Substantial Gainful Activity (SGA) 2026 and 2027: Limits and Earnings Checker
The substantial gainful activity (SGA) amount is $1,690 a month in 2026 and $1,770 a month in 2027, or $2,830 and $2,950 if you are statutorily blind. SSA ordinarily treats a month of work as SGA when your countable earnings, which are your gross earnings less certain deductions, are more than that amount. Use the checker below to compare one month of employee earnings with the SGA amount and with the trial work period amount ($1,210 in 2026, $1,270 in 2027).
Maintained by Archie Chang · Sources checked against SSA, eCFR and statute text on October 30, 2026 · Methodology & sources
SGA and trial work period checker
One month of work as an employee
Before taxes and other payroll deductions. Those are not subtracted.
The starting number is an example, not a recommendation. Replace it with yours. Leave a deduction blank if it does not apply.
Your result for the month
Substantial gainful activity test
Over the SGA amount
Countable earnings $1,800 against $1,690 (non-blind, 2026): $110 over.
Trial work period
A trial work period service month
Earnings from work $1,800 against $1,210 for 2026: $590 over. Pay for time you did not work is left out; IRWE and subsidies are not deducted for this test.
| Gross earnings | $1,800 |
|---|---|
| Less pay for time not worked | $0 |
| Less subsidy or special-conditions pay | $0 |
| Less impairment-related work expenses | $0 |
| Countable earnings | $1,800 |
For SSI, SGA applies only to the initial decision for non-blind applicants, and the trial work period does not apply.
This looks at one month for an employee. SSA generally averages earnings, applies unsuccessful work attempt rules and decides subsidies and expenses from evidence, and its own decision governs.
SGA amounts for 2026 and 2027
SSA publishes the amounts each year (SSA Office of the Chief Actuary), and its 2027 Social Security changes fact sheet lists the same figures. The Social Security Act sets a higher amount for blind people:
“The Social Security Act specifies a higher SGA amount for statutorily blind individuals; Federal regulations specify a lower SGA amount for non-blind individuals. Both SGA amounts generally change with changes in the national average wage index.”
| Monthly amount | 2026 | 2027 |
|---|---|---|
| SGA, non-blind | $1,690 | $1,770 |
| SGA, statutorily blind | $2,830 | $2,950 |
| Trial work period service month, employee | $1,210 | $1,270 |
Source: SSA Office of the Chief Actuary SGA and trial work period pages, the 2027 COLA fact sheet and POMS DI 10501.015. The SGA amount is the monthly amount that countable earnings must stay at or below; the trial work period amount is the amount that gross earnings must be more than for a service month.
What SGA means, and what happens above it
“To be eligible for disability benefits, a person must be unable to engage in substantial gainful activity (SGA). A person who is earning more than a certain monthly amount (net of impairment-related work expenses) is ordinarily considered to be engaging in SGA.”
“Substantial work activity is work activity that involves doing significant physical or mental activities. Your work may be substantial even if it is done on a part-time basis or if you do less, get paid less, or have less responsibility than when you worked before.”
“Gainful work activity is work activity that you do for pay or profit. Work activity is gainful if it is the kind of work usually done for pay or profit, whether or not a profit is realized.”
“Generally, we do not consider activities like taking care of yourself, household tasks, hobbies, therapy, school attendance, club activities, or social programs to be substantial gainful activity.”
The law, 42 U.S.C. 423(d)(4)(A), says an individual whose services or earnings meet SSA's criteria is found not to be disabled, except for purposes of section 422(c), which is the trial work period. It also says a blind individual is not regarded as having shown the ability to engage in SGA on earnings that do not exceed a set exempt amount, which is why blind people have the higher SGA amount. Before deciding, SSA excludes from earnings the cost of attendant care, medical devices and similar items a person needs to work (impairment-related work expenses), deducts any subsidy, and may average earnings. See 42 U.S.C. 423.
Regulations set the lower amount for everyone who is not blind. Earnings are a main guide, not the only one:
“Generally, if you worked for substantial earnings, we will find that you are able to do substantial gainful activity. However, the fact that your earnings were not substantial will not necessarily show that you are not able to do substantial gainful activity.”
How SSA counts your earnings for an employee
SSA does not simply compare your pay with the SGA amount. For an employee it subtracts certain amounts from gross earnings first, and the result is the countable earnings:
“When we review your earnings to determine if you have been performing substantial gainful activity, we will subtract the value of any subsidized earnings (see paragraph (a)(2) of this section) and the reasonable cost of any impairment-related work expenses from your gross earnings (see § 404.1576). The resulting amount is the amount we use to determine if you have done substantial gainful activity. We will generally average your earnings for comparison with the earnings guidelines in paragraphs (b)(2) and (3) of this section.”
“If your average monthly earnings are equal to or less than the amount(s) determined under paragraph (b)(2) of this section for the year(s) in which you work, we will generally consider that the earnings from your work as an employee (including earnings from work in a sheltered workshop or comparable facility) will show that you have not engaged in substantial gainful activity. We will generally not consider other information in addition to your earnings except in the circumstances described in paragraph (b)(3)(ii) of this section.”
Pay that is not for actual work, and payroll deductions
“Countable earnings may exclude or deduct certain payments, subsidies, and impairment-related work expenses (IRWE), to accurately reflect the value of the individual’s actual work activity. You do not have to develop for these deductions when monthly gross earnings are under the SGA limit.”
“Deduct earnings that are not derived from actual work activity (i.e. sick pay, vacation pay, holiday pay, disability pay).”
“Do not deduct standard payroll deductions such as income taxes, insurance premiums, pension payments, union dues, etc. These amounts are not deductible because they are attributable to the person's work activity.”
Subsidies and special conditions
“If your earnings are being subsidized, we do not consider the amount of the subsidy when we determine if your earnings show that you have done substantial gainful activity. We consider your work to be subsidized if the true value of your work, when compared with the same or similar work done by unimpaired persons, is less than the actual amount of earnings paid to you for your work.”
The checker asks for the subsidy amount because SSA works it out from evidence about the job, for example when an employer pays more than the work is worth. It cannot estimate it for you. SSA's manual (POMS DI 10505.010) tells staff to contact the employer or another knowledgeable source to quantify it.
Impairment-related work expenses (IRWE)
“When we figure your earnings in deciding if you have done substantial gainful activity, we will subtract the reasonable costs to you of certain items and services which, because of your impairment(s), you need and use to enable you to work. The costs are deductible even though you also need or use the items and services to carry out daily living functions unrelated to your work.”
“No deduction will be allowed to the extent that you have been, could be, or will be reimbursed for such cost by any other source (such as through a private insurance plan, Medicare or Medicaid, or other plan or agency).”
Routine drugs and routine medical care are not deductible unless they are necessary to control the disabling condition, and the cost must be one you pay, in cash, in a month you work. A one-time payment can be deducted in the month you pay it or spread over 12 consecutive months, whichever you choose (see 404.1576(d) and (e)). The full list of what counts is in 20 CFR 404.1576 and POMS DI 10520.030.
One month, averages and unsuccessful work attempts
The checker looks at a single month. SSA generally averages earnings over the period you worked, so a high month followed by lower ones can be treated differently, and work you were forced to stop or cut back within 6 months because of your impairment can be an unsuccessful work attempt. See 20 CFR 404.1574 for those rules. In the re-entitlement period, once SSA has found that your disability ceased because of SGA, it looks only at the work and earnings of each month and does not average them (20 CFR 404.1592a(a)(2)(i)).
The trial work period
The trial work period lets you test your ability to work after you are entitled to SSDI. The amounts are on the SSA Office of the Chief Actuary trial work period page and in POMS DI 13010.060:
“We do not consider services performed during the trial work period as showing that the disability has ended until services have been performed in at least 9 months (not necessarily consecutive) in a rolling 60-month period. In 2026, any month in which earnings exceed $1,210 is considered a month of services for an individual's trial work period. In 2027, this monthly amount increases to $1,270.”
“The TWP allows you to test your ability to work for at least 9 months. During your TWP, you will receive full Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits. You will receive them regardless of how high your earnings might be if you report your work activity, and you have a disabling impairment.”
What counts as a service month for an employee, and for someone who is self-employed:
“Your TWP starts when you begin working and performing “services.” We consider your work to be services for the TWP if your gross earnings are above the monthly threshold of $1,210 in 2026. We also consider your work to be services for the TWP if you work more than 80 hours in self-employment in a month.”
“During this period, you may perform services (see paragraph (b) of this section) in as many as 9 months, but these months do not have to be consecutive. We will not consider those services as showing that your disability has ended until you have performed services in at least 9 months. However, after the trial work period has ended we will consider the work you did during the trial work period in determining whether your disability ended at any time after the trial work period.”
“You may have only one trial work period during a period of entitlement to cash benefits.”
Earnings from work, with no IRWE or subsidy deduction
The regulation defines what counts as services:
“When used in this section, services means any activity (whether legal or illegal), even though it is not substantial gainful activity, which is done in employment or self-employment for pay or profit, or is the kind normally done for pay or profit.”
SSA's manual counts services that produce earnings higher than the trial work period amount (POMS DI 13010.060 B.1), so the checker leaves out pay for time you did not work, such as sick, vacation, holiday or disability pay. The Red Book says gross earnings, and the manual says impairment-related work expenses are not taken out for a service month:
“IRWE provisions do not apply for the purpose of determining a service month in the TWP. Do not make IRWE deductions during the TWP.”
The same manual says not to develop a subsidy when determining trial work period service months (POMS DI 10505.010 B.1.c). That is why the checker does not deduct IRWE or subsidies for this test, and why a month can be a service month even when it is not SGA. SSA makes the final trial work period determination.
Trial work period amount by year
| Year | Gross earnings more than |
|---|---|
| 2027 | $1,270 |
| 2026 | $1,210 |
| 2025 | $1,160 |
| 2024 | $1,110 |
| 2023 | $1,050 |
| 2022 | $970 |
| 2021 | $940 |
| 2020 | $910 |
| 2019 | $880 |
| 2018 | $850 |
| 2017 | $840 |
| 2016 | $810 |
| 2015 | $780 |
Source: SSA Office of the Chief Actuary and POMS DI 13010.060, which list every year from 2001. Before 2001 the amount was $200 for 1990 through 2000, $75 for 1979 through 1989 and $50 before 1979.
After the trial work period: the extended period of eligibility
The Red Book describes what comes next for SSDI, in brief:
“The EPE begins the month after the Trial Work Period (TWP) ends, even if you are not working that month. The first 36 months of the EPE is the re-entitlement period.”
“During the 36-month re-entitlement period, you get benefits for all months your earnings or work activities are below the substantial gainful activity (SGA) level if you continue to have a disabling impairment. We suspend cash benefits for months your earnings are over the SGA level. If your earnings fall below the SGA level in the re-entitlement period, we can start your benefits again.”
“We will pay benefits for the month your disability ceased and the following 2 months. We call this the grace period. If your earnings fall below SGA and you are still in the 36-month re-entitlement period, we can restart your benefits without a new application.”
“If you are not working above SGA and are eligible for a benefit payment for the 37th month of the EPE, you will continue to receive benefits until you work a month at the SGA level or medically recover.”
The regulation sets the first 36 months of that period for people entitled after December 1987 (20 CFR 404.1592a); it describes the same grace-period payment of the first month over SGA and the two months after it. If SSA approved your claim and you are owed past-due benefits, the SSDI back pay calculator estimates the amount. To see how much of your Social Security benefits may be taxable, use the taxable Social Security benefits calculator, and to compare retirement claiming ages, use the Social Security break-even calculator.
SSDI and SSI
The two programs use SGA differently:
“The principles and procedures in this subchapter regarding SGA apply to initial and continuing disability determinations for title II, and to initial determinations for nonblind persons under title XVI. The SGA tests were never applicable to blind persons under title XVI. For work activity performed after 07/01/87 the tests are no longer applicable to post eligibility title XVI nonblind work determinations. Performance of SGA is not a basis for finding that disability ended in title XVI claims (once the requirements for initial eligibility, including any applicable duration requirement, have been met).”
The manual applies the same guides to work done in another country:
“The development and evaluation guides in this subchapter also apply to work activity performed in any foreign country. However, in order to apply the SGA Earnings Guidelines in DI 10501.015, foreign currency must be converted to U.S. dollars.”
SSA's actuaries put it this way: the blind SGA amount does not apply to SSI, while the non-blind amount applies to both programs. Taken with the manual text above, that means for SSI the non-blind amount is used for the initial decision on whether you are disabled, and after eligibility is established SGA is not a basis for finding that SSI disability ended. The trial work period and the extended period of eligibility are for SSDI only:
“No. A TWP does not apply to the SSI program.”
“No. The EPE applies only to people who receive Social Security Disability Insurance cash benefits.”
If you get both SSDI and SSI, report your work to SSA for both. SSI payment amounts and the SSI limits for 2027 are on the Social Security COLA 2027 page.
If you are self-employed
The employee checker does not apply to you. SSA does not look at income alone for self-employment:
“We will consider your activities and their value to your business to decide whether you have engaged in substantial gainful activity if you are self-employed. We will not consider your income alone because the amount of income you actually receive may depend on a number of different factors, such as capital investment and profit-sharing agreements.”
SSA applies three tests. If you have not engaged in SGA under test one, it considers tests two and three:
“You have engaged in substantial gainful activity if you render services that are significant to the operation of the business and receive a substantial income from the business.”
“You have engaged in substantial gainful activity if your work activity, in terms of factors such as hours, skills, energy output, efficiency, duties, and responsibilities, is comparable to that of unimpaired individuals in your community who are in the same or similar businesses as their means of livelihood.”
Test three says you have engaged in SGA if your work activity, although not comparable to that of unimpaired individuals, is clearly worth the SGA amount in terms of its value to the business, or when compared with the salary an owner would pay an employee to do the work (20 CFR 404.1575(a)(2)(iii)).
For a trial work period, self-employment is a service month when you work more than 80 hours in the business in the month, or your net earnings are more than the trial work period amount. For the SGA tests, countable income is net of normal business expenses, the reasonable value of significant unpaid help, impairment-related work expenses not already deducted, and unincurred business expenses paid for you by another person or agency (20 CFR 404.1575(c)(1)); see 20 CFR 404.1575 for the details.
If you have received Social Security disability benefits for at least 24 months, SSA instead compares your countable income with the SGA amount when it decides whether your work ended your disability (20 CFR 404.1575(a)(1)(ii) and (e)). This page does not calculate any of these tests.
SGA amounts by year, 1975 to 2027
The monthly amounts from the SSA Office of the Chief Actuary:
| Year | Blind | Non-blind |
|---|---|---|
| 2027 | $2,950 | $1,770 |
| 2026 | $2,830 | $1,690 |
| 2025 | $2,700 | $1,620 |
| 2024 | $2,590 | $1,550 |
| 2023 | $2,460 | $1,470 |
| 2022 | $2,260 | $1,350 |
| 2021 | $2,190 | $1,310 |
| 2020 | $2,110 | $1,260 |
| 2019 | $2,040 | $1,220 |
| 2018 | $1,970 | $1,180 |
| 2017 | $1,950 | $1,170 |
| 2016 | $1,820 | $1,130 |
| 2015 | $1,820 | $1,090 |
| 2014 | $1,800 | $1,070 |
| 2013 | $1,740 | $1,040 |
| 2012 | $1,690 | $1,010 |
| 2011 | $1,640 | $1,000 |
| 2010 | $1,640 | $1,000 |
| 2009 | $1,640 | $980 |
| 2008 | $1,570 | $940 |
| 2007 | $1,500 | $900 |
| 2006 | $1,450 | $860 |
| 2005 | $1,380 | $830 |
| 2004 | $1,350 | $810 |
| 2003 | $1,330 | $800 |
| 2002 | $1,300 | $780 |
| 2001 | $1,240 | $740 |
| 2000 | $1,170 | $700 |
| 1999 | $1,110 | $700 (a $500 amount applied in the first half of 1999) |
| 1998 | $1,050 | $500 |
| 1997 | $1,000 | $500 |
| 1996 | $960 | $500 |
| 1995 | $940 | $500 |
| 1994 | $930 | $500 |
| 1993 | $880 | $500 |
| 1992 | $850 | $500 |
| 1991 | $810 | $500 |
| 1990 | $780 | $500 |
| 1989 | $740 | $300 |
| 1988 | $700 | $300 |
| 1987 | $680 | $300 |
| 1986 | $650 | $300 |
| 1985 | $610 | $300 |
| 1984 | $580 | $300 |
| 1983 | $550 | $300 |
| 1982 | $500 | $300 |
| 1981 | $459 | $300 |
| 1980 | $417 | $300 |
| 1979 | $375 | $280 |
| 1978 | $334 | $260 |
| 1977 | $240 | $240 |
| 1976 | $230 | $230 |
| 1975 | $200 | $200 |
The regulation sets the non-blind amount each year as the larger of the prior year's amount and an amount adjusted for national wage growth, which is why the amounts never fall (20 CFR 404.1574(b)(2)(ii)).
Frequently asked questions
What is the substantial gainful activity limit for 2026?
SSA's SGA amount for 2026 is $1,690 a month for people who are not blind and $2,830 a month for people who are statutorily blind. SSA ordinarily treats a month as SGA when countable earnings are more than that amount, so earnings equal to the amount are not over it.
What is the substantial gainful activity limit for 2027?
SSA announced the 2027 SGA amounts with the 2027 cost-of-living adjustment: $1,770 a month if you are not blind and $2,950 a month if you are statutorily blind. The 2027 trial work period amount is $1,270 a month.
What is substantial gainful activity?
It is work activity that is both substantial, meaning significant physical or mental activities, and gainful, meaning work done for pay or profit. Work can be substantial even if it is part time or pays less or carries less responsibility than before. To be eligible for Social Security disability benefits, a person must be unable to engage in it. For an employee, SSA looks first at countable earnings: gross earnings minus pay for time not worked, minus the value of any subsidy and minus impairment-related work expenses.
Does the SGA limit apply to SSI?
Only in part. SSA says the SGA tests apply to initial determinations for non-blind people under title XVI (SSI), but no longer to work after eligibility has been established, and they never applied to blind people under SSI. SSDI is different: the SGA test applies to initial and continuing disability determinations under title II. The trial work period and the extended period of eligibility do not apply to SSI.
What is the trial work period and how much can I earn?
The trial work period lets you test your ability to work while you keep full SSDI benefits if you report your work activity, and you have a disabling impairment. A month counts as a service month when an employee's gross earnings from work (leaving out pay for time not worked) are more than $1,210 in 2026 or $1,270 in 2027, or when a self-employed person works more than 80 hours in the month. SSA does not treat the work as showing the disability has ended until services have been performed in at least 9 months, not necessarily consecutive, in a rolling 60-month period.
Are impairment-related work expenses deducted in the trial work period?
No. SSA deducts impairment-related work expenses when it decides whether earnings are substantial gainful activity, but its manual says those provisions do not apply when determining a service month in the trial work period. A month can therefore be a service month even when countable earnings, after deductions, are below the SGA amount.
Does the same test apply if I am self-employed?
No. For self-employment SSA does not look at income alone. It applies three tests in 20 CFR 404.1575 that look at the value of your services to the business, whether your work is comparable to that of unimpaired people in similar businesses, and whether it is clearly worth the SGA amount. If you have received SSDI for at least 24 months, SSA instead compares your countable income with the SGA amount when it decides whether your work ended your disability (20 CFR 404.1575(a)(1)(ii) and (e)). This page does not calculate those tests.
What happens after the trial work period ends?
The extended period of eligibility begins the month after the trial work period ends. Its first 36 months are the re-entitlement period, in which you get benefits for months when earnings are below SGA and cash benefits are suspended for months when earnings are over it, if you continue to have a disabling impairment. SSA decides the disability ceased in the first month after the trial work period in which SSA finds you did SGA (after averaging, impairment-related work expenses and the other rules), and it pays benefits for that month and the following 2 months, called the grace period.
Related Social Security tools
See the Social Security COLA 2027 page for the other 2027 amounts, the SSDI back pay calculator for past-due benefits, the taxable Social Security benefits calculator and the Social Security break-even calculator. SSA's own pages: SGA amounts, trial work period and Red Book employment supports.
Sources (checked October 30, 2026): SSA OACT: Substantial Gainful Activity · SSA OACT: Trial Work Period · SSA: 2027 Social Security Changes (COLA fact sheet) · SSA Red Book: SSDI only Employment Supports · SSA POMS DI 10501.015: Tables of SGA Earnings Guidelines · SSA POMS DI 10501.001: Meaning of SGA and Scope of Subchapter · SSA POMS DI 10505.010: Determining Countable Earnings · SSA POMS DI 10520.030: When IRWE Are Deductible · SSA POMS DI 13010.060: Determining TWP Service Months · 20 CFR 404.1571 (eCFR): General · 20 CFR 404.1572 (eCFR): What we mean by substantial gainful activity · 20 CFR 404.1573 (eCFR): General information about work activity · 20 CFR 404.1574 (eCFR): Evaluation guides if you are an employee · 20 CFR 404.1575 (eCFR): Evaluation guides if you are self-employed · 20 CFR 404.1576 (eCFR): Impairment-related work expenses · 20 CFR 404.1592 (eCFR): The trial work period · 20 CFR 404.1592a (eCFR): The reentitlement period · 42 U.S.C. 423: disability insurance benefit payments (govinfo) · 42 U.S.C. 423: disability insurance benefit payments (govinfo) (Cornell LII copy)