Disability › How much

How much will I get each month?

For anyone applying for SSDI or SSI, or budgeting around a disability check. By the end you’ll know how SSDI is set, what the average check is, how much SSI pays and how other income lowers it, and how back pay works.

How is my SSDI amount set?

SSDI (Social Security Disability Insurance) is based on your own Social Security record, so amounts differ from person to person. There is no single pay chart.

One rule tells you a lot. Under SSA’s rules, your SSDI check equals your primary insurance amount: the full retirement benefit your record earns at full retirement age, with no cut for your age. That is why, when you reach full retirement age, your disability benefit “automatically” converts to a retirement benefit and the amount stays the same. Two exceptions: SSDI can be lower if you took early retirement before SSDI started (see disability or early retirement), or if you get workers’ compensation or certain public disability payments.

What formula does SSA use?

SSA works it out in two steps:

1. It averages your earnings. SSA adjusts your past pay for the growth in wages over the years, picks your highest-earning years between age 22 and when you became disabled, and turns them into a monthly average. SSA calls this your average indexed monthly earnings.
2. It applies a formula. For people who become disabled in 2027, SSA adds up 90% of the first $1,340 of that average, 32% of the part from $1,340 to $8,077, and 15% of anything above $8,077.

Example for 2027. Your monthly average works out to $3,000. SSA pays 90% of $1,340, which is $1,206.00, plus 32% of the next $1,660, which is $531.20. That adds up to $1,737.20, so your SSDI would be about $1,737 a month.

The formula gives back a bigger share of lower earnings. The dollar points in it are set by the year you became disabled (in 2026 they were $1,286 and $7,749). Yearly cost-of-living increases are added after that.

What does the average person get?

An average is not a promise. Your own amount may be higher or lower. The 2027 figure is SSA’s estimate, not a final number.

Will my check go up in 2027?

Yes. SSDI and SSI rise by a 3.6% cost-of-living adjustment, payable starting January 2027.

How much does SSI pay?

SSI (Supplemental Security Income) is based on need. The federal amount is the most it pays:

To get SSI, your countable savings must be no more than $2,000, or $3,000 for a couple.

How does other income lower SSI?

SSA doesn’t count every dollar you receive. It subtracts what it calls exclusions first, then lowers SSI by what’s left, which it calls countable income.

• The $20 rule. SSA counts Social Security, including SSDI, as income that isn’t from work. It ignores the first $20 a month of that kind of income. If you have less than $20 of it, the rest of the $20 comes off your wages instead. SSA counts your Social Security amount before anything is taken out, such as a Medicare premium.
• The $65 and one-half rule. For wages, SSA ignores the first $65 a month, then counts only half of the rest.

Worked example for 2027. Maria gets $300 a month from Social Security and earns $265 a month at a part-time job.

1. Social Security: $300 minus $20 = $280 counted.
2. Wages: $265 minus $65 = $200. Half of $200 = $100 counted.
3. Countable income: $280 + $100 = $380.
4. SSI: $1,029 minus $380 = $649 a month. (In 2026: $994 minus $380 = $614.)

Maria’s total in 2027 is $300 + $265 + $649 = $1,214 a month, more than SSI alone would pay.

One more rule helps people living with family: since September 30, 2024, food that someone else gives you no longer lowers your SSI.

Can my family get benefits?

Some family members can be paid on a worker’s record. A spouse who is 62 or older or caring for a child under 16, and children under 18 (or 18 and 19 and in school full time, grade 12 or below), can each get up to half of the worker’s full amount, within a family limit. Two groups apply with a disability of their own:

• Disabled adult children. An adult whose disability began before age 22 may be paid on a parent’s record, if the parent gets retirement or disability benefits or has died. The adult child must be unmarried and at least 18.
• Disabled widows and widowers, ages 50 to 59. The disability must have begun before, or within 7 years after, the worker’s death.

Neither group can apply online. Call 1-800-772-1213 for an appointment. See benefits for your family for more.

How does back pay work?

If you are approved, SSA owes you for months that already passed, which it calls past-due benefits. For SSDI that can reach back as many as 12 months before the month you applied. The 5-month waiting period is never paid. See while you wait for the timeline.

If a representative helped with your claim under a fee agreement, the fee comes from back pay. It is the lesser of 25% of your past-due benefits or $9,200, for agreements approved on or after November 30, 2024.

Related

Benefits Insider is an independent publisher, not a government agency. This page is general information, not legal or financial advice for your situation. For a decision on your case, contact Social Security at 1-800-772-1213 or your state Medicaid office.