On January 27, 2026, the Board of Retirement approved the 2026 Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA). StanCERA bases its COLA increases on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for All Urban Consumers in the San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward area.
The COLA change for retirees’ 2024 benefit is based on the change in the December over December measures (2024 to 2025). The 2024 and 2025 measures were 348.001 and 358.568, respectively. This equates to an increase of 3.04%, rounded to 3.0%.
Cost of Living Adjustments will be reflected for benefits payable in April 2026, which will be paid on May 1, 2026.
As a reminder, Tier 3 members are not eligible for COLA increases.