How Much Does SSI Pay? Federal Rate, State Supplements, and Reductions

In 2026, the Supplemental Security Income federal maximum is $994 a month for an eligible individual and $1,491 a month for an eligible couple. That is the ceiling, called the Federal Benefit Rate, and it works out to $11,928 or $17,892 a year.¹ Most recipients get less than this because the Social Security Administration subtracts countable income and may reduce the payment based on who pays for your food and shelter. Some recipients get more because their state adds a supplement on top.

SSI payments arrive on the first of each month. If the first falls on a weekend or federal holiday, the deposit shows up on the last business day before.²

The couple rate is not two individual rates added together. It equals roughly 150 percent of the individual amount, which is why two people who each qualified as singles receive less once they are treated as an eligible couple.³

Why Most People Receive Less Than the Maximum

The SSA starts at the Federal Benefit Rate and subtracts your countable income. The rules treat earned income (wages) differently from unearned income (Social Security, pensions, gifts), and several exclusions apply before anything gets counted:⁴

The first $20 of unearned income each month is ignored. If you have no unearned income, the $20 comes off your wages instead.
The first $65 of wages each month is ignored.
Only half of what remains of your wages is counted.

The practical result: for every $2 you earn from a job, after the exclusions, your SSI drops by about $1.

A Worked Example

Say you earn $385 a month at a part-time job and have no other income. The SSA takes off the $20 general exclusion, leaving $365. Then the $65 wage exclusion, leaving $300. Half of $300 is $150, and that is the countable income. Your check is $994 minus $150, or $844. Add the wages and you have $1,229 in the household for the month, more than SSI alone would provide.¹

Work Incentives That Preserve More of the Check

A student under 22 who regularly attends school can earn up to $2,410 a month, up to $9,730 for the year, without any of it counting against SSI. This exclusion is applied first, before the standard $20 and $65.⁵

Impairment-related work expenses also come off your earnings before the SSA does its math. Wheelchairs, prosthetic devices, prescription medications that control your condition, attendant care, and specialized transportation can all qualify if you need them in order to work.⁶

A Plan to Achieve Self-Support (PASS) lets you set aside income or resources for a specific work goal, such as starting a business or paying tuition, without those amounts counting against your benefit or your resource limit.⁷

How Your Living Situation Can Cut the Payment

If someone else covers your food or shelter, the SSA treats that help as income. Two rules govern the reduction.

The One-Third Reduction

If you live in someone else’s household for a full month and that person provides all of your food and all of your shelter, the SSA cuts your Federal Benefit Rate by a flat one-third. For an individual in 2026, that is roughly $331.33 off, bringing the payment to about $662.67. The $20 and $65 exclusions do not apply against this reduction — it is all or nothing.⁸

The Presumed Maximum Value Rule

When you get help with only some of your food or shelter, and the one-third rule does not apply, the SSA uses the Presumed Maximum Value instead. The most the SSA can count is one-third of the Federal Benefit Rate plus $20, or about $351.33 a month in 2026. If the help you receive is actually worth less than that, you can show evidence of the real value and reduce the deduction.⁹

When a Spouse’s or Parent’s Income Reduces Your Amount

If you live with a spouse who does not receive SSI, a portion of your spouse’s income is treated as yours. This is called deeming. After exclusions for each ineligible household member and the same $20, $65, and one-half rules, the leftover income is attributed to you and shrinks your payment. At a high enough income level, spousal deeming zeroes out the benefit.

A parallel process applies to a child under 18 who lives with a parent. The SSA runs the parent’s income through allocations for other ineligible children, the standard exclusions, and a subtraction equal to the applicable Federal Benefit Rate for the parent or parents. Whatever is left after those steps is deemed to the child.⁴ Parental deeming ends at 18, which is why some young adults become eligible, or eligible for a higher amount, on their eighteenth birthday.

State Supplements That Add to the Federal Amount

Many recipients get more than the federal maximum because their state adds a supplementary payment. Amounts vary by state, by your living arrangement, and by whether you qualify as aged, blind, or disabled.

Some states have the SSA administer the supplement, so you get a single combined deposit. Other states run their own supplement program and pay it separately, which can mean a separate application.¹⁰ Federal law requires certain states to pay a mandatory supplement to people whose income levels were protected when SSI began in 1974. Beyond that floor, states set their own rules and rates, and a few pay nothing extra at all. Because amounts change and depend on your situation, ask your local SSA office or state agency what applies to you.¹¹

How the Amount Changes Each Year

The Federal Benefit Rate goes up most years through a cost-of-living adjustment tied to the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers. The SSA compares CPI-W from the third quarter of one year to the third quarter of the next, and any increase takes effect the following January. The mechanism is automatic and requires no new legislation.¹²

Recent adjustments show how much the size of the raise can swing:¹³

The 8.7 percent bump in 2023 was unusually large and reflected the post-pandemic price surge. Most years, the increase is much smaller.

A Resource Limit That Can Stop the Payment Entirely

SSI is need-based, so countable resources cannot exceed $2,000 for an individual or $3,000 for an eligible couple. Cash, bank accounts, stocks, and bonds count. Your home, one vehicle, household goods, and up to $1,500 in burial funds do not.¹⁴¹⁵ If you go over the limit in any month, you get nothing that month regardless of the payment calculation above.

Keeping Your Payment Correct

Because so many variables feed the calculation, the SSA requires you to report changes that could shift the amount: new wages, changes in living arrangements, a gift or inheritance, a new address. Each change must be reported within 10 days after the end of the month it happened.¹⁶

Late or missing reports draw a penalty of $25 to $100, taken from future checks. And when a change means you were paid too much, the SSA recovers the overpayment. Standard recovery withholds 10 percent of the maximum Federal Benefit Rate each month, starting about 60 days after notice. You can ask for a smaller withholding if the standard rate creates hardship, but the SSA will not go below $10 a month. If the overpayment was caused by intentional concealment, the 10 percent cap does not apply and the whole check can be withheld.¹⁷¹⁸

1
Social Security Administration. SSI Federal Payment Amounts for 2026
2
Social Security Administration. Schedule of Social Security Benefit Payments 2026
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 1382 – Eligibility for Benefits
4
eCFR. 20 CFR Part 416 Subpart K – Income
5
Social Security Administration. What’s New in 2026
6
Social Security Administration. Code of Federal Regulations 404.1576 – Impairment-Related Work Expenses
7
Social Security Administration. Plan to Achieve Self-Support (PASS)
8
eCFR. 20 CFR Part 416 Subpart K – Income – Section 416.1131
9
eCFR. 20 CFR Part 416 Subpart K – Income – Section 416.1140
10
Social Security Administration. SI 01401.001 General Information about State Supplementation
11
Social Security Administration. SSI Benefits
12
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 1382f – Cost-of-Living Adjustments in Benefits
13
Social Security Administration. Cost-Of-Living Adjustments
14
Social Security Administration. 2026 Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) Fact Sheet
15
Social Security Administration. Code of Federal Regulations 416.1231 – Burial Spaces and Certain Funds Set Aside for Burial Expenses
16
Social Security Administration. Understanding Supplemental Security Income Reporting Responsibilities
17
Social Security Administration. Overpayments
18
eCFR. 20 CFR Part 416 Subpart E – Payment of Benefits, Overpayments, and Underpayments