Social Security’s Substantial Gainful Activity chart by year shows the monthly gross earnings limit the agency uses to decide whether you can qualify for disability benefits. For 2026, that limit is $1,690 per month if you are not blind, and $2,830 per month if you meet Social Security’s definition of statutory blindness.1Social Security Administration. Substantial Gainful Activity Earn above the applicable amount and Social Security generally treats you as capable of working, no matter what your medical records say.
SGA Amounts by Year, 2015 Through 2026
Social Security adjusts these thresholds every year based on changes in the national average wage index.2Social Security Administration. 20 CFR 404.1574 – Evaluation Guides if You Are an Employee Both columns are gross monthly earnings, before taxes and deductions.
| Year | Non-Blind | Blind |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | $1,090 | $1,820 |
| 2016 | $1,130 | $1,820 |
| 2017 | $1,170 | $1,950 |
| 2018 | $1,180 | $1,970 |
| 2019 | $1,220 | $2,040 |
| 2020 | $1,260 | $2,110 |
| 2021 | $1,310 | $2,190 |
| 2022 | $1,350 | $2,260 |
| 2023 | $1,470 | $2,460 |
| 2024 | $1,550 | $2,590 |
| 2025 | $1,620 | $2,700 |
| 2026 | $1,690 | $2,830 |
The jump from 2022 to 2023 was the largest recent increase, reflecting a sharp rise in the national average wage index during that period. The blind threshold has stayed roughly 65 to 70 percent higher than the non-blind figure across the whole chart.
What the Number on the Chart Actually Decides
SGA is the first question Social Security answers when it looks at a disability claim. If you are working above the SGA amount for your year, the agency denies the claim at step one and never gets to your medical evidence.3Social Security Administration. 20 CFR 404.1520 – Evaluation of Disability in General Only earnings below the threshold move the claim forward.
Work counts as “substantial” if it involves significant physical or mental effort, even part-time work or work with reduced responsibilities.4Social Security Administration. 20 CFR 404.1572 – What We Mean by Substantial Gainful Activity The “gainful” side is the dollar figure in the chart. Volunteer work and unpaid labor do not count. Paid work does.
How Social Security Measures Your Earnings Against the Chart
Social Security looks at gross wages, the amount before taxes and deductions, when comparing your pay to SGA.5Social Security Administration. SSA POMS DI 10505.005 – Determining and Verifying Gross Earnings from Employment The month that matters is the month you performed the work, not the month the paycheck cleared. Work done in February is February earnings even if the check arrives in March.
When earnings bounce around, the agency can average them over a stretch of time to reflect your real earning capacity rather than a single high month from overtime or a bonus.
Unsuccessful Work Attempts
If you tried to work but had to stop or drop below SGA within six months because of your impairment, Social Security can treat the effort as an “unsuccessful work attempt” and disregard those earnings entirely.6eCFR. 20 CFR Part 404 Subpart P – Substantial Gainful Activity Work lasting more than six months at SGA level cannot qualify, no matter why it ended.7Social Security Administration. SSA POMS DI 11010.145 – Unsuccessful Work Attempt (UWA) Overview The agency does not always flag this on its own, so raise it if your medical records show the job ended because of your condition.
Impairment-Related Work Expenses
Out-of-pocket costs you incur because of your disability in order to work come off your earnings before Social Security compares them to the SGA figure. Qualifying items include medications, medical devices, attendant care, specialized transportation, and modifications to your home or vehicle that let you get to the job.8Social Security Administration. SSI Spotlight on Impairment-Related Work Expenses The expense has to be unreimbursed and tied to your disability.
Employer Subsidies
If your employer pays you more than the reasonable value of what you actually produce, the excess is a subsidy rather than earnings. This can happen when you receive extra supervision, lighter duties, or more breaks than co-workers in the same role. Social Security counts only the value of your real productivity in that case.9Social Security Administration. DI 10505.010 – Determining Countable Earnings Written documentation from the employer makes the subsidy far easier to prove.
Blind Work Expenses
SSI recipients who meet the blindness definition can use a broader deduction called blind work expenses. Unlike impairment-related work expenses, these do not have to connect to a medical condition. Reasonable work costs, including income taxes, professional dues, and transportation, can be subtracted from your earnings.10Social Security Administration. Social Security Work Incentives for People Who Are Blind
Why the Blind Column Is Higher
The blind SGA amount has been consistently higher than the non-blind figure and stands at $2,830 per month for 2026. One boundary matters: the blind SGA limit applies only to Social Security Disability Insurance. SSI does not use SGA at all for blind recipients after initial eligibility.1Social Security Administration. Substantial Gainful Activity
How the Chart Works Under SSDI vs. SSI
The two federal disability programs treat the SGA number differently, and confusing them is one of the most common mistakes people make when reading the chart.
SSDI
SGA applies at every stage. You must earn below the limit when you apply, and, after the trial work period described below, the limit continues to govern your benefits for as long as you receive them.11Social Security Administration. Who Can Get Disability Cross the line after the trial work period ends and your monthly check stops.
SSI
SGA matters at the application stage. You must earn less than the non-blind SGA amount for the year when you apply.12Social Security Administration. Who Can Get SSI After approval, Social Security stops using SGA as a hard cutoff. Instead, the agency reduces your SSI payment through a formula that disregards the first $65 of earned income plus half of everything above that, so you can earn well above the SGA figure and still receive a partial payment.
SSI recipients who work above SGA and lose their cash payment can keep Medicaid under Section 1619(b), as long as their gross annual earnings stay below a state-specific threshold that runs from roughly $40,000 to over $84,000.13Social Security Administration. Continued Medicaid Eligibility (Section 1619(B)) For many recipients, Medicaid is worth more than the cash benefit itself.
Trial Work Period and Extended Eligibility
SSDI has a testing phase that lets you try working without immediately losing benefits, and the rules change at each stage.
Trial Work Period
You get nine months, which do not have to be consecutive, within a rolling five-year window to test your ability to work. Your full SSDI check continues no matter how much you earn during those nine months. In 2026, any month you earn more than $1,210 before taxes counts as a trial work month.14Social Security Administration. Trial Work Period Notice the trial-work trigger sits below the SGA figure, so a month can burn a trial work month without hitting SGA.
Extended Period of Eligibility
Once you have used the nine trial work months, a 36-month extended period of eligibility begins immediately.15Social Security Administration. Try Returning to Work Without Losing Disability During this window, Social Security pays your benefit for any month your earnings fall below SGA and withholds it for any month they do not. If you have to stop working, benefits restart automatically without a new application.16Social Security Administration. SSA POMS DI 13010.210 – Extended Period of Eligibility (EPE) Overview
The first time Social Security determines you are performing SGA during the extended period, you get a three-month grace period: the cessation month plus two more months of full benefits regardless of earnings.16Social Security Administration. SSA POMS DI 13010.210 – Extended Period of Eligibility (EPE) Overview After that, benefits stop for any SGA month. Once the 36-month window closes, the first month of SGA becomes your benefit termination month and eligibility ends.
Expedited Reinstatement
If your benefits end because of earnings and you later become unable to work again, you can request expedited reinstatement within five years of the month benefits stopped. Provisional payments can run for up to six months while Social Security reviews the request.17Social Security Administration. Expedited Reinstatement This is far faster than filing a new application, which can take a year or more.
Reporting Earnings and Overpayment Risk
SSI recipients must report any change in work, pay, or hours no later than 10 days after the end of the month the change happened. Missing that deadline can trigger a penalty that reduces your SSI payment by $25 to $100 per occurrence.18Social Security Administration. Understanding Supplemental Security Income Reporting Responsibilities SSDI recipients also have a duty to report earnings, though the specific deadlines are less rigid.
The bigger risk is overpayment. If you cross the SGA line and do not report it, Social Security will eventually catch the discrepancy through wage records and demand back every dollar you should not have received. Overpayments can reach tens of thousands of dollars, and the agency can withhold future benefits or garnish tax refunds to collect. Reporting early, even for a job you doubt will last, is always the safer move.