How Much Does Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) Pay?
If you get Social Security Disability Insurance because you have a qualifying work record, this is how they figure the amount of your benefits:
Step 1: Calculating Your Average Indexed Monthly Earnings (AIME)
First, Social Security looks at up to 35 years of your earnings as a worker and comes up with a monthly average of what your pay has been over time.
Step 2: Applying a Percentage to Your AIME
Then, Social Security places your average lifetime earnings into one of three buckets depending on how low or high your income has been. For people with lower average earnings, you get a higher percentage of that number in your monthly disability checks. People with a history of higher incomes get a lower percentage of their income in disability benefits. The resulting number is called your Primary Insurance Amount (PIA).
Step 3: Accounting for Other Benefits You Receive
Finally, Social Security looks to see if you receive certain other kinds of benefits, such as workers’ compensation because of an injury on the job. It reduces your monthly SSDI payment depending on how much you get from those other sources, but not all forms of benefits affect your SSDI amount.
We can’t say on a web page like this how much you individually would get, because it’s based on your individual numbers.
If you want a general idea of how much Social Security Disability Insurance pays, we can tell you this:
- The average SSDI pay across the country in 2025 for an individual worker was $1,580 per month.
- The highest possible SSDI pay, which is rare to get, was $4,018 per month.
These numbers typically change from year to year.
Do you want help understanding how much you could get from Social Security Disability in your situation?
Talk to the Oregon disability lawyers at Wells, Manning, Eitenmiller & Taylor to get a free evaluation of your claim.
How Much Does Supplemental Security Income (SSI) Pay?
SSI is different because it doesn’t require you to have a work history, so it doesn’t use past earnings to decide how much you get.
Instead, Social Security sets a basic amount for everyone. Then, if you have certain other forms of income or financial resources, your monthly SSI checks can be reduced because of those other sources of money.
Having too much in other economic assets will disqualify you from SSI entirely.
The SSI base amounts also usually adjust a little every year. These are the numbers for 2025:
- $967 per month for an individual
- $1,450 per month for a qualifying couple
Often, SSDI benefits pay more per month than SSI, as you can see from the national numbers.
But in some circumstances, if your earnings when you worked were low enough, your SSI amount could come out higher than SSDI. In that case, you’ll want to seek SSI benefits instead of SSDI.
When a health crisis has sent your life into chaos, you need any and all available assistance to preserve your sense of peace and stability.
For professional help getting these benefits, you don’t pay any attorney fee until your case is successful.
Contact the disability attorneys at Wells, Manning, Eitenmiller & Taylor.
We’re with You Every Step of the Way
Whether you’re trying to determine if you’re qualified for disability benefits, you need help filing your application, or you received a denial notice and want another chance, our law firm helps from the beginning and stays by your side.
Have a Question about Disability Benefits?
Your health is bad. You can’t work. Your financial stability is threatened. So your head is swimming with questions. How will you get by? How does Social Security Disability work? We’ve gathered answers. See them here:
Disability FAQs »
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