SSI Calculator: How Much SSI Will You Get?
The most federal SSI anyone can get is $994 a month in 2026 for an individual and $1,491 for a couple, rising to $1,029 and $1,544 in 2027. Your payment is that amount minus your countable income, and it’s cut by a third if you live in someone else’s home without paying your share of the housing costs. Someone whose only other income is $300 a month from Social Security gets $714 in 2026.
Enter your income and living situation below to estimate your monthly SSI.
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Federal SSI for one month, using Social Security’s income exclusions and living-arrangement rules.
How SSI is figured
Social Security starts with the federal rate and subtracts your countable income for the month:
- From other income, such as Social Security, pensions or unemployment, it subtracts $20. The rest counts dollar for dollar.
- From wages, it subtracts the student exclusion if you qualify, whatever is left of the $20, $65 and any disability work expenses, and counts only half of the rest.
- If someone else covers your housing, that support can also count, up to a limit.
- Countable income is subtracted from the federal rate. What’s left is your SSI.
| 2026 | 2027 | |
|---|---|---|
| Individual | $994 | $1,029 |
| Couple, both eligible | $1,491 | $1,544 |
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These are the federal SSI amounts. Many states add a supplement on top, which the calculator doesn’t include.
Examples for 2026
| Situation | Countable income | Monthly SSI |
|---|---|---|
| No other income, own place | $0 | $994 |
| $300 from Social Security | $280 | $714 |
| $317 in wages, no other income | $116 | $878 |
| $600 from Social Security and $500 in wages | $797.50 | $196.50 |
| Lives in a relative’s home, pays no share of housing | One-third reduction | $662.67 |
| Student under 22 earning $2,000 | $0 | $994 |
| $1,000 in wages and $100 of disability work expenses | $407.50 | $586.50 |
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Wages hurt SSI far less than other income: $500 of wages lowers SSI by $207.50, while $500 of Social Security lowers it by $480. That’s the main reason SSI income limits are so much higher for earned income.
Exclusions that protect wages
A blind or disabled student under 22 who regularly attends school, college or job training can earn up to $2,410 a month in 2026 without it counting, up to $9,730 for the year. In 2027 the student earned income exclusion rises to $2,500 a month and $10,080 a year. The usual $20, $65 and half rule applies only to wages above that.
Impairment-related work expenses, such as a job coach, special transportation or medical equipment you need to work and pay for yourself, are subtracted after the $65 and before the wages are halved. A $100 expense raises SSI by $50.
Living arrangements and housing help
Since September 30, 2024, food help from family or friends doesn’t reduce SSI; only help with shelter does.
- If you live in someone else’s household and don’t pay your share of the housing costs, SSI is cut by one-third of the federal rate, $331.33 a month in 2026.
- If someone pays part of your rent or utilities but you don’t live in their household, the help counts as income, up to one-third of the federal rate plus $20, $351.33 in 2026. With no other income, the $20 exclusion brings the result to the same $662.67.
- If you pay your full share of the household’s housing costs, there’s no reduction.
Your share is the household’s monthly rent or mortgage, property tax, electricity, heating fuel, gas, water, sewer and garbage, divided by the number of people living there. In a five-person household with $1,750 of these costs, paying $350 a month removes the reduction. Phone and cable bills aren’t part of the calculation.
Watch out: Help with housing doesn’t reduce SSI if it’s a real loan. Social Security accepts a written agreement, made before the help is given, that you’ll repay it. Since September 30, 2024, its loan forms SSA-5064 and SSA-L5065 can be used to record one.
Special living situations
- Public homeless shelter: you can get up to the full rate for six months in any nine-month period.
- Homeless and not in a shelter: SSI is figured as if you live in your own household.
- Hospital, nursing home or other Medicaid facility for the whole month: federal SSI drops to $30 a month.
- Living only with your spouse and minor children, with no one outside paying your housing: no reduction.
Why your check changes two months later
SSI uses retrospective monthly accounting: the payment for a month is usually based on your income from two months earlier. A raise in July affects your September check. Wages count in the month you’re paid, not the month you worked, so a month with three paychecks lowers the check two months after it. Your first one or two months of SSI use that month’s own income instead.
What the calculator leaves out
- State supplements, which vary by state and living arrangement.
- Income deemed from a spouse who doesn’t get SSI, or from parents of a child under 18.
- Blind work expenses, plans to achieve self-support (PASS) and other special exclusions.
- Resources: you must also have $2,000 or less in countable resources, or $3,000 for a couple, under the SSI resource limit.
If your SSI drops to zero
Earnings that stop your SSI check don’t end Medicaid right away. Under section 1619(b), Medicaid can continue while your earnings stay below your state’s threshold and you still meet the other rules. If you’re waiting on a first decision, SSI back pay covers each month from the month after you applied, figured the same way.