SSI Calculator 2027: How Much SSI You Get, the $1,029 Federal Rate and the Income Rules

SSI pays up to $1,029 a month to one person and $1,544 to a couple who both get it in 2027, minus part of any other income, starting with the January payment that the Social Security Administration (SSA) pays on December 31, 2026. Put your household in the calculator to see your own amount, with your state’s supplement where the calculator has it, and what happens to it as your pay rises.

How much is SSI in 2027?

The most SSI pays in 2027 is $1,029 a month for one person and $1,544 for a couple when both spouses get SSI. This is the federal benefit rate, and it is the same in every state. You get all of it only if you have no other income that counts. Some states add a supplement of their own on top.

SSA set the 2027 rates in its notice in the Federal Register of October 26, 2026, and its own rate chart, POMS SI 02001.020, shows the same figures. For 2026 the rates are $994 and $1,491 (SSA’s 2026 notice).

The 2027 rates apply to SSI for January 2027 and every month after. SSA pays the January 2027 payment on December 31, 2026, so that is the first payment at the new rate. The rates rise each January by the same cost-of-living increase as Social Security benefits, rounded down as 20 CFR 416.405 says.

A couple’s rate is for the two of them together, and SSA splits it equally between the spouses. Your own amount is the rate minus your countable income, which the sections below explain. The calculator uses the rate in force on the day you use it, $994 for one person in 2026, and it moves to each new year’s rate on January 1.

Who can get SSI?

You can get SSI if you are 65 or older, blind, or have a disability, and your income and savings are low. SSI stands for Supplemental Security Income. It is a federal program run by SSA, and it pays cash each month.

• Age: you are 65 or older.
• Blindness: SSA decides whether you meet its rule for blindness.
• Disability: for an adult, SSA decides whether your condition is severe enough. Its disability test uses an earnings amount it calls substantial gainful activity: $1,770 a month in 2027 and $1,690 in 2026 (20 CFR 416.974). For SSI, people who are blind are not held to that amount (POMS DI 10501.015).
• Children: a child under 18 with a disability can get SSI too. SSA counts part of the parents’ income, as explained below.

The calculator assumes SSA would accept your disability when you tick “Has a disability”, and checks the rest. SSI’s own rules for immigrants are not in the calculator yet: when you give a status other than U.S. citizen for someone SSI would pay, the card says “Not checked yet”.

Your savings and other countable things you own, which SSA calls resources, must be no more than $2,000 for one person or $3,000 for a couple. These limits are written in the law and have not changed since 1989 (42 U.S.C. 1382; 20 CFR 416.1205). SSA looks at what you have on the first day of each month (20 CFR 416.421).

Many things you own do not count toward the limit (20 CFR 416.1210):

• your home and the land it is on;
• one car, whatever it is worth, if it is used to get you or someone in your household around (20 CFR 416.1218);
• household goods and personal things;
• burial spaces, and up to $1,500 each for you and your spouse set aside for burial (20 CFR 416.1231);
• life insurance, if its total face value on a person is $1,500 or less (20 CFR 416.1230);
• up to $100,000 in an ABLE account, a special savings account for people whose blindness or disability began before age 46 (before age 26 until 2026) (POMS SI 01130.740);
• others the rule lists, such as back payments of SSI or Social Security for a limited time, and money set aside under a plan to achieve self-support that SSA has approved.

In the calculator, put cash and bank accounts in “Savings and cash”. It checks them against SSI’s limit. It does not ask about other things you own.

What is the SSI income limit?

SSI has no single income limit. It pays the federal rate minus your countable income, so it ends when your countable income reaches the federal rate. How much of your income counts depends on where it comes from:

• Pay from work: SSA counts less than half of it. With only pay, SSI ends at $2,143 a month in 2027 and $2,073 in 2026.
• Social Security, pensions and other unearned income: all but $20 a month counts. With only that kind of income, SSI ends when it reaches the federal rate plus $20.
• Both kinds: the $20 comes off the unearned income first, so less of your pay is left out.

A state supplement raises these points, and so do some of the costs and exclusions below. Your savings must also be under the limit above.

How does SSA work out your SSI?

SSA starts from the federal rate, takes away your countable income, and pays what is left (20 CFR 416.420). Countable income is your income after these exclusions, taken in this order (20 CFR 416.1112 and 416.1124):

1. The first $20 of income each month, of any kind. This is the general exclusion. It comes off unearned income first, and any part of it left over comes off your pay.
2. The next $65 of pay each month.
3. Half of the rest of your pay.

Unearned income counts in full after the $20. That includes Social Security retirement, disability and survivors benefits, pensions, veterans’ benefits, unemployment benefits and workers’ compensation (20 CFR 416.1121). Each dollar of it lowers SSI by a dollar.

The $20, the $65 and the half are written into the law itself, section 1612 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1382a), and they do not rise with inflation. For a couple, SSA takes the $20 and the $65 off once, for the two of you together (POMS SI 00820.500).

Some people have more of their pay left out:

• A student under 22 who regularly goes to school can have a set amount of pay left out each month, up to a yearly total, before the $20, the $65 and the half. This is the student earned income exclusion, and SSA sets its amounts each year (POMS SI 00820.510).
• A person with a disability who pays for things they need in order to work because of it can have those costs taken off after the $65 and before the half. These are impairment-related work expenses (20 CFR 416.976).
• A blind person’s work expenses, and pay set aside under a plan to achieve self-support (PASS) that SSA has approved, come off after the half.

The calculator takes off the $20, the $65 and the half, but not these. If one of them applies to you, your SSI may be higher than it shows.

Timing matters too. SSA usually sets each month’s SSI from your income two months before, so July’s income sets September’s payment (20 CFR 416.420). A change in your pay shows up in your SSI later. The calculator works out one steady month.

Does working reduce SSI?

Yes, but by less than you earn. After the first $85 of pay each month (the $20 and the $65, when you have no other income), each extra dollar you earn lowers SSI by 50 cents. So working leaves you with more money than SSI alone.

Take a 40-year-old with a disability in Texas who lives alone and earns $1,000 a month, in 2027. SSA leaves out the first $85 of the $1,000 and counts half of the rest. Taking that from the federal rate of $1,029 leaves $572 of SSI a month. This person keeps all of their pay and still gets that SSI: SSI went down by less than half of what they earned.

Once you are on SSI, earning more than the substantial gainful activity amount does not stop SSI by itself. If your pay goes over it, SSA keeps working out your SSI the same way, as long as you still have your disability and meet SSI’s other rules. This is section 1619(a) of the Social Security Act (20 CFR 416.260). That is a big difference from SSDI, where earnings over that amount can stop the whole check, as the guide to SSDI and work explains.

In the calculator, type your pay before tax. Its picture of your money at every level of pay shows SSI shrinking as pay rises, together with what happens to SNAP, health coverage and your other help.

At what pay does SSI stop?

With no other income, SSI stops when your pay reaches twice the federal rate plus $85: $2,143 a month in 2027 and $2,073 in 2026. At that pay, what is left after the $85 and the half equals the federal rate, and the calculator shows SSI of $0.

SSA’s manual uses the same arithmetic. In POMS SI 02302.200, the yearly pay that brings the federal SSI payment to zero is twice the federal rate plus $85, times 12. SSA calls it the base amount, and it is where each state’s section 1619(b) amount starts (see below).

Your own point can be different:

• higher if your state adds a supplement, because there is more SSI for your pay to use up;
• higher with impairment-related work expenses, the student exclusion, a blind person’s work expenses or a PASS;
• lower if you also have Social Security or other unearned income, because that income uses up the $20 and counts almost in full.

SSI has no cliff of its own: it shrinks to nothing, 50 cents at a time. What can drop all at once is what comes with it. Help that SSI qualifies you for, such as a Lifeline phone discount, can end where SSI ends. Medicaid is the biggest question, and the section on Medicaid below covers it.

How do Social Security and other income change SSI?

Each dollar of unearned income over $20 a month lowers SSI by a dollar. Unearned income is money you do not work for, such as Social Security, a pension or unemployment benefits. So SSI ends when your unearned income reaches the federal rate plus $20.

Take a 45-year-old with a disability in Texas who gets $800 a month of Social Security disability (SSDI) and has no pay, in 2027. SSA takes $20 off the SSDI and counts the rest, so SSI pays the federal rate minus that: $249 a month. People whose SSDI is small can get both in this way.

When Social Security goes up each January, SSA counts the increase for SSI straight away, without the usual two-month wait (20 CFR 416.420). So in January your SSI rises with the new federal rate, but falls by the amount your Social Security went up.

Which states add money to SSI?

Some states add a payment of their own, called a state supplement. According to SSA’s 2026 tables and the states’ own rules, 17 states pay one to an adult who lives in their own home: Alaska, California, Idaho, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

In five more states, it depends on who you are:

• Colorado’s is for people 60 or older, through a state program you apply for separately.
• Iowa’s is for people who are blind, or who live with a family member who depends on them for money.
• Nevada’s is for people who are 65 or older or blind.
• Connecticut and Minnesota work out an amount from a budget of your own needs and income.

The other 28 states and DC pay nothing extra to a person in their own home, by SSA’s 2026 table (POMS SI 02302.200). Some of them pay a supplement only to people who live in care homes or similar places.

In some states, SSA pays the supplement together with your SSI (POMS SI 01415.058 lists them). In others, the state pays it, and you may need to apply to a state office. Amounts differ from state to state and with where you live, such as your own home or a care home, and when we checked, on October 31, 2026, we had found no state’s amounts for 2027 yet.

The calculator adds your state’s supplement for a person in their own home where we have a current amount from SSA or from the state. Where the supplement depends on your group or a budget, or we do not have a current amount, it shows the federal SSI only, and your SSI could be higher.

Does a spouse’s or parent’s income count?

Yes. SSA treats part of the income of a spouse you live with, or of the parents of a child under 18, as if it were yours, whether or not they share it with you. This is called deeming (20 CFR 416.1160).

For a spouse who does not get SSI, SSA first sets aside an amount for each child at home who does not get SSI. If what is left of your spouse’s income is no more than the difference between the couple rate and the rate for one person, none of it counts. If it is more, SSA works the two of you out as a couple, with both incomes and the couple rate, and you never get more than you would without your spouse’s income (20 CFR 416.1163).

Take a 70-year-old in Texas whose spouse, aged 60, does not get SSI and earns $1,500 a month, in 2027. The spouse’s pay is over that difference, so SSA works the two of them out as a couple. The $20 and the $65 come off the spouse’s pay, and half of the rest counts. The couple rate minus that leaves SSI of $837 a month for the 70-year-old.

The calculator works out a spouse’s income this way, but it does not set aside the amounts for children. If you have children at home who do not get SSI, your SSI could be higher than it shows.

For a child under 18 who lives with their parents, SSA takes the parents’ income after its exclusions, sets aside amounts for the other children and a living allowance for the parents, and counts what is left as the child’s income (20 CFR 416.1165). The calculator does not work out a child’s SSI yet, and its answer says so.

Does help with rent or food lower SSI?

Help with food no longer does: SSA stopped counting it on September 30, 2024. Help with shelter can. SSA’s name for help you get as things, not money, is in-kind support and maintenance, and its rule “Omitting Food From In-Kind Support and Maintenance Calculations” took food out of it from that day (20 CFR 416.1102).

Shelter covers a room, rent, mortgage payments, property taxes, heating fuel, gas, electricity, water, sewer and garbage collection (20 CFR 416.1130). If someone else pays for some of it, one of two rules applies:

• The one-third reduction. If you live in another person’s household for a whole month, you get your shelter from others in the household, and they pay for or give you all of your meals, SSA counts one-third of the federal rate as income. It is all or nothing, and the $20 does not come off it (20 CFR 416.1131).
• The presumed value. In other cases where someone else pays part of your shelter, SSA counts the help as worth one-third of the federal rate plus $20, unless you show it is worth less (20 CFR 416.1140).

You live in your own household, not someone else’s, if you own the home, are responsible to the landlord for any part of the rent, pay at least your share of the household’s costs, or if everyone in the home gets public assistance (20 CFR 416.1132). Since September 30, 2024, SNAP counts as public assistance for this (20 CFR 416.1142).

The calculator assumes you pay your own rent and bills, so it does not lower SSI for help with shelter. If someone else pays part of your shelter, your SSI may be lower than it shows.

Do you keep Medicaid if your pay ends SSI?

Often you can, under section 1619(b) of the Social Security Act. If your Medicaid comes with your SSI, losing SSI could mean losing Medicaid, which can matter far more than the last few dollars of SSI. Section 1619(b) lets Medicaid go on when your pay is too high for any SSI cash, if you (20 CFR 416.264 to 416.269):

• got SSI, or a state supplement that SSA pays, in an earlier month;
• are still blind or still have your disability;
• meet all of SSI’s other rules except the one on earnings, including the savings limit;
• need Medicaid in order to work; and
• earn no more than your state’s amount, before taxes.

Each state’s amount is the yearly pay that brings SSI and the state supplement to zero, plus the state’s average yearly Medicaid spending for a person on SSI who is blind or has a disability. SSA lists every state’s amount in POMS SI 02302.200 and works them out again at least once a year. Because of the Medicaid part, each one is well above the pay where your SSI cash ends. If you earn more than your state’s amount, SSA can work out an amount for you alone.

These are the amounts for 2026, from SSA’s own chart. SSA had not posted the 2027 amounts on November 1, 2026; it posted the 2026 chart in January 2026.

Someone over their state's amount can ask SSA to work out a threshold of their own, for example with high medical costs.

Sources: 20 CFR 416.261, What are special SSI cash benefits (eCFR (Office of the Federal Register)); 20 CFR 416.264 and 416.265(a)-(d) (eCFR (Office of the Federal Register)); 20 CFR 416.264, Special SSI eligibility status (section 1619(b)) (eCFR (Office of the Federal Register)); POMS SI 02302.200, Section 1619(b) earnings thresholds (Social Security Administration). Checked November 1, 2026.

This is SSI’s real cliff: Medicaid that ends because of pay. Section 1619(b) moves that point much higher. In the calculator, someone who gets SSI at the pay you typed keeps Medicaid under section 1619(b) at higher pay, on the line, the ruler and in the “What if you earn more?” box, up to your state’s amount, where SSI brings Medicaid in your state. So does the one person here with a disability or blindness when you tick SSI under “What you have now”. The Medicaid card then says “Maybe”, because the calculator cannot ask whether you still have the disability or need Medicaid to keep working. Above your state’s amount the card says Medicaid does not go on this way unless SSA works out an amount for you alone. SSA and your state’s Medicaid office decide.

Can you save or study without losing SSI?

Yes, within these rules. SSI’s savings limit is $2,000 for one person and $3,000 for a couple (20 CFR 416.1205), but money in an ABLE account does not count toward it up to $100,000 (POMS SI 01130.740). An ABLE account is a savings account for a person whose blindness or disability began before a set age. From January 1, 2026, that age is 46; before, it was 26 (26 U.S.C. 529A(e)). A person can have one ABLE account, opened through any state’s program that allows it.

What SSI does with an ABLE account:

• The first $100,000 does not count as savings, and what the account earns is not income.
• Money taken out is not income. Money taken out for housing and still held the next month counts as savings then.
• Above $100,000, the rest counts as savings. If that puts you over SSI’s limit, the SSI check is put on hold, not ended, and Medicaid goes on as if you still got SSI (ABLE Act, section 103).
• Other federal programs that look at income and savings, such as Medicaid and SNAP, leave the account out.
• When the account holder dies, the state can claim what is left for the Medicaid it paid after the account was opened (26 U.S.C. 529A(f)).

In 2026, everyone together can put up to $20,000 into one ABLE account (Rev. Proc. 2025-32). An account holder who works and gets no workplace retirement plan contributions that year can put in more, up to their pay or $15,650, whichever is less (26 U.S.C. 529A(b)(7)).

Students have a rule of their own. If you are blind or have a disability, are under 22 and go to school regularly, SSI leaves out up to $2,410 a month of your pay in 2026, and up to $9,730 in the year ($2,500 and $10,080 in 2027), before its other rules (20 CFR 416.1112(c)(3)). The calculator takes it off when you tick “Student” for someone under 22 who has a disability or is blind. Where twelve months of the pay you typed would use more than the year’s amount, it works SSI out month by month from January: the exclusion lasts some months, then runs out for the rest of the year. The SSI card says how many months it lasts and what SSI is in them and after, and the month counts the average over the year.

How do you apply for SSI?

You apply with the Social Security Administration. SSA’s SSI page, ssa.gov/ssi, is the place to start, and applying is free. If your state pays its supplement itself, ask the state office how to get it too.

This site takes no applications and sends nothing to SSA or any other office. Only SSA can decide whether you qualify for SSI and how much you get.

Figures checked October 31, 2026.

Questions people ask

How much is SSI a month in 2027?

Up to $1,029 for one person and $1,544 for a couple who both get SSI, before any state supplement. Other income lowers it.

When does the 2027 SSI increase start?

With the payment for January 2027, which SSA pays on December 31, 2026.

How much can I earn and still get SSI?

With no other income, SSI ends when your pay reaches $2,143 a month in 2027. Up to then, each dollar you earn over the first $85 lowers SSI by 50 cents. Medicaid can go on above that point under section 1619(b).

Does SSDI count as income for SSI?

Yes. Every dollar of SSDI over $20 a month lowers SSI by a dollar.

How much money can I have and still get SSI?

No more than $2,000 in countable resources for one person, or $3,000 for a couple. Your home, one car and your household goods do not count.

Does food from my family lower my SSI?

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

Does the calculator tell me for sure what SSI I get?

No. It gives an estimate from the published rules and what you type. Only SSA decides, after it checks your income, savings and living situation and, for a disability, whether you meet its rules.

Updated November 1, 2026