#1
1980 — 14.3%
The largest COLA since automatic increases began in 1975, and not matched since. It came in a period of high inflation in the late 1970s and was followed a year later by the second-largest.[2]
Money & Business
The Biggest Social Security Cost-of-Living Adjustments Ever
Since automatic COLAs began in 1975, benefits have never risen more than the 14.3% of 1980; the 8.7% increase paid from January 2023 is the only one since 1982 to reach the top five.
Pictured: the Social Security Administration’s video announcing the benefit increase paid from January 2023; its 8.7% COLA is #4 on the list.
| Rank | COLA year | COLA (%) | CPI-W comparison | Higher benefits from | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1980 | 14.3 | Q1 1979 to Q1 1980 | Mid-year 1980 | Largest COLA on record. |
| 2 | 1981 | 11.2 | Q1 1980 to Q1 1981 | Mid-year 1981 | Second-largest; follows 1980's record. |
| 3 | 1979 | 9.9 | Q1 1978 to Q1 1979 | Mid-year 1979 | Last COLA of the 1970s. |
| 4 | 2022 | 8.7 | Q3 2021 to Q3 2022 | January 2023 | Largest since 1981; widely called the “2023 COLA”. |
| 5 | 1975 | 8.0 | Q2 1974 to Q1 1975 | Mid-year 1975 | First automatic annual COLA. |
| 6 | 1982 | 7.4 | Q1 1981 to Q1 1982 | Mid-year 1982 | Last of the mid-year COLAs. |
| 7 | 1978 | 6.5 | Q1 1977 to Q1 1978 | Mid-year 1978 | – |
| 8 | 1976 | 6.4 | Q1 1975 to Q1 1976 | Mid-year 1976 | – |
| 9 | 1977 | 5.9 | Q1 1976 to Q1 1977 | Mid-year 1977 | Tied with 2021. |
| 9 | 2021 | 5.9 | Q3 2020 to Q3 2021 | January 2022 | Tied with 1977; largest since 1982. |
| 11 | 2008 | 5.8 | Q3 2007 to Q3 2008 | January 2009 | Rose with 2008 energy prices. |
| 12 | 1990 | 5.4 | Q3 1989 to Q3 1990 | January 1991 | – |
| 13 | 1989 | 4.7 | Q3 1988 to Q3 1989 | January 1990 | – |
| 14 | 1987 | 4.2 | Q3 1986 to Q3 1987 | January 1988 | – |
| 15 | 2005 | 4.1 | Q3 2004 to Q3 2005 | January 2006 | – |
No matching rows.
How to read this: every row is one year’s automatic COLA as listed in the Social Security Administration’s historical series, which labels each increase by the year it took effect and starts in 1975. From the 1983 adjustment on, that is December of the labelled year, paid in January of the next, so the 8.7% increase labelled 2022 reached checks in January 2023 and is usually called the 2023 COLA. Ties share a rank (1977 and 2021 are both 5.9%), so the next rank is skipped. The 2027 COLA, announced on 14 October 2026, is 3.6%: that would rank 18th, tied with the 3.6% of 2011, so it is outside this table. “CPI-W comparison” gives the periods compared for each year as the SSA describes its method: first-quarter averages for the mid-year COLAs of 1975–1982 (1975 compared the second quarter of 1974 with the first quarter of 1975), third-quarter averages from the 1983 adjustment on; the date a mid-year increase began paying is simplified to “mid-year”. A COLA is a percentage of each person’s existing benefit, so the same percentage means a different dollar amount for each beneficiary, and a single year’s figure hides the cumulative effect on purchasing power: a string of modest COLAs can add up to more than one large one, and a COLA only reflects the CPI-W change since the previous measurement.[1]
The Top 10
#2
1981 — 11.2%
The second-highest COLA came just after the record of 1980. Inflation through the early 1980s was influenced by energy-price shocks and tight monetary policy, and it took time to cool.[2]
#3
1979 — 9.9%
The third-highest COLA, and the only one of the 1970s to come close to double digits. It was followed by the two largest increases on record, in 1980 and 1981.[2]
#4
2022 (paid from January 2023) — 8.7%
The largest COLA in more than four decades, announced on 13 October 2022 after consumer prices rose sharply following the pandemic. The SSA said it covered about 70 million people receiving Social Security or SSI, with the increase beginning in January 2023 for more than 65 million Social Security beneficiaries. It is the only COLA since 1982 to rank in the top eight.[3]
#5
1975 — 8.0%
The first automatic COLA. Before 1975, benefit increases generally required an act of Congress; from then on they followed the rise in consumer prices under the formula in law. The first increase compared the second quarter of 1974 with the first quarter of 1975.[2]
#6
1982 — 7.4%
The last of the mid-year COLAs. From the 1983 adjustment the measuring period moved to the third quarter and increases took effect in December, so the 3.5% COLA of 1983 was measured and paid on a different schedule from earlier ones.[2]
#7
1978 — 6.5%
Together with 1976’s 6.4%, one of two COLAs of about 6.5% in the 1970s; no COLA since 1982 has reached that level.[2]
#8
1976 — 6.4%
The second automatic COLA, just behind 1978’s. It was the first of a run of eight straight COLAs from 1975 to 1982, none below 5.9%.[2]
#9 (tie)
1977 — 5.9%
Tied with the COLA of 2021 at 5.9%. Between 1975 and 1982, every annual COLA was at least 5.9%, a run that has no equivalent in the decades since.[2]
#9 (tie)
2021 (paid from January 2022) — 5.9%
Announced on 13 October 2021 as the largest increase in about 40 years at that point; the SSA tied it to the CPI-W as measured by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The estimated average retired-worker benefit was projected to rise from $1,565 to $1,657 a month. The 2022 COLA of 8.7% followed a year later.[3]
Sources
- U.S. Social Security Administration, Office of the Chief Actuary, “Automatic Determinations” (ssa.gov/oact/cola/colaseries.html), the historical COLA series from 1975; ssa.gov could not be opened directly from this workstation, so every percentage was cross-checked against PennyCalc, “Social Security COLA by Year (1975–2026)” (pennycalc.com, which reproduces the SSA series and gives each year’s first-payment year) and The Motley Fool / 247WallSt, “The 20 Largest Social Security COLAs in History” (247wallst.com, which lists the same 1975–2021 values by effective year). The 2027 COLA of 3.6% is from the SSA press release “Social Security Announces 3.6 Percent Benefit Increase for 2027” (ssa.gov, 14 October 2026), as reported by CNBC and Yahoo Finance the same day.
- AOL / 247WallSt, “The 20 Largest Social Security COLAs in History” (aol.com, a version that includes the 1975 COLA of 8%) for the descriptions of the 1975–1982 entries; the 1975–1982 first-quarter measuring periods and the move to third-quarter averages with the 1983 adjustment follow the SSA series page above.
- U.S. Social Security Administration, “Social Security Announces 8.7 Percent Benefit Increase for 2023” (ssa.gov, 13 October 2022) and “Social Security Announces 5.9 Percent Benefit Increase for 2022” (ssa.gov, 13 October 2021), as quoted in the press coverage; CNBC, “Social Security cost-of-living adjustment will be 5.9% in 2022” (cnbc.com). Video: U.S. Social Security Administration, “Social Security Benefits Increase in 2023” (youtube.com).