Social Security Administration to raise benefits 3.6%, adding about $75 a month

The Social Security Administration will raise benefits by 3.6% for 2027, the Anchorage Daily News reported, a cost-of-living adjustment that the agency projected on a Wednesday.

The ADN said the boost equates to roughly $75 more per month for the nearly 72 million people who receive monthly Social Security payments and for about 7.3 million beneficiaries who receive Supplemental Security Income. The agency’s calculation also lifts the Social Security taxable earnings cap to $192,300 in 2027 from $184,500 in 2026, ADN reported.

The ADN account included reactions from recipients who said the increase will not fully cover their rising expenses. One retiree quoted by the newspaper said the supplemental rise will not offset higher health-care costs after changes to a temporary Medicare Part D subsidy program end at the close of the current year, as reported by ADN.

The report noted that for some prescription medications the out-of-pocket cost for that retiree could jump substantially once that program concludes. The ADN story placed the 3.6% COLA in the mechanics of Social Security’s benefit calculations: the agency’s annual adjustment alters monthly benefit amounts and raises the maximum earnings subject to Social Security taxes.

ADN reported the numeric effects on both individual monthly payments and the taxable wage base for 2027. ADN framed the adjustment as modest relative to recipients’ concerns about costs, citing complaints from older adults and people with disabilities who told the newspaper the increase will not meet rising expenses.

The outlet’s text supplied the primary numbers used in this account: the percentage increase, the per-month average dollar change, the counts of beneficiaries affected and the new taxable earnings cap for 2027.

Other outlets carried headlines repeating the administration’s announced percentage increase and dollar estimate; the Social Security Administration’s own headline also stated a 3.6% benefit increase for 2027. This brief relies on the ADN article’s text for the detailed figures and the beneficiary reactions it reported.

The immediate, documented facts are the percentage increase, the approximate $75 monthly rise for recipients, the counts of affected beneficiaries, and the adjusted maximum taxable earnings figure for 2027, all as presented in the Anchorage Daily News report.