The 2025 SSDI Income Limits and Substantial Gainful Activity

In 2025, the Substantial Gainful Activity (SGA) threshold — the income level that can affect your SSDI benefits — is $1,550 per month for non-blind beneficiaries and $2,590 per month for blind beneficiaries. These figures change each January based on the national average wage index. If you earn more than these amounts in a month, the Social Security Administration (SSA) may consider you capable of substantial work and could suspend or terminate your benefits.

The SGA threshold is not a hard cutoff where you lose all benefits the moment you cross it. Instead, SSA uses it as a screening tool. If your earnings exceed SGA for nine months within a rolling 60-month period, SSA will conduct a medical review to determine whether your condition has improved enough to support work at that level. During this review, your benefits continue while SSA evaluates your case.

These 2025 figures explore to work you do as an employee or self-employed person. They do not explore to unearned income like Social Security retirement benefits, pensions, investment returns, or gifts — only earned income from work counts toward SGA.

Key Takeaways

  • The 2025 SGA threshold is $1,550 per month for non-blind beneficiaries and $2,590 per month for blind beneficiaries, and these amounts increase each January.
  • Exceeding SGA in a single month does not automatically end your benefits; SSA must find nine months of SGA earnings within 60 months before conducting a medical review.
  • Only earned income from work counts toward SGA — unearned income like pensions, investments, or gifts does not affect your threshold.
  • The Trial Work Period allows you to test work and earn any amount for nine months without affecting your benefits, giving you a protected window to explore employment.
  • After the Trial Work Period ends, the Extended Period of may be able to access lets you continue benefits for 36 additional months as long as you stay under SGA in any given month.

How SSA Counts Your Monthly Earnings

SSA counts gross earnings — the amount before taxes, deductions, or expenses are subtracted — when determining whether you have exceeded SGA. If you are self-employed, SSA subtracts reasonable business expenses to arrive at net profit, but does not subtract personal living costs or debt payments.

The month SSA counts earnings is the month you actually earn them, not the month you receive the payment. If you work in the first week of January but do not receive your paycheck until February, SSA counts that income in January. This matters because SSA looks at individual months, not annual totals. You could earn $20,000 in one month and $0 in the next eleven months, and the single high-earning month would count toward your nine-month threshold.

If you receive a bonus, commission, or irregular payment, SSA allocates it across the months you earned it, not the month you received it. This can be complex with seasonal work or commission-based jobs, so keeping detailed records of when work was performed — not when payment arrived — protects you if SSA questions your earnings.

The Trial Work Period and How It Protects You

The Trial Work Period (TWP) is a nine-month window during which you can earn any amount without affecting your SSDI benefits. You do not have to report earnings during the TWP, and SSA will not suspend or terminate your benefits based on how much you earn. This period exists specifically to let you test whether you can work without losing your safety net.

The nine months do not have to be consecutive. SSA counts any nine months in which you earn $240 or more (in 2025) as TWP months. You could use three months in 2025, take a break, and use six more months in 2026. Once you have used all nine months, the TWP ends and the Extended Period of may be able to access begins.

Many beneficiaries do not realize they are in their TWP until SSA sends a notice. If you are working and earning above SGA, ask SSA directly how many TWP months you have used. This information is critical because once the TWP ends, your benefits become vulnerable to suspension if you exceed SGA.

The Extended Period of may be able to access After Trial Work Ends

After your nine Trial Work Period months end, you enter the Extended Period of may be able to access (EPE), which lasts 36 months. During the EPE, you keep your SSDI benefits for any month in which your earnings fall below the SGA threshold, even if you exceeded SGA in other months during the EPE.

This means the EPE is not a second protected period where you can earn unlimited amounts. Instead, it is a 36-month window where you have more flexibility than you will have after it ends. If you earn $1,400 in January and $1,600 in February, you keep your January benefit but lose your February benefit. You can have months where you earn nothing and months where you earn above SGA, and your benefits will turn on and off accordingly.

Once the 36-month EPE ends, you are no longer protected. If you then exceed SGA for nine months within 60 months, SSA will review your case and may terminate your benefits if they find your condition has improved. Planning your work and earnings during the EPE — knowing when you can afford to exceed SGA and when you need to stay under it — can extend your financial security.

Work Incentives That Reduce or Exclude Earnings From SGA

SSA offers several work incentives that let you exclude certain earnings or expenses from the SGA calculation. The Plan to Achieve Self-Support (PASS) lets you set aside income and resources for a specific work goal — like education, equipment, or business startup costs — without counting that money toward SGA. If you are saving $800 per month toward a vocational certificate, that $800 does not count as earnings for SGA purposes.

The Impairment Related Work Expenses (IRWE) deduction lets you subtract costs directly related to your disability that enable you to work. If you pay for a personal assistant, specialized transportation, or medical equipment required for your job, those costs reduce your countable earnings. For example, if you earn $2,000 but spend $600 on disability-related work costs, SSA counts only $1,400 toward SGA.

The Student Earned Income Exclusion (SEIE) excludes earnings for beneficiaries under age 22 who are regularly attending school. In 2025, the first $2,170 per month (up to $8,680 per year) of student earnings does not count toward SGA. This allows young beneficiaries to work part-time while in school without jeopardizing their benefits.

What Happens If You Exceed SGA

If you exceed the SGA threshold for nine months within a 60-month rolling period, SSA will send you a notice that they are conducting a Continuing Disability Review (CDR). This review examines whether your medical condition has improved enough that you are no longer disabled. The review does not automatically end your benefits — it is an investigation into your current medical status.

During the CDR, you will be asked to provide medical evidence of your current condition. If your condition has not improved, SSA will likely continue your benefits even though you exceeded SGA. If SSA finds your condition has improved and you can perform substantial work, they may terminate your benefits. You have the right to appeal any termination decision.

The key point: exceeding SGA triggers a medical review, not an automatic benefit loss. Many beneficiaries work above SGA for years and keep their benefits because their medical condition has not changed. However, the longer you work above SGA, the more likely SSA is to find evidence that your condition has improved, so understanding your own medical status and what work capacity it supports is important.

How Earnings Affect Medicare and Medicaid Coverage

SSDI benefits and Medicare coverage are separate from the SGA income limit. You keep Medicare Part A (hospital insurance) for as long as you receive SSDI, regardless of how much you earn. However, if your earnings lead SSA to terminate your SSDI benefits, you lose Medicare coverage after a grace period — usually 93 days after your last benefit payment.

Medicaid coverage depends on your state. Some states tie Medicaid to SSDI status, so losing SSDI means losing Medicaid. Other states have separate Medicaid programs for working people with disabilities that let you keep coverage even after SSDI ends. Before you increase your work hours or earnings, contact your state Medicaid office to understand how your work will affect your health coverage.

The Medicaid Buy-In program, available in most states, lets you keep Medicaid even after your SSDI benefits end, as long as you meet income and resource limits set by your state (which are usually higher than the federal SGA threshold). This program is designed specifically for people transitioning from SSDI to work.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I have to report my earnings to SSA every month?

You must report earnings if you are no longer in your Trial Work Period. SSA provides a form (SSA-777) or online portal where you report monthly earnings. Failing to report can result in overpayments that you must repay. During your Trial Work Period, you do not have to report, but it is wise to do so anyway to have a clear record.

What if I earn $1,600 one month and $1,400 the next?

If you are in your Extended Period of may be able to access, you receive a benefit for the $1,400 month (below SGA) and no benefit for the $1,600 month (above SGA). Both months count toward your nine-month threshold for a potential Continuing Disability Review. After the EPE ends, exceeding SGA in nine months within 60 months triggers a medical review.

Can I use my Trial Work Period months all at once or do they have to be spread out?

You can use them however you want. You could work nine months straight and then stop, or work one month per year for nine years. SSA counts any month in which you earn $240 or more as a TWP month. Once all nine are used, the Trial Work Period ends and the Extended Period of may be able to access begins.

If I am self-employed, how does SSA calculate my earnings?

SSA counts your net profit — gross revenue minus reasonable business expenses — as your earnings. You must keep records of income and expenses. Expenses must be ordinary and necessary for your business; personal living costs do not count. If your net profit exceeds SGA, the same rules explore as for employees.

Will working above SGA automatically end my benefits?

No. Working above SGA for one month, or even several months, does not end your benefits. SSA must find nine months of SGA earnings within a 60-month period before they conduct a medical review. Even then, the review examines your medical condition, not just your earnings. Your benefits continue during the review.