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Millions of Social Security recipients nationwide will be getting their monthly payment in October—but as the regular schedule varies, when will yours arrive?
Social Security Payments
More than 70 million Americans receive some form of payment from the Social Security Administration (SSA), whether that be retirement, spousal, survivor or disability benefits.
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Due to the sheer number of recipients, not everyone is paid on the same date. The SSA staggers payments throughout the month depending on what type of benefit you receive, how long you have been claiming and in most cases, when your birthday is.
As of July this year, the average Social Security retirement payment is $2,031.74, while for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients the average payment is $736.54.
October 2026 Payments
Social Security payments will be made on the following dates in October.
- October 1: Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefit payments.
- October 2: Social Security payments for retired workers, spouses and survivors who began receiving benefits before May 1997, or who receive both Social Security and SSI
- October 14: Social Security payments for those with birthdays between the 1st and 10th of any given month.
- October 21: Social Security payments for those with birthdays between 11th and 20th.
- October 28: Social Security payments for those with birthdays between 21st and 31st.
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Double Payment For SSI
SSI benefits are paid to individuals aged 65 or older with low or no income, or those under 65 with a lasting physical or mental disability.
This month, SSI recipients will receive an unusual second payment. Typically, SSI recipients across the country are paid on the first day of each month. But in late October, SSI beneficiaries will receive their November payment early, on October 30 instead of on the 1st.
This is because November 1 falls on a Sunday, and the SSA only makes payments on working days, Monday to Friday.
"We do this to avoid putting you at a financial disadvantage and make sure that you don't have to wait beyond the first of the month to get your payment," the SSA said in a 2022 blog post. "It does not mean that you are receiving a duplicate payment in the previous month, so you do not need to contact us to report the second payment."
Social Security COLA Announcement
Along with regular benefit payments, Social Security recipients will find out how much their annual boost for 2027 will be on October 14.
Social Security’s annual cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, is designed to prevent benefits from losing purchasing power as prices rise. The adjustment applies to Social Security benefits, including retirement, survivor and disability payments, as well as Supplemental Security Income (SSI). The 2026 COLA was 2.8 percent.
The COLA is calculated using the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W), an inflation measure produced by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The SSA compares the average CPI-W for July, August and September with the average for the same three months in the previous year. The percentage increase, rounded to the nearest tenth of a percent, becomes the following year’s COLA.
Current forecasts suggest beneficiaries could receive an increase of around 3.4 to 3.6 percent in 2027. The Senior Citizens League’s latest estimate puts the COLA at 3.5 percent, down from its 3.6 percent forecast a month earlier. AARP, an advocacy group for the over 50s, is currently forecasting 3.6 percent, which it estimates would add about $75 a month to the average retired worker’s benefit.
The final figure could still change depending on September inflation. The official 2027 COLA will be announced on October 14, 2026, after the BLS releases September's inflation data at 8:30 a.m. ET. That release will provide the final piece of inflation data needed for the calculation.
The new COLA will then take effect for Social Security benefits paid in January 2027.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Ben Kelly and Emma Lee-Sang
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