Glossary · Compensation

Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA)

Salary adjustment tied to inflation.

Definition

A COLA is a salary increase tied to inflation indices (typically CPI), separate from merit-based raises. COLAs preserve real purchasing power year over year.

How SalaryScopePro uses this term

We surface cost of living adjustment (cola) across salary results, occupation pages, city pages, and Premium Reports — with consistent definitions and methodology. See methodology and data sources for how the underlying numbers are computed.