SSI Calculator 2026

For 2026, the SSI federal benefit rate (FBR) is $994 per month for an eligible individual and $1,491 per month for an eligible couple, effective with the January 2026 COLA. Your actual payment is the FBR minus your countable income, so income reduces the benefit dollar for dollar after exclusions.

SSA applies a $20 general income exclusion to almost any income, plus a $65 earned income exclusion for wages. After those exclusions, only half of your remaining earned income (a 50% reduction) is counted. So a worker effectively has the first $85 of wages disregarded before counting begins.

Countable resources must stay at or below $2,000 for an individual and $3,000 for a couple. Your primary home, one vehicle, and ordinary household goods do not count toward the limit. Exceeding the resource limit makes you ineligible for SSI for that month, regardless of income.

SSA starts with the federal benefit rate, subtracts your countable income, and pays the difference. Countable income is your unearned income (minus the $20 general exclusion) plus your countable earned income (wages minus $65 and the $20 if not already used, then halved). If the result is zero or below, no federal SSI is payable.

Working reduces SSI, but less than dollar for dollar. After the $65 earned income exclusion (and the $20 general exclusion if unused), only 50% of your remaining wages count against the federal benefit rate. This means you keep roughly half of each additional dollar earned, so working still increases your total income.

Unearned income includes Social Security benefits, pensions, unemployment compensation, VA benefits, and similar payments you receive without working. Only the $20 general exclusion applies to unearned income, so it reduces your SSI payment more steeply than wages, which also get the $65 earned exclusion and the 50% reduction.

Yes. The 2026 COLA of 2.8% raised the SSI federal benefit rate from $967 to $994 per month for an eligible individual, and from $1,450 to $1,491 for an eligible couple. Because SSI is paid on the last business day of the prior month, the first payment at the new rate went out December 31, 2025.

The federal benefit rate is a national floor set by SSA, but many states add a state supplement on top of it. The supplement amount varies by state and by living arrangement (living alone, with others, or in an institution), so two SSI recipients with identical countable income can receive different total payments depending on where they live.

Yes, this is called concurrent benefits. If you receive Social Security disability or retirement benefits, that payment counts as unearned income for SSI purposes (after the $20 general exclusion), which reduces your SSI payment dollar for dollar above that exclusion. Many people with a low Social Security benefit still qualify for a partial SSI payment to bring their total income closer to the federal benefit rate.