NEW YORK (CNN/Money) – More than 52 million recipients of Social Security and supplemental benefits will see a 4.1 percent bump in their monthly payments come 2006, the Social Security Administration said Friday.

The average retiree who receives Social Security will see his payment increase from $963 a month to $1,002. The maximum monthly benefit any retiree over 65 may receive will rise from $1,939 to $2,053.

The 2006 cost-of-living-adjustment (COLA), the largest since 1991, is based on the change in the Consumer Price Index from the third quarter of the prior year to the third quarter of the current year. The CPI for September was released on Friday. (Full story).

The 4.1 percent COLA will also raise the level of wages subject to the Social Security tax. The new wage level next year will be $94,200, up from $90,000 this year. That means the first $94,200 will be subject to the 12.4 percent Social Security tax, half of which is paid by workers and half by their employers. The self-employed pay the full 12.4 percent but may deduct half of that on their federal taxes.

As a result of the wage-level increase, 11.3 million workers, or 7.1 percent of workers who pay Social Security taxes, will be paying more next year as a result of the increase.

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