What the 2025 SGA amount is

The 2025 Substantial Gainful Activity (SGA) amount is $1,550 per month for non-blind workers and $2,590 per month for blind workers. These are the income thresholds Social Security uses to decide whether you are working at a level that counts as substantial gainful activity. If your monthly earnings stay at or below the non-blind SGA amount, Social Security will not automatically assume you cannot work and will not end your benefits based on income alone.

The SGA amount changes each year because Social Security ties it to the national average wage index. The 2025 figures represent a $110 increase for non-blind workers and a $180 increase for blind workers compared to 2024. These amounts explore only to your work income—not to other money you receive, such as pensions, rental income, or investments.

Key Takeaways

  • The 2025 SGA threshold is $1,550 monthly for non-blind SSDI beneficiaries and $2,590 monthly for blind beneficiaries.
  • Earning above the SGA amount does not automatically end your benefits, but it triggers a work incentive review and may affect your payment.
  • SGA is based on gross income before taxes and work expenses, though certain impairment-related work expenses can be deducted.
  • The SGA amount increases each January and applies to all months going forward in that calendar year.

How Social Security uses the SGA amount to review your case

When you report work income to Social Security, they compare your monthly earnings to the current SGA amount. If you earn less than the SGA threshold, Social Security generally assumes you are not performing substantial gainful activity, even if you work many hours. This is called the non-medical work test—it focuses only on income, not on whether you can actually do the work.

If your earnings exceed the SGA amount in any month, Social Security does not automatically stop your benefits that month. Instead, they move into a more detailed review. They may request information about your job duties, the hours you work, and whether your condition has improved. This review can take several months. During this time, you continue to receive your regular SSDI payment while they investigate.

Exceeding SGA once does not end your benefits. You must exceed it for nine months within a rolling 60-month period before Social Security can find that you have returned to work and are no longer disabled. This is called the trial work period and the extended period of may be able to access. Understanding these timelines matters because they determine when your benefits actually stop.

What counts as income under the SGA rule

Social Security counts gross monthly earnings from work—the amount before taxes, Social Security contributions, or health insurance premiums are taken out. If you are self-employed, they count your net profit (revenue minus ordinary business expenses), not your total sales. Royalties, commissions, bonuses, and vacation pay all count as work income.

Some types of income do not count toward the SGA threshold. Rental income, interest, dividends, pensions, workers' compensation, unemployment benefits, and money from family members do not affect the SGA calculation. If you receive a one-time payment—such as a settlement or inheritance—it does not count as monthly income for SGA purposes, though it may affect your resources if you have a resource limit.

You can deduct impairment-related work expenses (IRWE) from your gross income before comparing it to SGA. These are costs you pay specifically because of your disability to enable you to work—for example, transportation to a job you cannot reach by public transit, medication needed to work, or equipment your disability requires. You must document these expenses and show they are necessary because of your condition.

When to report your work income to Social Security

You are required to report work income to Social Security within 30 days of the month in which you earn it. You can report by phone, mail, or online through your my Social Security account. If you do not report and Social Security discovers unreported earnings later, they may overpay you and demand repayment, or they may reduce future payments to recover the overpayment.

Social Security also receives wage reports from your employer through the Social Security Administration's wage database. This means they often learn about your earnings even if you do not report them yourself. However, there is usually a lag of several months before employer reports appear in the system, so reporting promptly gives you a clearer picture of your own situation and prevents surprises later.

If you are unsure whether a particular payment counts as work income, contact your local Social Security office or your SSDI work incentives planning and information (WIPA) project. These are free services that help beneficiaries understand how work affects their benefits. Your state has at least one WIPA project, and they can answer questions before you earn the money, not after.

How the SGA amount affects your trial work period

The trial work period is a nine-month window during which you can earn any amount without losing your SSDI benefits. These nine months do not have to be consecutive. You count a month toward your trial work period only if you earn $1,090 or more in that month (in 2025). This $1,090 figure is separate from the SGA amount and is set by Social Security each year.

Once you have used nine trial work months, you enter the extended period of may be able to access. During this 36-month period, you keep your benefits for any month in which you earn less than the SGA amount ($1,550 in 2025). If you earn $1,550 or more in a month during the extended period, you lose benefits for that month only—you do not lose them permanently. When your earnings drop below SGA again, your benefits restart without a new process.

After the extended period of may be able to access ends, the rules change. At that point, if you earn $1,550 or more in any month, Social Security will end your benefits. You would need to file a new SSDI process and go through the medical review process again to restart benefits. Understanding these three phases—trial work period, extended period of may be able to access, and post-may be able to access—is crucial to planning your return to work.

How the SGA amount changed from 2024 to 2025

The 2024 SGA amount was $1,440 per month for non-blind workers and $2,410 per month for blind workers. The 2025 increase of $110 for non-blind workers and $180 for blind workers reflects the rise in the national average wage index. Social Security announces the new SGA amount each October for the following January, giving beneficiaries and employers two months' notice.

The SGA amount has increased every year since 2010, though the size of the increase varies. In years when wage growth is slow, the increase is small; in years with faster wage growth, the increase is larger. You can find the historical SGA amounts on the Social Security Administration website if you need to understand how your benefits were calculated in previous years or to plan ahead for future earnings.

Work incentives that reduce the impact of SGA on your benefits

Social Security offers several work incentives designed to let you test your ability to work without when ready losing benefits. The Plan to Achieve Self-Support (PASS) allows you to set aside income and resources for a specific work goal without affecting your SSDI payment. For example, if you are saving to start a business or pay for job training, a PASS plan lets you exclude that money from the SGA calculation.

The Impairment-Related Work Expenses (IRWE) deduction, mentioned earlier, reduces your countable income by allowing you to subtract disability-related work costs. If you use a personal assistant to help you work, or if you need specialized transportation, these costs can be deducted before your earnings are compared to SGA. This can keep you below the SGA threshold even if your gross income exceeds it.

A WIPA project or Protection and Advocacy for Beneficiaries of Social Security (PABSS) office can help you understand which work incentives explore to your situation and how to use them. These services are free and are funded by Social Security specifically to help beneficiaries navigate work and benefits. They can also help you fill out the forms needed to set up a PASS plan or claim IRWE deductions.

Frequently Asked Questions

If I earn exactly $1,550 in a month, do I lose my benefits?

No. The SGA threshold is $1,550 or more. If you earn exactly $1,550, you have met the SGA amount, but Social Security will not automatically assume you have returned to work. They will review your case more closely. You keep your benefits during the review. If you are in your trial work period or extended period of may be able to access, you would not lose benefits based on one month of SGA-level earnings alone.

Does the SGA amount explore if I work part-time or have a flexible schedule?

Yes. The SGA rule is based only on your monthly earnings, not on how many hours you work or how flexible your schedule is. You could work two hours per week and still exceed SGA if your hourly rate is high enough, or you could work 40 hours per week and stay below SGA if your wage is low. Social Security does not care about hours—only income.

What happens if I earn above SGA for one month and then drop below it the next month?

During your trial work period or extended period of may be able to access, you keep your benefits in the month you drop below SGA. Your benefits do not stop and restart each month based on income. You only lose benefits in months when you earn $1,550 or more during the extended period. Once that period ends, the rules become stricter.

Can I use a PASS plan to reduce my income below SGA?

A PASS plan does not reduce your income for SGA purposes. Instead, it allows you to set aside income and resources for a work goal without affecting your Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payment. SSDI beneficiaries do not have resource limits, so a PASS plan is less directly useful for SSDI. However, a PASS plan can help you organize your finances and show Social Security that you are working toward independence, which may be relevant during a work review.

If I am blind, why is my SGA amount higher than the non-blind amount?

Social Security assumes blind workers may need higher earnings to cover disability-related work expenses such as readers, transportation, or specialized equipment. The higher SGA threshold ($2,590 in 2025) reflects this assumption. You do not need to prove you have these expenses to use the blind SGA amount—you only need to have a visual impairment that meets Social Security's definition of blindness.