An SSI recipient who earns $317 a month in wages still collects $878 in federal Supplemental Security Income, according to the worked example in Social Security’s own 2026 edition of Understanding Supplemental Security Income. The example uses the 2026 federal rate of $994 a month and shows that only $116 of the $317 is counted against the check. Add the wages to the SSI payment and the person ends the month with $1,195, which is $201 more than the $994 rate alone.
SSA’s $317 example, line by line
The same arithmetic appears on SSA’s SSI income counting page, where the wages are labeled gross wages and the person has no other income.
- $317 in wages, minus the $20 general exclusion, leaves $297.
- $297 minus the $65 earned income exclusion leaves $232.
- Half of $232 is $116, which is the countable income.
- $994 minus $116 leaves $878, the federal SSI payment.
The guide’s next example adds a $15 state supplement for a person living alone, which brings the $878 to $893. SSA calls the $15 a sample figure, and states that pay no supplement at all include Arizona, Arkansas, Mississippi, North Dakota, Tennessee and West Virginia.
The question for anyone on SSI who is offered a job or more hours is how much of each paycheck comes off the check. Past the first $85 of monthly wages, SSA counts half of every extra dollar, so every $2 of pay takes $1 off the payment.
A $317 paycheck costs $116 in SSI, and a bigger one costs more in steps that are easy to miscount. The SSI & Disability Action Kit lays out the rules for working without losing benefits.
See how much of each paycheck counts against SSI with the Disability Action Kit’s work rules →
Where the payment actually reaches zero
Social Security’s guide explains the reason the payment falls slowly: only the part of wages left after the exclusions is counted, so a worker can take a job without losing the whole check.
The $878 is one point on a sliding scale. With no other income, the federal payment reaches zero when countable income equals the $994 rate. Half of the wages above $85 must therefore equal $994, which puts the break-even at $2,073 a month in wages. That figure is arithmetic from SSA’s rules, not a number the agency prints, and it applies only to a single recipient whose wages are the only income.
The $20 general exclusion is a monthly allowance. SSA’s guide shows what happens to a person who has a Social Security check instead of wages: a $300 Social Security benefit leaves $280 countable and a federal SSI payment of $714. Unearned income is subtracted dollar for dollar, with no half-off rule, so a break-even calculation for a person with other income lands well below $2,073.
What the January 2027 rate does to the example
Social Security’s SSI payment table lists the 2027 federal rate as $1,029 for an individual, after a 3.6 percent cost-of-living increase, up from $994 after 2.8 percent in 2026. The wage rules in the example stay the same. Run the same $317 through them and the countable income is still $116, so the federal payment becomes $913. The break-even wage rises to $2,143. Both figures are arithmetic using SSA’s 2027 rate, not examples SSA publishes.
SSA’s guide also lists the savings test, which is separate from the wage rules: resources of $2,000 for an individual and $3,000 for a couple. A worker who saves part of each paycheck can pass that limit while the monthly payment is still arriving.
Running a paycheck through the SSI income rules
The free reference is the SSA income counting page, which lists the exclusions in full, including the $65 and half-of-the-rest rule for earnings. It also lists what does not count as income at all, such as SNAP benefits, income tax refunds and home energy assistance.
The working copy is simple. For each month, write down the gross wages from the pay stubs, any Social Security or other benefit checks, and the federal rate on the SSI award letter. Subtract the exclusions in SSA’s order, subtract the countable income from the rate, and compare the result with the payment that actually arrives. A mismatch usually means some income is being counted that was left out of the worksheet. Student wages follow a separate exclusion, up to $2,410 a month and $9,730 a year in 2026 for a student under 22.
Each extra $2 in wages takes $1 off the SSI check
SSA’s example shows one month with one paycheck, and a real month has overtime, a second income and a savings balance moving at the same time. The 74-page SSI & Disability Action Kit sets out the rules for working without losing benefits in one place, so a shift can be weighed against the check before it is accepted.
Plan work hours around SSI’s income rules with the Disability Action Kit →
This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
