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The average Social Security check now exceeds $2,000 for the first time, but the cost of living adjustment of 2.8% is insufficient, the nonpartisan Senior Citizens League reported Tuesday.
“Seeing the average Social Security retirement benefit cross $2,000 is a big milestone, but one that we’re witnessing far too late,” TSCL Executive Director Shannon Benton said. “The reality is that seniors consistently tell us that they see their benefits falling further behind inflation every year, as their quality of life degrades.”
The COLA means that the average check now is $2,015.07, an increase of $54.89 over November, according to the organization. 2026’s 2.8% adjustment follows one of 2.5% in 2025, a lower level that TSCL expects to be repeated next year.
According to data from Zillow shared by the organization, the average monthly rent for a one-bedroom apartment in the United States is $1,500, meaning that the average beneficiary, with similar living expenses, could have less than $500 left to cover other expenses.
More than half (58.1%) of Americans aged 62 or more years worry that inflation is causing them to need to increase their spending and deplete their retirement savings earlier than expected, according to a previous TSCL report.
“According to our research, four in five seniors are either already struggling to pay for basics like rent and food or are living from benefits check to benefits check. Nearly 60% have skipped at least one medical service in the last year because they couldn’t afford it,” Benton said. “As a country, we need to question why we’re letting our elders slip into poverty while we sit and watch, especially when the Social Security Office of the Chief Actuary has already identified several proposals that would change the tax code to strengthen today’s benefits and extend Social Security’s solvency by a generation.”
