How Much Social Security Disability Will I Get?
If you’re unable to work because of a disability, financial pressures make life stressful. Applying for disability benefits can relieve the pressures and stress, but you’re probably wondering: “How much Social Security disability will I get?”
The Social Security disability amount you receive on approval of your claim depends on several factors, including how long you worked and your average earnings. A look at the Social Security Disability Insurance program, with an explanation of the SSDI payment calculation method, should provide the answer to your benefits question.
Disability Benefits through the SSDI Program
Approval to receive Social Security disability income through the SSDI program requires that you worked at jobs or self-employment with Social Security taxes paid on the earnings or income. You must have worked long enough and recently enough to be approved. How long and how recent depend on the age at which you become disabled and unable to work.
The Social Security Administration uses a rather complicated formula for SSDI payment calculation that takes into account a person’s average indexed monthly earnings. AIME is the average income that you earned working at jobs subject to Social Security payroll taxes.
The SSA may not use all of your earnings when you have a long work history. Instead, it may select the years when you had the highest earnings. The income is adjusted for inflation to arrive at your AIME.
Because it relies on a worker’s earnings to calculate their Social Security disability benefit, SSDI does not have a fixed benefit amount it pays to all workers. The more money a worker earns before the onset of a disability, the greater their monthly SSDI benefits payment.
SSDI Maximum and Average Benefits
Although SSDI benefits depend on each claimant’s average earnings, you may wonder why benefits cannot exceed a monthly maximum. Federal law limits the amount of a person’s annual earnings subject to payment of Social Security taxes.
For example, the maximum taxable earnings amount in 2026 is $184,500, and the maximum Social Security benefit for a retired or disabled worker will be $4,152 per month. Most people have an earnings history at the maximum taxable earnings limit, so the average SSDI monthly benefit in 2026 is $1,630. This represents an increase from the 2025 average of $1,586.
One thing that does not affect how much you receive each month as SSDI disability benefits is the nature of your disabling medical condition. The nature of your disability determines whether you meet the definition of disabled for approval of an SSDI claim, but it does not affect how much you receive in monthly benefits.
Receiving Other Types of Disability Benefits may Affect SSDI
Disability benefits that you receive from the following sources have no impact on the amount of your monthly Social Security disability income through the SSDI program:
- Benefits through the Veterans Administration.
- Supplemental Security Income benefits.
- Benefits paid through state or local governments, provided Social Security taxes were paid on your earnings.
The payments that you receive from the following sources may reduce your SSDI payments:
- Federal, state, or local government workers’ compensation benefits, including lump-sum payments.
- State temporary disability benefits.
- State and local government retirement benefits paid as a result of a disability.
These benefits, added to your SSDI disability payments, cannot exceed 80% of the average earnings you had before the onset of a disability.
If your total disability benefits amounts exceed 80% of your pre-disability average earnings, the SSA reduces your monthly Social Security disability income until the public benefit payments stop. The public benefits reduction also ceases when you reach full retirement age.
At full retirement age, which for anyone born in 1960 or later is age 67, your SSDI benefits automatically convert to Social Security retirement benefits. The reduction for workers’ compensation or other public benefits does not apply to retirement benefits, so you receive the full Social Security payment that you are entitled to based on your earnings record.
SSDI back pay awards
You must wait five months from the onset of a disability to be entitled to SSDI benefit payments. However, the application review process takes longer than five months, especially if your claim is denied and you challenge it through the appeals process.
When you ultimately receive approval of your claim, you may be entitled to back pay for the months from when your payments should have begun. Back pay can be for up to 12 months of benefits.
Need help? Take Action With ADA Group
Do you wonder, “How much Social Security Disability will I get?” Let the disability professionals at American Disability Action Group provide you with an answer that you can trust and rely upon. Instead of being overwhelmed by formulas and calculations, stay calm, be tough, and take action by turning to a disability attorney at ADA Group for assistance. Contact us today for a free consultation.