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Here’s how much the average Social Security check will increase in 2025
A 2.5 percent COLA will be applied to Social Security benefits starting in January. Here’s how the average check size will be impacted and how to calculate your personal increase.
On Thursday, October 10, the Social Security Administration (SSA) announced that all programs’ beneficiaries would see a 2.5 percent increase in the value of their benefits in 2025. The increase, commonly referred to as the Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA), is calculated each year to prevent inflation from diminishing the purchasing power of benefits. The COLA offered next year is less than the 3.2 percent offered this year, and the fraction of the 8.7 percent boost tacked onto benefits in 2023.
Starting in late December, the SSA will begin sending out checks with the updated value. To get a sense of how much benefits will increase, we have applied the 2.5 percent increase to the average benefit checks distributed in August.
How to calculate your new benefit amount
For those looking to calculate their individual increase, you can do so by:
Benefit increase = [2024 benefit amount] x [2.5%]
New benefit amount = [Benefit increase] + [2024 benefit amount]
For instance, the average Social Security check for a retired worker was $1920.48, so the math would go something like this:
Benefit increase = 1920.48 x (2.5 percent) = $48.01
New benefit amount = $1920.48 + $48.01 = $1,968.49
How the average benefits will be affected
Taking a wider lens, the benefit amounts for qualifying children, spouses, and surviving relatives will look something like this:
Social Security Benefits
- Retired workers: $1,968.49
- Spouses of retired workers: $932.52
- Children of retired workers: $915.00
Survivor benefits
- Children of deceased workers: $1,131.18
- Widowed mothers and fathers: $1,318.31
- Nondisabled widow(er)s: $1,829.17
- Disabled widow(er)s: $950.90
- Parents of deceased workers: $1,660.08
Disability Insurance
- Disabled workers: $1,578.42
- Spouses of disabled workers: $432.12
- Children of disabled workers: $504.33
What about Supplemental Security Income?
Recipients of Supplemental Security Income (SSI) also have the COLA applied to their benefits.
- All recipients: $715.97
- Under 18: $841.22
- 18–64: $763.02
- 65 or older: $589.45
Since these benefits are deposited on the first of the month, which in January falls on a holiday, they will be deposited on Tuesday, December 31.