The Federal Register Notice Announcing the 2026 Social Security COLA

The official record announcing the 2026 Social Security cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) is a Social Security Administration notice published in the Federal Register: “Cost-of-Living Increase and Other Determinations for 2026,” Docket No. SSA–2025–0255, printed in Vol. 90, No. 210 of the Federal Register on Monday, November 3, 2025, at page 49047 as FR Doc. 2025-19763. That dated, numbered record states, in its own words, that the 2026 cost-of-living increase is 2.8 percent, effective for benefits payable for December 2025.

This original record-reading guide is a general reading aid, not cited evidence. It does not depict a source record; the article text and source links provide the facts.

Key points

• The record’s own heading reads: “SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION [Docket No. SSA–2025–0255] Cost-of-Living Increase and Other Determinations for 2026 AGENCY: Social Security Administration (SSA). ACTION: Notice.” (Federal Register notice)
• It was published as “Federal Register / Vol. 90, No. 210 / Monday, November 3, 2025 / Notices 49047.” (Federal Register notice)
• The notice states a “2.8 percent cost-of-living increase in Social Security benefits effective December 2025” and a national average wage index for 2024 of $69,846.57. (Federal Register notice)
• The notice cites section 215(i)(2)(D) of the Social Security Act as the requirement to publish the benefit increase percentage within 45 days after the third calendar quarter closes. (Federal Register notice)
• The notice is dated October 30, 2025 and signed by Mark A. Steffensen, Chief of Law, Policy & Legislative Affairs, General Counsel, SSA. (Federal Register notice)

The record that makes this official

The COLA announcement is not a press release or a webpage summary — it is a formal Federal Register notice with its own docket number and publication citation. The notice identifies itself this way: “SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION [Docket No. SSA–2025–0255] Cost-of-Living Increase and Other Determinations for 2026 AGENCY: Social Security Administration (SSA). ACTION: Notice.” (Federal Register notice)

Its place in the official record is fixed by the citation printed on the page itself: “Federal Register / Vol. 90, No. 210 / Monday, November 3, 2025 / Notices 49047.” (Federal Register notice) That volume, issue, date, and page number is how the notice is located and cited as the authoritative source, distinct from any secondary summary of it.

SSA publication duty

The notice explains, in its own text, why it exists and what statute obligates SSA to publish it. It states: “According to section 215(i)(2)(D) of the Act, we must publish the benefit increase percentage and the revised table of ‘‘special minimum’’ benefits within 45 days after the close of the third calendar quarter of 2025.” (Federal Register notice)

The notice also lists the other figures the same statute requires it to publish by a separate deadline: “We must also publish the following by November 1: the national average wage index for 2024 (215(a)(1)(D)), the OASDI fund ratio for 2025 (section 215(i)(2)(C)(ii)), the OASDI contribution and benefit base for 2026 (section 230(a)), the earnings required to be credited with a quarter of coverage in 2026 (section 213(d)(2)), the monthly exempt amounts under the Social Security retirement earnings test for 2026 (section 203(f)(8)(A)), the formula for computing a PIA for workers who first become eligible for benefits or die in 2026 (section 215(a)(1)(D)), and the formula for computing the maximum benefits payable to the family of a worker who first becomes eligible for old-age benefits or dies in 2026 (section 203(a)(2)(C)).” (Federal Register notice)

That statutory list is what the notice itself cites as its legal basis and scope — it is not a discretionary press announcement but a publication SSA states it is required to make on this schedule.

Notice Figures 2026

Within that required publication, the notice records two figures directly, in its own sentence: “Under title II of the Social Security Act (Act), there will be a 2.8 percent cost-of-living increase in Social Security benefits effective December 2025. In addition, the national average wage index for 2024 is $69,846.57.” (Federal Register notice)

These are the two figures the notice states as facts of this dated record: a 2.8 percent cost-of-living increase effective for benefits payable for December 2025, and a national average wage index for 2024 of $69,846.57.

Who signed this notice, and when

The notice closes with its own dating and signature block, which is what fixes it in the official record and ties it to the Federal Register document number: “Dated: October 30, 2025. Mark A. Steffensen, Chief of Law, Policy & Legislative Affairs, General Counsel, Social Security Administration. [FR Doc. 2025–19763 Filed 10–31–25; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4191–02–P” (Federal Register notice)

That dated signature — October 30, 2025 — precedes the notice’s filing on October 31, 2025 and its publication in the November 3, 2025 issue of the Federal Register.

What this record does not answer

This notice sets the cost-of-living increase percentage and the national average wage index as matters of official record; it does not tell any individual what their own new Social Security payment will be. It also does not govern Medicare premium amounts, which are set through a separate process. And the notice does not state how or on what schedule SSA notifies any individual beneficiary of their own COLA figure. Readers looking for a specific payment amount, a Medicare premium figure, or the timing of their own notice from SSA will need to look elsewhere; this record answers only which document made the 2026 COLA official and what that document itself says.

Source links

https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2025-11-03/pdf/2025-19763.pdf