What Is the SSI Income Limit for Wages and Other Income?

SSI has no single income limit. The figure most people see, $994 a month in 2026, is the maximum federal SSI payment for one person, not a cap on income; it rises to $1,029 in 2027. Social Security subtracts your countable income from that amount, and because it ignores part of what you receive, your SSI only reaches zero at a higher income. For one person with no other income, that’s about $1,014 a month of Social Security or other unearned income, or about $2,073 a month in wages, in 2026.

Those break-even points are different for wages and other income because wages get larger exclusions. Many states add a supplement on top of the federal payment, which raises them further, and people who earn too much for any SSI check can often keep Medicaid.

The 2026 and 2027 SSI income limits

These are the points where the federal SSI payment reaches zero, for someone whose income is all of one type:

The math is simple. For unearned income, add $20 to the federal rate. For wages, double the rate and add $85. The couple figures apply only when both spouses qualify for SSI; if only one does, the other spouse’s income is counted under separate deeming rules. Social Security publishes the rates on its SSI payment amounts page.

The SSI resource limit is a separate test: $2,000 for an individual and $3,000 for a couple, unchanged in 2027.

How Social Security counts your income

Your SSI payment is the federal rate minus your countable income. Social Security sorts income into four kinds:

• Earned income: wages, net self-employment earnings, some royalties and honoraria, and sheltered workshop pay.
• Unearned income: Social Security and SSDI, pensions, state disability, unemployment, interest, dividends, and cash from family or friends.
• In-kind income: shelter you get free or for less than it’s worth.
• Deemed income: part of the income of a spouse you live with, the parents of a child under 18, or a sponsor of a noncitizen.

Then it takes off the exclusions in a set order. The first $20 of most income comes off unearned income first; any of it left over comes off earnings. From earnings, it then subtracts $65 and counts only half of the rest. That’s why $2 of extra wages lowers SSI by only $1, while a dollar of Social Security lowers it by a full dollar.

Social Security’s own examples on its SSI income page, using the 2026 rate:

With both kinds, each is handled separately. Someone with $600 of Social Security and $500 of wages has $580 of countable unearned income and ($500 – $65) / 2 = $217.50 of countable earnings, $797.50 in all, so the SSI payment is $196.50.

If you live in a state that adds a supplement, the supplement is paid on top; Social Security’s example uses $15 a month.

Income Social Security doesn’t count

A long list of money and help doesn’t reduce SSI at all, including:

• SNAP benefits, home energy assistance and need-based help from a state, local government or tribe.
• Federal income tax refunds and refundable credits such as the earned income tax credit.
• Loans you have to repay.
• Payments someone else makes directly for your bills for things other than food or shelter, such as your phone or medical bills.
• Grants and scholarships used for tuition and other school costs.
• Up to $2,000 a year of payments for taking part in certain clinical trials.
• Small amounts you get only once in a while: the first $30 of earnings and $60 of other income in a calendar quarter, if received infrequently or irregularly.
• One-third of child support a child receives from an absent parent.
• Disaster assistance.

For people who work, a few more exclusions can raise the wage break-even well above $2,073:

• Students under 22 regularly attending school can exclude earnings of up to $2,410 a month and $9,730 a year in 2026, rising to $2,500 and $10,080 in 2027. This exclusion comes off first, before the $20 and $65. Regularly attending means at least 8 hours a week of college classes, or 12 hours a week in grades 7 to 12 or a job training course.
• Impairment-related work expenses, the cost of items and services you need in order to work because of your disability, are subtracted from earnings before the halving.
• Blind people can deduct the expenses of earning their income, after the halving.
• Income set aside under an approved Plan to Achieve Self-Support (PASS) for a work goal isn’t counted.

Common mix-ups about the SSI limit

• “The limit is $85.” The first $85 of wages (the $20 and $65 exclusions together) doesn’t reduce SSI at all; above it, SSI goes down $1 for every $2 you earn. Your check doesn’t stop at $85.
• “SSI recipients can’t earn more than $1,690.” That’s the SSDI substantial gainful activity limit. Once you’ve been eligible for SSI for at least a month, earning above it doesn’t end your SSI by itself: under a rule called 1619(a), your payment just keeps being figured from your countable income.
• “If you work, Social Security will decide you’re not disabled.” Working doesn’t automatically end SSI. Your payment shrinks as countable income rises, and medical reviews follow their own schedule.
• “The $2,000 limit is per bank account.” It covers all your countable resources together.

If your SSI stops because of earnings and you later earn less, Social Security may be able to restart it under expedited reinstatement within five years. If it stops for another reason, other than medical recovery, you may be able to restart it within 12 months without a new application.

Free or cheap housing

If someone else pays for your shelter, such as rent, mortgage or utilities, or you live in someone else’s home without paying your share, that help counts as in-kind support and maintenance and can lower your SSI by up to about a third. Since September 30, 2024, food no longer counts: groceries or meals that family or friends give you don’t reduce SSI. The $20 exclusion doesn’t apply to free shelter you get while living in another person’s household.

When income counts

SSI is figured month by month, and income counts in the month you receive it. A paycheck dated May 2 for work in April is May income. If you’re paid every week or every two weeks, some months have five weekly paychecks or three biweekly ones, and those months’ SSI is lower; the next month evens out. You report the previous month’s wages by the 10th.

Living with a spouse or parents

When you live with a spouse who doesn’t get SSI, some of their income is deemed to you, which can reduce or end your SSI even if your own income is low. The same applies to a child under 18 living with parents who don’t get SSI, and to a noncitizen with a sponsor. Deeming stops when you no longer live together, when a child turns 18, or when sponsorship ends.

Keeping Medicaid when you earn too much for SSI

In most states, SSI comes with Medicaid. If your earnings rise above the point where your SSI check stops, a rule called 1619(b) lets you keep Medicaid as long as you were eligible for an SSI payment for at least one month, still have a disability, meet the other SSI rules, need Medicaid to keep working, and earn less than your state’s threshold. Social Security can set a higher individual threshold if you have impairment-related or blind work expenses, a PASS, publicly funded attendant care or unusually high medical costs.

The 2026 yearly earnings thresholds, from Social Security’s 1619(b) page:

California ($68,103), Iowa ($54,260), Massachusetts ($52,864) and Nevada ($49,629) have higher thresholds for people who are blind. Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, North Dakota and Virginia use their own Medicaid rules; in those states, you keep Medicaid under 1619 if you had it in the month before 1619 status began.