Check your earnings against the limit
Enter your monthly earnings to see where you stand this year.
What the earnings limit is
To qualify for Social Security disability you must be unable to do substantial gainful activity. SSA turns that into a number: earn more than the monthly SGA amount and it will ordinarily decide you are working at a substantial level. The amount is indexed to the national average wage and usually rises each January.
| Year | Non-blind SGA | Blind SGA | Trial work period |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026This year | $1,690 | $2,830 | $1,210 |
| 2025 | $1,620 | $2,700 | $1,160 |
| 2024 | $1,550 | $2,590 | $1,110 |
| 2023 | $1,470 | $2,460 | $1,050 |
Source: SSA, SGA amounts and trial work period amounts. Monthly figures, gross of taxes, net of impairment-related work expenses.
If you are over the limit
Being over $1,690 does not by itself mean you cannot get benefits. SSA looks at countable earnings, and three things reduce them:
- Impairment-related work expenses — what you pay for things you need in order to work because of your condition (medication, equipment, some transportation). SSA subtracts them before comparing to the limit.
- Subsidies and special conditions — if an employer pays you more than your work is worth, or you only manage the job with extra help, SSA counts the value of the work, not the paycheck.
- Unsuccessful work attempts — a job you had to stop within six months because of your condition is not held against you.
Whether any of these apply is a case-by-case question about your records. That is the point at which a free claim review is worth ten minutes.
Already on SSDI? The trial work period
If you already receive SSDI, you can test working without losing benefits. Any month you earn more than $1,210 in 2026 counts as a trial-work month. You get nine of them in a rolling 60-month window, and during those nine months your benefit continues no matter how much you earn. After the ninth month, SSA applies the SGA test month by month for a further 36-month extended period of eligibility.
SSI counts income differently
Supplemental Security Income uses the non-blind SGA amount at the initial application, but once you receive SSI your ongoing earnings are counted under SSI's own rules: the first portion of earned income is excluded, in-kind support such as free housing is counted, and the blind SGA amount and the trial work period do not apply. If your claim is SSI, the check above tells you about the application gate only.
Common questions about the earnings limit
$1,690 a month for non-blind individuals and $2,830 for statutorily blind individuals. SSA adjusts both most years with the national average wage index.
Earning more than the SGA amount is the first thing SSA checks, and at the initial application it usually ends the review. But SSA counts countable earnings: impairment-related work expenses, an employer subsidy, or special working conditions are subtracted first. Whether those apply is a case-by-case question, which is why the check on this page offers a free claim review rather than a verdict.
Gross wages before taxes, minus any impairment-related work expenses SSA allows. Self-employment is measured on net earnings and hours worked, which is a different test.
$1,210 a month in 2026. If you already receive SSDI, any month you earn more than that counts as one of nine trial-work months in a rolling 60-month window. During those nine months you keep your full benefit regardless of earnings. The trial work period does not apply to SSI.
The non-blind SGA amount applies to SSI at the initial application. Once you receive SSI, ongoing income is counted under SSI's own rules, which exclude part of earned income and count in-kind support. The blind SGA amount does not apply to SSI at all.