Social Security's 2027 numbers are out. The raise, the paycheck tax ceiling and the earnings limits, side by side

On Wednesday the Social Security Administration set the 2027 cost-of-living adjustment at 3.6%, for about 76 million people. It starts with benefits paid in January to nearly 72 million Social Security beneficiaries. About 7.3 million people on Supplemental Security Income get the higher payment on December 31. Some people receive both.

The raise is the number most people heard. The agency's 2027 fact sheet changed several others the same morning, and a few of them reach people who are still working.

The numbers, 2026 against 2027

The averages are the agency's own estimates of January 2027 payments, before and after the raise.

Four households, worked out

Round numbers, chosen to show the mechanics. The arithmetic is ours; every rule is the agency's.

• A retired couple in 77354, both drawing benefits, at the agency's average. Their combined check goes from about $3,238 to about $3,355 a month, $117 more. That is before the 2027 Medicare Part B premium, which comes out of the same deposit and is set separately by Medicare.
• A neighbor living on SSI alone. The federal payment rises from $994 to $1,029, $35 a month. The first higher payment arrives December 31, a day before most other raises.
• A 63-year-old who claimed early and still earns $30,000 a year. The agency holds back $1 of benefits for every $2 earned above the limit. Under the 2026 limit that is $2,760 held back for the year. Under the 2027 limit of $25,560 it is $2,220, so $540 less withheld on the same pay.
• An employee earning $200,000. The 6.2% Social Security tax now reaches the first $192,300 of pay instead of $184,500. That is $7,800 more of the paycheck taxed, or $483.60 more for the year. A self-employed person at the same income pays both halves, $967.20 more. Pay below $184,500 is taxed exactly as before.

What did not change

• The tax rates: 7.65% for an employee and 15.3% for the self-employed, Social Security and Medicare combined. The Medicare part still has no earnings ceiling.
• The SSI resource limits: $2,000 for an individual and $3,000 for a couple.
• No earnings limit at all, starting the month a worker reaches full retirement age.

For veterans and military retirees

The same 3.6% reaches military retired pay automatically. VA disability compensation and survivors' DIC get it only after Congress passes this year's cost-of-living bill, which had not happened as of Saturday. The bill status, the effective date and the American Legion's dollar examples are in this week's recap.

If you do nothing

Nothing needs to be filed. The raise is applied to every benefit automatically. Employers apply the new tax ceiling through payroll on their own.

Things to check

• The notice online. In late November the agency posts COLA notices to the Message Center of a personal my Social Security account, for accounts created by November 18.
• The net deposit. For people on Medicare, the agency says the new 2027 amount after Medicare comes in December, in the mailed notice and the Message Center. Medicare's own 2027 numbers will be at medicare.gov.
• A last pay stub of the year, for anyone near $184,500, to see where Social Security withholding stops in 2026.
• Calls and messages about the raise. The agency says its services are free and that no government agency asks for advance fees by wire transfer or gift card.

Sources: the Social Security Administration's 2027 COLA page for the raise, the beneficiary counts, the December 31 SSI date, the earnings limits, the notice timing and the fraud warning; its 2027 fact sheet for every 2026 and 2027 figure in the table and the tax rates. Read October 17, 2026. Last week's explainer on how the raise is calculated has the CPI-W method.