Updated October 30, 2026. Quick answer: Ohio SERS retirees get a 2.5% cost-of-living adjustment in calendar year 2027. The SERS Retirement Board approved it at its September 17, 2026 meeting, as recorded in the minutes printed in the October 15, 2026 board materials. The 2026 COLA was also 2.5%. SERS says the 2026 COLA takes effect on each recipient’s benefit anniversary, and recipients whose benefit began on or after April 1, 2018 wait until the fourth anniversary, with no more than a four-year wait in total for benefits from the same member account.
How the SERS COLA is set
Ohio Revised Code section 3309.374 says: “the retirement board may annually increase each allowance, pension, or benefit payable under this chapter by the percentage increase, if any, in the consumer price index, not to exceed two and one-half per cent”. It adds: “No increase shall be made for a period in which the consumer price index did not increase.”
The SERS COLA page explains: “At SERS, COLAs are determined annually by the Board of Trustees with input from the System’s actuary.” On the index, it says: “SERS calculates the COLA using the year-to-year change in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners (CPI-W), June to June.”
Where 2027 stands
The 2027 Ohio SERS COLA is set at 2.5%: the SERS Retirement Board approved it at its September 17, 2026 meeting, and the SERS public COLA page had not yet been updated to show it.
The board minutes record the motion: “eligible SERS allowances, pensions and benefits shall receive a 2.5% cost-of-living adjustment in calendar year 2027, which is the percentage increase as set forth in R.C. 3309.374(B).” On the size, the minutes say: “while the CPI-W increased 3.5%, the amount should not exceed 2.5%.”
One gap to know about: the 2027 effective date is stated in the minutes only as calendar year 2027. The benefit anniversary timing and the waiting period below come from SERS’s 2026 COLA release and its COLA page.
Who waits and when the increase starts
SERS’s 2026 release says: “The 2026 COLA takes effect on the benefit anniversary of the recipient’s effective date of retirement.” “Benefit recipients whose benefit effective date is on or after April 1, 2018, must wait until the fourth anniversary of their allowance or benefit before receiving a COLA.” The page adds: “Benefits that originate from the same member account will not have more than a four-year waiting period in total.” This page covers SERS only, under Chapter 3309 of the Ohio Revised Code.
The 2026 COLA
The SERS COLA page reports: “At its September meeting, the Retirement Board unanimously voted to approve a 2.5% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) increase for eligible benefit recipients in 2026.” It adds: “This year’s CPI-W was 2.6%. The Retirement Board approved the statutory maximum of 2.5%.”
A worked example
As a computed illustration (not a source figure), a retiree past the waiting period with a monthly benefit of $2,000 (invented, for the computation) would see a 2.5% increase of $50 (computed) a month.
Common mistakes
- Expecting the 2027 increase to arrive on January 1 for everyone. SERS tied the 2026 COLA to each recipient’s benefit anniversary, and the 2027 minutes say only calendar year 2027.
- Assuming a recent retiree gets the 2.5% right away. Benefits that began on or after April 1, 2018 wait until the fourth anniversary, and SERS says benefits from the same member account have no more than a four-year waiting period in total.
- Treating 2.5% as guaranteed every year. The statute caps the increase at 2.5% and the board sets it each year, with no increase when the CPI did not increase.
Related: Ohio SERS retirement decisions, how public pension decisions work, and whether Ohio taxes pensions.
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Answer againSources
- Ohio Legislative Service Commission, Ohio Revised Code Section 3309.374 Cost of living increase: codes.ohio.gov
- Ohio SERS, Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) page: www.ohsers.org
- Ohio SERS, Retirement Board Agenda and Materials, October 15, 2026 (includes September 17, 2026 minutes): www.ohsers.org
- Ohio SERS, Board Approves Maximum COLA for 2026: www.ohsers.org
- Related official page (not quoted): IRS Tax Topic 410, Pensions and annuities: www.irs.gov
- Related official page (not quoted): IRS Tax Topic 411, Pensions: the General Rule and the Simplified Method: www.irs.gov
Read from the primary documents linked above on October 30, 2026. General information, not tax advice. Your own facts decide the outcome, and a preparer or the IRS itself is the right place to confirm anything consequential.