announcement originally scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 15, alongside the September Consumer Price Index report, was postponed due to the ongoing government shutdown.
On Friday, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics confirmed that the 2025 September inflation report will be released on Oct. 24 at 8:30 a.m. ET.
“No other releases will be rescheduled or produced until normal government operations resume,” stated the agency in a notice. “This specific release enables the Social Security Administration to meet legal requirements essential for ensuring the correct and timely distribution of benefits.”
The annual COLA announcement will reveal how much money retirees will receive on their checks every month starting in January 2026.
Almost 75 million people — including retirees, disabled people and children — receive Social Security benefits, according to the latest data.
How is COLA calculated each year?
The annual Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) is determined by the average annual increases in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) from July to September. The publication of the September inflation report was deferred due to the ongoing government shutdown.
Without the September numbers, the Social Security Administration cannot calculate an accurate COLA for the following year.
In recent times, there have been discussions about using a different index, the CPI-E, for calculating the COLA. This index focuses on price changes accounting for the spending habits of the older population, such as in healthcare, food, and medication costs.
How much will the 2026 cost-of-living increase be?
While we won’t know the exact percentage until Oct. 24, an advocacy group for seniors predicts the COLA for 2026 will be 2.7%.
The Senior Citizens League provides a monthly update on the predicted COLA, utilizing data from the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners. The prediction model incorporates the national unemployment rate and the Federal Reserve’s interest rates.
September’s numbers will be crucial to determining the COLA for the following year.
“Seniors across America are anxiously waiting for the official COLA announcement in October,” said TSCL Executive Director Shannon Benton in a September statement. “Our research indicates that 39 percent of seniors rely entirely on their benefits as their sole income source, making the COLA announcement critically important to their quality of life.”
If a 2.7% COLA stands, the average recipient can expect to receive more than $50 more each month starting in January.
Last year, the COLA was 2.5%.
The most significant increase seen in the last decade was in 2023, when the COLA was 8.7%, the highest cost-of-living adjustment since 1981. In the previous 20 years, the COLA has averaged 2.6%.
