2026 Social Security Increase Coming!

By Charles W. Forsythe

Disability Specialist at The Forsythe Firm, Huntsville, AL

In mid-October the Social Security Administration will announce how much your Social Security check will increase for 2026. The higher payment will begin in January,2026.

My estimate of the Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) for 2026 is around 2.7 percent. Some analysts think it could be as much as 2.8 percent. (I'm sticking with 2.7).

That would increase the average beneficiary's check by about $42 per month, based on an average benefit of $1,580. That increase really does not keep up with inflation--except in the government's tricky way of calculating inflation. Your grocery bill certainly will increase much more than 2.7 percent in 2026, just like it did in 2025.

The 2026 COLA increase is very similar to last year's adjustment.