SSI Income Limits 2026 and 2027: Earned and Unearned

By Grantsights15 min readUpdated Nov 2, 202619 official sourcesHow we checkCorrections

Quick Answer: In 2026, SSI pays up to $994 a month for one person and $1,491 for an eligible couple.

Full answer and how we checked it

For 2027, those rise 3.6% to $1,029 and $1,544, starting with the January 2027 payment that SSA sends on December 31, 2026. A single person with only unearned income (like Social Security) stops getting federal SSI once that income reaches $1,014 a month in 2026; with only wages, the line is $2,073 a month. You also need countable resources under $2,000 (or $3,000 for a couple).

This guide is for: people checking whether their income is low enough for Supplemental Security Income (SSI), and family members helping a parent, spouse or adult child with a disability figure out how wages, Social Security or help with rent will change the check.

Data note: Grantsights checked SSA's SSI Federal Payment Amounts page and SSI payment history table (1975 to 2027), its 2027 COLA information page, the Federal Register notice "Cost-of-Living Increase and Other Determinations for 2027" (published October 26, 2026), SSA's Student Earned Income Exclusion page, SSA's 2026 editions of Understanding SSI (Income, Resources, Living Arrangements, Benefits and Appeals chapters), the 2026 Spotlights on Living Arrangements and Deeming, and 20 CFR 416.1112, 416.1124, 416.1163 and 416.1205 (eCFR, current to October 30, 2026), on November 2, 2026. Income limit figures are Grantsights calculations from SSA's published rates and exclusions; SSA's own example math is shown alongside so you can check them.

In this guide (15 sections)

SSI Income Limits for 2026 and 2027
The 2026 and 2027 SSI Payment Amounts
The SSI Resource Limit: $2,000 for One, $3,000 for a Couple
What Counts as Income for SSI
In-Kind Support: Food Stopped Counting September 30, 2024
Deeming: When a Spouse's or Parent's Income Counts
SSI State Supplements: Who Pays and Who Runs Them
A Worked Example: SSDI Plus Part-Time Work
What SSA's SSI Pages Don't Tell You
Red Flags and Common Mistakes
How to Apply or Check Your Amount
If You're Denied or Your SSI Is Cut
Other Help for SSI Recipients
FAQ: SSI Income Limits
Sources

SSI isn't a grant, and there's no fee to apply. Social Security will never charge you to file or ask for gift cards.

For who qualifies, how to apply and how disability is decided, see our SSI benefits guide. This page answers one question: how much income you can have and still get SSI.

SSI Income Limits for 2026 and 2027

The 2026 limits run from $1,014 a month (one person, unearned income only) to $3,067 a month (a couple, wages only). At or above these amounts, the federal SSI payment is $0. Below them, you may get a partial check.

Who	Type of income	2026 limit (Jan 1 to Dec 31, 2026)	2027 limit (from January 2027)
Individual	Unearned only (Social Security, pension, unemployment)	$1,014 a month	$1,049 a month
Individual	Earned only (gross wages)	$2,073 a month	$2,143 a month
Couple, both eligible	Unearned only	$1,511 a month	$1,564 a month
Couple, both eligible	Earned only	$3,067 a month	$3,173 a month
Maximum federal payment	Individual / couple / essential person	$994 / $1,491 / $498	$1,029 / $1,544 / $516

Source: Grantsights calculation from SSA's SSI Federal Payment Amounts (opens in a new tab) and the 2027 cost-of-living notice (opens in a new tab). Unearned limit = federal benefit rate + $20. Earned limit = (federal benefit rate x 2) + $65 + $20. These are federal limits; a state supplement raises them.

How the numbers are built. According to SSA's SSI income chapter (opens in a new tab) (2026 edition), SSA first subtracts the income it doesn't count, then subtracts what's left (your "countable income") from the federal benefit rate. The two main exclusions:

$20 general exclusion on any income, taken from unearned income first (20 CFR 416.1124(c)(12) (opens in a new tab)). If you have no unearned income, it comes off wages instead.
$65 earned income exclusion, then one half of the rest of your wages (20 CFR 416.1112 (opens in a new tab)).

So a person with only Social Security loses $1 of SSI for every $1 above $20. A person with only wages loses about $1 for every $2 above $85. That's why the wage limit is roughly double.

SSA's own example. In its 2026 income chapter, SSA works through $317 in wages: minus $20, minus $65, leaves $232; half of that is $116 of countable income; $994 minus $116 is an $878 SSI payment. A $300 Social Security check works out to $280 countable and a $714 SSI payment.

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The 2026 and 2027 SSI Payment Amounts

SSI's maximum federal payment rose 2.8% for 2026 and will rise 3.6% for 2027. According to SSA's payment history table (opens in a new tab), here's how the federal benefit rate has moved:

Year	COLA	Individual	Couple
2023	8.7%	$914	$1,371
2024	3.2%	$943	$1,415
2025	2.5%	$967	$1,450
2026	2.8%	$994	$1,491
2027	3.6%	$1,029	$1,544

Source: SSA Office of the Chief Actuary, SSI Monthly Payment Amounts, 1975-2027.

When the 2027 amount starts. According to SSA's COLA information page (opens in a new tab), increased payments to about 7.3 million SSI recipients begin on December 31, 2026. That's because SSI is normally paid on the first of the month and January 1 is a holiday, so the January 2027 payment comes a day early. It's not an extra check; don't spend it as a bonus.

How SSA rounds. The Federal Register notice says SSA raises the unrounded annual 2026 amounts ($11,929.46 for an individual and $17,892.21 for a couple) by 3.6%, rounds each down to a multiple of $12, then divides by 12. That's how $994 became $1,029.

The couple rate is split. If both spouses are eligible, the $1,491 (2026) or $1,544 (2027) is divided equally between them. Two people who each get SSI and live together as a married couple receive less than two individual payments.

The SSI Resource Limit: $2,000 for One, $3,000 for a Couple

SSI's resource limits are $2,000 for an individual and $3,000 for a couple, and they haven't moved since January 1, 1989, according to the table in 20 CFR 416.1205 (opens in a new tab). Unlike the payment amount, they don't rise with inflation. SSA checks the value at the start of each month.

SSA's resources chapter (opens in a new tab) (2026 edition) lists what doesn't count:

Not counted as a resource	Limit
The home you live in and its land	No limit
One vehicle used for transportation	Any value
Household goods and personal effects	No limit (wedding and engagement rings included)
Life insurance	Combined face value of $1,500 or less
Burial funds	$1,500 or less each for you and your spouse
ABLE account	Up to $100,000
Retroactive SSI or Social Security	For 9 months after you get it
Federal tax refunds and the EITC	For 12 months after you get them

A common mistake is letting a checking account drift over $2,000 at the start of a month because two payments landed close together. SSA counts what's in the account on the first, so spend down or move money into an excluded account (like ABLE) before then. Giving away resources or selling them for less than they're worth can make you ineligible for up to 36 months, SSA warns.

Children and parents. SSA's resources chapter says that if a child under 18 lives with one parent, $2,000 of the parent's countable resources doesn't count toward the child; with two parents, $3,000 doesn't count. Anything above that is counted against the child's $2,000 limit.

What Counts as Income for SSI

SSA counts 4 kinds of income: earned, unearned, in-kind and deemed. The 2026 Understanding SSI income chapter defines them like this:

Earned income: wages, net self-employment earnings, certain royalties and honoraria, and sheltered workshop pay.
Unearned income: Social Security (including SSDI), pensions, state disability, unemployment, interest, dividends and cash from friends or relatives.
In-kind income: food or shelter you get free or below fair market value (food no longer counts; see the next section).
Deemed income: part of the income of a spouse or parent you live with, or of a noncitizen's sponsor.

What SSA doesn't count, per the same chapter, includes SNAP benefits, income tax refunds, home energy assistance, need-based help from a state or local government, small irregular amounts, loans you must repay, someone paying your phone or medical bills directly, the first $2,000 a year from certain clinical trials, and grants or scholarships used for tuition.

The student earned income exclusion

A blind or disabled student under 22 who regularly attends school, college or job training can have a large chunk of earnings ignored. According to SSA's Student Earned Income Exclusion page (opens in a new tab), the limits are:

Year	Monthly maximum excluded	Yearly maximum excluded
2026	$2,410	$9,730
2027	$2,500	$10,080

This exclusion comes off before the $20 and $65 exclusions, so a student who works over the summer can often keep most or all of the SSI check. It's the only SSI income exclusion whose dollar amount rises with the cost of living, SSA says.

In-Kind Support: Food Stopped Counting September 30, 2024

Since September 30, 2024, food you get from others no longer reduces SSI, according to SSA's Spotlight on Living Arrangements (opens in a new tab) (2026 edition). Before that date, food and shelter both counted as in-kind support and maintenance (ISM). Now only shelter does.

Situation (2026 rules)	Does it reduce SSI?
A relative buys your groceries or cooks your meals, and you pay your share of rent	No
You live with your spouse, who provides food and shelter	No
A minor child living with parents who provide food and shelter	No
Someone pays your rent, mortgage, electricity or heating fuel	Yes
You live in someone's home, pay none of the shelter costs, and they also provide all your meals	Yes, by up to one third
Someone pays your phone or cable bill	No
Someone gives you cash or a gift card for food	Yes, as unearned income

How big the cut can be. SSA's 2026 living arrangements chapter says ISM can reduce SSI "as much as $351.33" a month in 2026. That's one third of $994 ($331.33) plus $20, the "presumed maximum value." When SSI is your only income, the $20 general exclusion offsets part of it, so the actual cut in SSA's example is $331.33, leaving $662.67. Using the 2027 rate of $1,029, Grantsights calculates the 2027 cap at $343.00 plus $20, or $363.00.

Paying your share avoids the cut. SSA's example C: you live with 3 other adults, household shelter and utility costs are $1,600 a month, so your share is $400. Pay the full $400 and SSI isn't reduced. Pay less and SSA may apply the one-third reduction.

Deeming: When a Spouse's or Parent's Income Counts

Deeming means SSA counts part of the income of a spouse or parent you live with, even though it's not yours. The key number is the gap between the couple and individual rates: $497 a month in 2026 ($1,491 minus $994) and $515 in 2027 ($1,544 minus $1,029).

Spouse deeming. Under 20 CFR 416.1163 (opens in a new tab), SSA first sets aside an allocation for each ineligible child in the home (that same $497 in 2026, reduced by the child's own income). If the spouse's remaining income isn't more than $497, nothing is deemed and SSA uses only your income. If it's more, SSA treats you as a couple, combines the income, applies the exclusions once, and compares it with the couple rate.

Parent deeming. SSA's Spotlight on Deeming Parental Income and Resources (opens in a new tab) says deeming applies to a child under 18 who lives with a parent (including a stepparent who lives with the parent), or who lives away at school but comes home and is under parental control. Some parental income isn't deemed, including TANF, certain VA pensions and income used for court-ordered support. Deeming stops the month after a child turns 18, so a young adult turned down as a child should apply again at 18.

SSI State Supplements: Who Pays and Who Runs Them

SSA lists 6 states that pay no SSI supplement. Everyone else adds money on top of the federal rate, either through SSA or through a state agency. According to SSA's SSI benefits chapter (opens in a new tab) (2026 edition):

How the supplement works	States
No state supplement	Arizona, Arkansas, Mississippi, North Dakota, Tennessee, West Virginia (and the Northern Mariana Islands)
SSA pays it with your SSI check	California, Hawaii, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, Vermont
Dual: SSA pays some categories, the state pays others	Delaware, District of Columbia, Iowa, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island
The state pays and runs its own supplement	Alabama, Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming

Grantsights analysis of SSA's list: of the 50 states and D.C., 6 pay nothing extra, 12 (11 states plus D.C.) have some or all of the supplement paid by SSA, and 33 run their own.

Amounts. State supplement amounts vary by state and living arrangement, and SSA doesn't publish one national chart of 2026 amounts. Grantsights didn't list dollar amounts here because the state benefit pages we tried to check weren't reachable for verification. Ask SSA (for the 12 SSA-administered jurisdictions) or your state's human services agency (for the other 33). SSA's own example uses a $15 supplement for a person living alone to show how it's added on top: $714 federal plus $15 state is $729.

Supplements raise the income limit. Because SSI is federal rate plus state supplement minus countable income, a person in a supplement state can have more income and still get a small payment. The federal limits in the first table are the floor.

A Worked Example: SSDI Plus Part-Time Work

For example, take a 45-year-old renter in Ohio who pays their own rent, gets $600 a month in SSDI and earns $400 a month at a part-time job in 2026. Ohio runs its own supplement program, so this example uses only the federal rate; any Ohio payment would come separately from the state.

Unearned income: $600 SSDI minus the $20 general exclusion = $580 countable.
Earned income: $400 wages minus $65 = $335; half of that = $167.50 countable.
Total countable income: $580 + $167.50 = $747.50.
SSI payment: $994 minus $747.50 = about $246.50 a month in federal SSI.

Specifically, that's $994 less $747.50 of countable income, so the person's total monthly income from SSDI, wages and SSI comes to about $1,246.50.

Now carry it into 2027. SSDI also rises 3.6%, to about $621.60. Countable unearned income becomes $601.60, total countable income $769.10, and SSI becomes $1,029 minus $769.10, or about $259.90. The person's SSI goes up about $13, not the full $35 increase in the federal rate, because the SSDI raise is counted too. Your exact amount will be on SSA's notice; this is our arithmetic using SSA's published rules.

If this person's rent were paid by a parent instead, SSA could also count up to $351.33 of in-kind support in 2026 (less in practice, since the $20 exclusion is already used on SSDI, so the full presumed value counts). That would lower the payment to $0 in this example, which is why paying your own shelter share matters.

What SSA's SSI Pages Don't Tell You

SSA's pages are thorough, but 6 practical points are easy to miss:

SSA doesn't publish an "SSI income limit" table. It publishes the benefit rate and the exclusions. The limits above are the arithmetic; if a site quotes a single "SSI income limit" without saying earned or unearned, it's only half the answer.
The resource limit isn't indexed. The federal payment has more than doubled since 1989 ($368 then, $994 now, per SSA's history table), but the $2,000 asset limit hasn't moved.
The December 31 payment confuses people every year. SSA pays January early when the 1st is a holiday. Two payments in December can push your bank balance over $2,000 on January 1 if you hold both.
"Effective 09/30/2024" applies to food only. Rent or utilities paid by someone else still count. A red flag is advice saying "help from family no longer affects SSI." That's only true for food.
The 2027 rates are final. SSA published them in the Federal Register on October 26, 2026. Sites still showing $967 are using the 2025 rate.
Your payment is based on your situation each month. SSA says you must report changes in earnings every month. Not reporting is a common reason for overpayments that SSA later collects back.

Red Flags and Common Mistakes

Comparing take-home pay to the limit. SSA uses gross wages, before taxes.
Forgetting the $20 is shared. You get one $20 general exclusion a month, not one per income source.
Underestimating a spouse's income. An ineligible spouse's income above the $497 allowance (2026) can reduce or end SSI.
Assuming SSDI and SSI are the same. SSDI is based on your work history; SSI is based on financial need. Many people get both, and SSDI counts as unearned income for SSI.
Paying someone to apply. That's a red flag. SSA's COLA page says "our services are free of charge" and that no government agency will ask for fees by wire transfer or gift card.

How to Apply or Check Your Amount

SSA lists 3 main ways to apply, according to its How to Apply for SSI page (opens in a new tab):

Online through SSA's Apply for SSI page (opens in a new tab), which can also start the disability application.
By phone at 1-800-772-1213 (TTY 1-800-325-0778) to set up an appointment.
Through your local Social Security office, or by having someone call for you.

SSA says it can use the date of your call as your filing date if you keep the appointment, and that you otherwise have 60 days from your contact to file a signed application. Apply early: SSA can't pay for months before your application's effective date.

If You're Denied or Your SSI Is Cut

You have 60 days after you receive a notice to ask for reconsideration, according to SSA's SSI appeals chapter (opens in a new tab). For a non-medical decision (for example, income or resources), SSA says that if you appeal within 60 days, your payments may continue or be reinstated at the same amount until it decides. For a medical cessation, you must appeal within 10 days and ask for payment continuation. You can file online, on Form SSA-561 at your local office, or with Form SSA-789 for a disability cessation.

Before you appeal an income decision, check SSA's math against the exclusions above: was the $20 applied, was the $65 and one-half applied to wages, and was any excluded item (SNAP, a tax refund, energy help) counted by mistake?

Other Help for SSI Recipients

Housing: SSI income is far below HUD's extremely low income limits in every area; see our HUD income limits page.
Food: SSI recipients often qualify for SNAP; see our SNAP income limits page.
Disability-related help: our disability grants for individuals guide covers state and nonprofit programs.
Older adults: our help for seniors guide.
The poverty line: our federal poverty guidelines page explains the numbers other programs use.

If you want a short list of official programs that may fit your situation, Grantsights' free eligibility checker points you to the right agencies and applications. It doesn't award money and doesn't file an SSI claim for you.

FAQ: SSI Income Limits

What is the SSI income limit for 2026?

$1,014 a month in unearned income or $2,073 in wages for one person; $1,511 or $3,067 for a couple.

How much is the SSI payment in 2026 and 2027?

$994 (individual) and $1,491 (couple) in 2026; $1,029 and $1,544 in 2027.

What is the SSI resource limit?

$2,000 for one person and $3,000 for a couple, unchanged since 1989.

How much can I work and still get SSI?

Up to $2,073 a month in gross wages in 2026 ($2,143 in 2027) if you have no other income.

Does someone buying my food reduce my SSI?

No, not since September 30, 2024. Help with shelter costs can.

Which states don't pay an SSI state supplement?

Arizona, Arkansas, Mississippi, North Dakota, Tennessee and West Virginia.

What is the SSI student earned income exclusion for 2026?

$2,410 a month, up to $9,730 a year; $2,500 and $10,080 in 2027.

Sources

Last updated November 2, 2026. Published by Grantsights from public sources. See our editorial policy, how we build and check guides, corrections and how we make money.