Social Security COLA Calculator

Enter your gross monthly benefit. You'll get the 2.8% COLA applied, your new net check after the Part B premium increase, the share of the raise Medicare consumed, and a projection at any COLA assumption you like.

Data reviewed: July 2026. Figures here come from published sources and change over time. How we verify

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The raise, and the deduction that shares the envelope

Every October, Social Security announces the next year's cost-of-living adjustment, and every January, beneficiaries discover their net deposit rose by less than the headline. Both numbers are real: the 2.8% COLA for 2026 (announced October 24, 2025) raises the gross benefit, and the Medicare Part B premium, deducted straight from most checks, rose from $185.00 to $202.90 in the same month. The COLA is a percentage of your whole benefit; the premium increase is a flat $17.90 for everyone on the standard rate, which is why smaller checks feel it hardest.

This calculator does both halves honestly: the gross raise the announcement describes, and the net raise your bank account experiences, with the share of your COLA that Medicare consumed stated as a plain percentage rather than left for you to discover in February.

The formula

New gross = Benefit × (1 + COLA)    New net = New gross − New Part B premium
Share of raise consumed = Premium increase ÷ COLA dollars

Hold harmless is the safety rail: for most premium-deducted beneficiaries, a Part B increase cannot push the net check below last year's, so in low-COLA years the premium increase is capped at your COLA dollars. IRMAA payers and newly enrolled beneficiaries sit outside that shelter.

Worked example

A $2,000 gross benefit with the 2026 COLA of 2.8%: the gross rises to $2,056.00, a raise of $56.00 a month, $672.00 a year.

Then Medicare takes its share: the Part B premium's $17.90 increase means the net check goes from $1,815.00 to $1,853.10: a real raise of $38.10, or 2.10% instead of the headline 2.8%. Put plainly, 31.96% of the raise went to Medicare before it arrived. At 2026's numbers, only benefits under about $639 a month are fully protected by hold harmless.

What the COLA measures, and what it does not

The adjustment is computed from CPI-W, the price index for urban wage earners and clerical workers, comparing the third quarter of this year to the third quarter of last. That makes it automatic and formula-driven (no annual vote, no discretion), and it also fuels the oldest argument in retirement policy: retirees spend more of their budget on healthcare than the CPI-W basket assumes, so the COLA arguably runs a little cool against seniors' actual costs. History says to plan for variety, not a steady number: 0% in 2016, 8.7% in 2023, 2.8% now. The projection on this page compounds a single assumed rate and says so, because pretending to know future inflation is how retirement plans go quietly wrong.

Two neighboring calculators finish the picture. If your income two years ago crossed an IRMAA threshold, your premium and its increase are larger than the standard figures here, and the Medicare IRMAA calculator prices those cliffs to the dollar. And if you have not claimed yet, the COLA is one more reason the claiming-age decision dwarfs most others: adjustments compound on whatever base you lock in, so a larger starting benefit earns larger dollar COLAs every year for the rest of your life; the Social Security break-even calculator weighs that choice properly.

Frequently asked questions

What is the Social Security COLA for 2026?

2.8%, announced by the Social Security Administration on October 24, 2025, and effective with checks paid in January 2026. On the average retirement benefit that is roughly $56 more per month before the Medicare premium change is counted.

Why did my check go up by less than the COLA?

Because the Medicare Part B premium is deducted from most checks, and it rose from $185.00 to $202.90 in the same January. On a $2,000 benefit, that $17.90 increase consumes about 32% of the $56 raise, turning the headline 2.8% into a 2.10% increase in the net deposit.

How is the COLA calculated?

Automatically, from CPI-W, the consumer price index for urban wage earners: the third quarter's average is compared with the third quarter a year earlier, and the percentage increase becomes the COLA. No vote, no discretion, and if the index falls, the COLA is simply zero rather than negative.

What is the hold harmless provision?

A rule that stops a Part B premium increase from cutting your net Social Security check below the prior year's, for beneficiaries who have the premium deducted and pay the standard rate. In low-COLA years it caps the premium increase at your COLA dollars; IRMAA payers and people newly enrolled in Medicare are outside its protection.

Does the COLA apply if I have not claimed benefits yet?

Your future benefit is protected either way: before 62, your earnings record is indexed to wage growth, and from 62 on, COLAs apply to your benefit amount whether or not you have started collecting. Waiting to claim does not forfeit adjustments; they compound on the larger base you lock in by delaying.

Is the COLA taxable?

It is simply part of your benefit, so it is taxed the way the rest of your Social Security is: up to 85% of benefits become taxable once your combined income crosses thresholds that, unlike the benefit itself, are not inflation-adjusted. A raise can therefore pull slightly more of your benefit into taxable territory over time.

Do COLAs really keep up with retirees' costs?

That is the oldest argument in retirement policy. The CPI-W basket reflects working households, which spend proportionally less on healthcare than retirees do, so many analysts argue the COLA runs slightly cool against seniors' true cost growth. Treat it as protection against inflation, not a real raise.

What will next year's COLA be?

Nobody knows until the third-quarter CPI-W data lands; the announcement comes each October. History argues for planning with a range rather than a number: 0% in 2016, 8.7% in 2023, 2.8% now. The projection field on this page compounds whatever assumption you choose and labels it as one.

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