Social Security’s aged widows and widowers will average $2,007 a month starting in January, the Social Security Administration estimates. That is the group average after the 3.6% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA), not the amount any one widow or widower will see. The figure is up $69 from $1,938 before the raise, according to the agency’s COLA-effect table.
What the $2,007 figure measures
The Office of the Chief Actuary built the table from actual benefit data through August 2026, then applied the 3.6% increase. It lists “aged widow(er)” as its own row, separate from retired workers, who average $2,170 after the raise. The row is an estimate of an average across everyone in that group, and the SSA labels it that way.
A second table in the same release looks at family benefits and shows an aged widow or widower alone at $2,006 after the raise, up from $1,936. The two numbers are close, and neither one is a promise to a single household. A widow collecting a small survivor check and one collecting a large one both sit inside the same average.
So the question for anyone widowed and past 60 is simple. What will the January payment be for one specific person, and what sets it? Individual notices go out in December, when SSA says beneficiaries can see their new amount in the mailed COLA notice and in the my Social Security Message Center.
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The choice behind the widow row
A surviving spouse who is also entitled to a retirement check of their own does not get both. SSA says that when someone qualifies for survivor benefits and another benefit, the person picks the one that is best, and the payments are not added together. The same page says the choice can change later. Its example is starting on the survivor benefit and switching to retirement at 70, when that check is highest.
That election is why the average can mislead. Some widows draw a survivor benefit because it is larger than what they earned on their own. Others draw their own retirement check. The table counts the widow benefit, and no two records are alike.
To qualify at all, a surviving spouse must generally be 60 or older, or 50 to 59 and disabled, and married at least nine months before the death. Someone who remarried before 60 generally cannot collect on the earlier spouse’s record. The rule is 50 for those with a disability.
What moves one check away from the average
Three things do most of the work. The first is the deceased spouse’s own benefit, because the survivor payment is based on that work history. The second is the age at which the survivor starts. SSA says payments start at 71.5% of the spouse’s benefit and rise the longer the person waits, to more than 90% at 65 and up to 100% at full retirement age for survivors, between 66 and 67.
The third is credits the late spouse earned by waiting. Workers born in 1943 or later gain 8% for each year they delay past full retirement age, until 70. The Social Security Handbook says a widow or widower gets the same increase the deceased had earned or was eligible for. A spouse who waited until 70 can leave a larger survivor check than one who claimed at 62.
Taking the survivor benefit at 60 instead of waiting locks in a lower percentage, and the COLA is then a percentage of that lower base. A 3.6% raise on a small check is a small dollar raise. That is the gap between the 69-dollar average and the real figure on one notice.
Working while collecting
Earnings can cut a check temporarily. For 2027, SSA lists a limit of $25,560 for people under full retirement age, with $1 withheld for every $2 earned above it. In the year someone reaches full retirement age the limit is $67,920, and $1 is withheld for every $3 above it. After full retirement age there is no earnings limit.
SSA says the payment is temporarily reduced if earnings pass the limit in a year. After approval, survivors also must report changes in work and income.
Checking the December notice
The official place to see the amount that applies is SSA’s own survivor tools. The agency’s survivor benefit amount page explains how the payment is set, and the December notice will show the new figure after the 3.6% raise. SSA says the notice is the number to trust, not a table of averages.
For a household that has not yet claimed, the same table shows why timing matters: the survivor percentage climbs with age, and the choice between a survivor check and a retirement check can be switched later. Which check should come first, and when should the switch happen?
Widowed and deciding which check to start first?
A widow who starts the survivor check at 60 locks in 71.5% of the late spouse’s benefit, and a switch to retirement at 70 can leave a smaller or larger check depending on the math. Guessing at that choice can cost a household thousands over the years that follow, and the 3.6% raise only compounds whichever base was picked.
The Social Security Claiming & Family Benefits Kit includes a claiming calculator (Excel) for claiming age, break-even and survivor benefits, plus the 2026 earnings-test rules and a spousal and survivor sequencing worksheet. Part 6 of the kit covers survivor benefits and the switch, and the calculator runs five tabs of numbers.
Get the survivor-versus-retirement kit and break-even calculator before choosing a start age →
More Financial Reading
- 21 Ways to Stretch a $2,087 Social Security Check
- 15 Places to Find Your Share of the $4.25 Billion States Give Back
- The New $6,000 Senior Deduction and 14 More Tax Moves for Retirees
This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
David M. Keller is a finance writer based in Columbus, Ohio, covering personal finance and consumer-focused economic topics. He earned his degree in journalism from Ohio University and began his career reporting on local business and economic trends for a regional media outlet. Since then, he has contributed to a variety of online publications, focusing on clear, practical coverage of topics such as cost of living, debt, and everyday financial decision-making.
