The 2020 SSDI Cost of Living Adjustment: What Changed

The 2020 COLA increased SSDI payments by 1.6 percent

In 2020, Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) payments went up by 1.6 percent. This increase, called a Cost of Living Adjustment or COLA, happened on January 1, 2020. The exact dollar amount of your increase depended on what you were receiving in December 2019 — there is no single number that applies to everyone.

The 1.6 percent figure came from the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W), which measures how much prices rose for everyday goods and services during the year before. Because inflation was relatively low in 2019, the 2020 COLA was smaller than in some other years.

If you were receiving SSDI in December 2019, you automatically received the 1.6 percent increase in January 2020. You did not have to do anything to get it — Social Security applied it to your account and your payment changed on its own.

Key Takeaways

• The 2020 COLA was 1.6 percent, meaning each person's payment rose by that percentage from what they received in December 2019.
• The increase was automatic — you did not need to request it or fill out any forms.
• The COLA amount is based on inflation data from the previous year and changes each year depending on how much prices rose.
• If you started receiving SSDI after December 2019, your first payment already included the 2020 COLA built in.

How the 1.6 percent increase worked in practice

The 1.6 percent COLA was applied to your full SSDI payment amount. If you were receiving $1,200 per month in December 2019, your January 2020 payment would have been approximately $1,219 (1.6 percent of $1,200 is $19.20). The exact amount depended on your specific payment, and Social Security rounded the result to the nearest whole dollar.

The increase also applied to any family members receiving benefits on your record. If your child or spouse was getting a payment based on your disability, they received the same 1.6 percent increase in January 2020. Family members' payments are calculated as a percentage of your primary insurance amount, so the COLA raised all of those payments proportionally.

If you were receiving both SSDI and Supplemental Security Income (SSI), you received a separate COLA for each program. The SSI COLA for 2020 was also 1.6 percent, but it was calculated independently and applied to your SSI payment separately from your SSDI payment.

Why the 2020 COLA was 1.6 percent

Social Security calculates the COLA using the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W). This index tracks the cost of food, housing, transportation, medical care, and other goods and services that people buy. Social Security looks at the average CPI-W for July, August, and September of each year and compares it to the average for the same three months in the previous year.

For the 2020 COLA, Social Security compared the average CPI-W from July through September 2019 to the average from July through September 2018. The difference between those two periods was 1.6 percent, which became the COLA for 2020.

Because inflation was modest in 2019, the 2020 COLA was smaller than it had been in 2018 (when it was 2.8 percent) or 2019 (when it was 2.8 percent). In years when prices rise faster, the COLA is larger. In years when prices are stable or falling, the COLA can be very small or even zero.

When you would not have received the 2020 COLA

If you started receiving SSDI for the first time in January 2020 or later, your initial payment already included the 2020 COLA. You did not receive a separate increase because the payment was calculated using the current benefit formula, which already reflected the adjustment.

If you were receiving SSDI in December 2019 but your case was suspended or terminated before January 2020, you would not have received the COLA increase. For example, if your benefits ended in November 2019 because you returned to work, the 1.6 percent increase would not have applied to you.

If you appealed a denial of SSDI and won your case in 2020 or later, your back pay (the money owed to you from before your approval) would have been calculated using the benefit rates in effect when you should have started receiving benefits, not the 2020 rates. This is an important distinction because it can affect how much back pay you receive.

How COLA affects your future SSDI payments

The 2020 COLA became your new baseline for future years. In 2021, Social Security calculated the next COLA by comparing inflation data to the 2020 rates, not the 2019 rates. Each year's COLA builds on the previous year's adjustment.

This means that even though the 2020 COLA was only 1.6 percent, it stayed part of your payment permanently. If the 2021 COLA was 1.3 percent, for example, that 1.3 percent would be applied to your 2020 payment (which already included the 1.6 percent increase), not to your 2019 payment.

Over time, these annual adjustments add up. Someone who received SSDI throughout the 2010s and 2020s saw their payment grow each year, even in years when the COLA was small. The cumulative effect of multiple years of adjustments is significant, even if individual years seem modest.

Checking your 2020 SSDI payment records

If you want to verify that you received the 2020 COLA, you can check your Social Security account online at ssa.gov. Create a my Social Security account if you do not already have one, and log in to see your payment history. Your payment history shows the amount you received each month, so you can compare your December 2019 payment to your January 2020 payment and confirm the increase.

You can also call Social Security at 1-800-772-1213 (TTY 1-800-325-0778) to ask about your specific payment amounts. Have your Social Security number ready when you call. Social Security staff can tell you what you received in December 2019 and what you received in January 2020, and they can explain any differences.

If you believe you did not receive the 2020 COLA when you should have, contact Social Security directly. There are rare cases where a payment error occurs, and Social Security can investigate and correct it if needed.

Frequently Asked Questions

Did everyone on SSDI get the same dollar amount increase in 2020?

No. The 1.6 percent COLA was applied to each person's individual payment amount. Someone receiving $800 per month got a smaller dollar increase than someone receiving $1,500 per month, even though both received the same 1.6 percent increase. The percentage was the same for everyone, but the dollar amount varied.

What if I started SSDI in 2020 — did I get the COLA?

Yes, but not as a separate increase. Your first payment was calculated using the 2020 benefit rates, which already included the COLA. You did not receive a payment in 2019 and then a larger payment in 2020; instead, your initial payment was set at the 2020 level from the start.

Does the COLA affect SSI payments the same way?

The COLA percentage is the same for both SSDI and SSI in any given year, but SSI has a federal benefit rate (the maximum amount you can receive) that also increases with the COLA. SSDI does not have a maximum benefit amount, so the COLA affects SSDI and SSI recipients differently depending on their individual circumstances.

Can I find out what the COLA will be for future years?

Social Security announces the next year's COLA in October, based on inflation data from July, August, and September. You cannot know the exact COLA until Social Security releases it, because it depends on inflation data that has not yet been collected. However, you can watch Social Security's website or news reports in October to learn what the upcoming COLA will be.