The 2027 VA pay raise,tracked month by month.
Your VA compensation rises with the same cost-of-living adjustment as Social Security. The official 2027 number arrives in October 2026, but the inflation data that decides it is published every month. We track it here, with the exact formula, so you always know where it stands.
How this works, in plain English
Each October, Social Security compares average prices from the summer just past (July through September, measured by an inflation index called CPI-W) with the same three months a year earlier. Whatever that increase is, rounded to the nearest tenth of a percent, becomes the COLA. VA disability compensation, DIC, and pension all rise by the same percentage on December 1.
Until all three deciding months are published, any number is a projection. Ours is simple and honest: we take the inflation data already on the books and estimate the missing months two ways, once assuming prices hold steady and once assuming they keep moving at the recent pace. The real number will land somewhere near that range.
CPI-W, the index that decides it
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, series CWUR0000SA0The 2027 VA pay raise is tracking at 3.1% to 3.2% based on official inflation data so far (latest CPI-W: July 2026). Computed with the real COLA formula, updated with every BLS release: https://veteranbenefitdesk.com/api/share/cola
The numbers in this post update automatically with each data refresh, so it is always current when you share it.
What it could mean for your monthly payment
Illustrative only, using today's published rates for a veteran with no dependents. The official 2027 rates arrive after the SSA announcement in October 2026.
| Rating | Monthly now | Projected 2027 range |
|---|---|---|
| 10% | $180.42 | $186.01 to $186.19 |
| 30% | $552.47 | $569.60 to $570.15 |
| 50% | $1,132.90 | $1,168.02 to $1,169.15 |
| 70% | $1,808.45 | $1,864.51 to $1,866.32 |
| 100% | $3,938.58 | $4,060.68 to $4,064.61 |
Recent COLA history
| Benefit year | COLA |
|---|---|
| 2026 | 2.8% |
| 2025 | 2.5% |
| 2024 | 3.2% |
| 2023 | 8.7% |
| 2022 | 5.9% |
| 2021 | 1.3% |
Common questions
The Social Security Administration announces the official COLA in mid-October 2026, once the September CPI-W is published. VA compensation rates rise by the same percentage, effective December 1, 2026, and show up in the payment issued at the end of December.
Yes. By law and long-standing practice, VA disability compensation, DIC, and pension rates receive the same cost-of-living adjustment as Social Security benefits each year.
It compares the average CPI-W (a Bureau of Labor Statistics inflation index) for July, August, and September of 2026 against the same three months of 2025. The percentage increase, rounded to the nearest tenth, becomes the COLA. If prices fall, benefits stay flat rather than dropping.
Get the official number the week it drops
One email when the 2027 COLA is announced, with the new VA rate tables worked out for you. No noise in between.
Methodology and sources
CPI-W readings come directly from the Bureau of Labor Statistics public API (series CWUR0000SA0) and are re-fetched automatically after each monthly release. The projection uses the official Social Security formula: average Q3 CPI-W versus the prior year's Q3 average, rounded to the nearest tenth. As a built-in accuracy check, we recompute the most recent confirmed COLA from the same data on every refresh; if it ever disagrees with the published figure, projections are hidden until the data is fixed. Nothing on this page is financial advice, and projections are not official.