HOW MUCH IS SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY?
How Are SSDI Benefits Calculated in Michigan?
Social Security calculates your monthly disability benefits by looking at your past earnings and plugging them into its own formulas, but it can be difficult to know what to expect.
Two people can get approved for disability benefits in Michigan and end up with vastly different-sized checks.
Since Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits are based on your individual earnings history, you get an individualized number.
If you receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI) disability benefits, payments are calculated in a completely different way.
SSI starts with a maximum payment that’s the same for everyone, but then subtracts from your number if you have certain other kinds of economic resources.
This is confusing. The Detroit disability lawyers at Levine Benjamin Law Firm can help. We have extensive experience winning disability benefits for our clients, and we know well how this works.
SSDI benefits are for people who have paid into Social Security by working. The SSI program is need-based, so you can qualify even if you don’t have a significant work history.
If you talk to us, Levine Benjamin can help you figure out which benefit you’re most qualified to receive, and give you a better idea of the monthly payment you can expect once you’re approved.
Winning disability benefits is difficult, but we’ve helped more than 100,000 people across Michigan, Ohio and Indiana successfully make their case to Social Security.
We’ll help you fight for the benefits you deserve, and you won’t pay an attorney’s fee until your disability claim is approved.
From Applying to Appealing, We Help You Every Step of the Way.
How Much Could I Receive in SSDI in Michigan?
For SSDI, Social Security looks at your past income, but unfortunately doesn’t just send you a monthly check that covers what you made when you could work.
It’s not even a simple percentage of your old income.
There’s a formula for this and specific steps that Social Security follows:
Step #1: Reviewing your work history
You can only receive SSDI payments if you have earned enough “work credits” by paying into Social Security.
Step #2: Calculating your average indexed monthly earnings (AIME)
Once the SSA determines that you’ve paid enough into the system to qualify, it looks at up to 35 years of your earnings and calculates your “average indexed monthly earnings,” or AIME.
But you won’t just receive your average each month as your disability payment. There’s another important step.
Step #3: Determining your primary insurance amount (PIA)
Next Social Security applies a formula to your average earnings to find what it calls your “primary insurance amount,” or PIA, which is the key number you might get in your monthly checks if no other adjustments are needed.
It puts your past earnings on a scale that limits how much counts for disability benefits at higher income levels. This is the scale as of 2026. You get…
- 90% of the first $1,286 of your AIME plus
- 32% of your AIME from $1,286 through $7,749
- 15% of your AIME over $7,749
Step #4: Adjusting based on other benefits you receive
Your SSDI payment could then be adjusted if you receive other types of benefits, like workers’ compensation.
Once the Social Security Administration (SSA) has gone through all of these steps, it calculates the monthly SSDI payment that’s unique to you.
In 2026, the maximum anyone could get from SSDI reached $4,152 per month, but few people receive the maximum. The more realistic average payment was $1,630.
SSDI recipients can also enroll in Medicare after a 24-month waiting period, even though they would normally be too young for it.
If you’re ready to apply for SSDI, our Michigan disability attorneys are ready to help you.
How SSI Payments Are Calculated
The calculation of SSI payments is different. Social Security starts at a maximum payment and then deducts from that based on other kinds of financial resources you have available to you.
The maximum payments in 2026 reached:
- $994 per month for individuals
- $1,491 per month for couples
The SSA will then reduce your payment by $1 for every $2 you earn from a job, self-employment, or any other money-making activity.
Your monthly payment can also be reduced by about $1 for every $1 you earn from any non-work sources. This can include:
- Other types of disability benefits
- Unemployment benefits
- Income from pensions
If you’re receiving any other kind of benefit and wondering how your SSI payments could be affected, our Michigan SSI lawyers can discuss it with you.
SSI recipients can also qualify for medical coverage through Medicaid, and there’s no mandatory waiting period once you’ve been approved.
Remember that Supplemental Security Income is a need-based benefits program with strict financial limitations—$2,000 for individuals and $3,000 for couples.
If you’re working too much or you come into money that puts you above this limit, you could be denied SSI or lose SSI benefits you already received.
How Do Annual Cost-of-Living Adjustments (COLA) Affect Disability Payments?
If you’re receiving SSDI or SSI benefits, you also need to be aware of annual cost-of-living adjustments, or COLAs.
What is a COLA?
The government acknowledges that life just keeps getting more expensive due to inflation. An annual COLA gives your payments a small boost, helping you keep up with rising prices.
The COLA for 2026 was 2.8%, bringing maximum SSI payments up to $994 from $967 the year before and average SSDI payments up to $1,630 from $1,586 in 2025.
But all of this information about how Social Security calculates SSDI and SSI payments won’t matter if you get denied disability benefits.
Fighting for the benefits that you deserve is a battle. Our Detroit disability lawyers are ready to assist with each part of your SSI or SSDI application.
It’s always a challenge to convince the SSA that you deserve benefits, but your disability claim is in experienced hands at Levine Benjamin.
Our Michigan disability law firm is the top in the state when it comes to how much we’ve won in benefits for our clients.
Whether you have questions about how to qualify for disability or you’ve already been denied SSI or SSDI benefits, we’re ready to assist you.
How Social Security Disability Benefits Are Calculated: Quick Glance
| SSDI | SSI | |
|---|---|---|
| Based on… | Your individual work and earnings history | A flat federal maximum that’s the same for everyone |
| How you qualify financially… | Paying into Social Security through your paychecks from working and earning enough “work credits” | Financial need—having strictly limited economic resources |
| Starting point… | Your past earnings | The maximum monthly payment set by the government |
| The calculation… | Calculate your average earnings over years, apply limits on how much of your earnings count, deduct for certain other forms of benefits you might receive | Start at the maximum, then subtract based on certain other income and resources you may have |
How Social Security Disability Benefits Are Calculated: FAQs
How much does Social Security Disability pay compared to what I used to make?
Social Security Disability benefits probably won’t come close to matching your previous income from work. They are designed to provide basic economic stability, but not to replace income from a job. Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) uses your past income in deciding how much you’ll receive. People who had higher incomes receive higher amounts in benefits, but the benefits are still strictly limited.
How are SSDI benefits calculated?
Social Security bases your SSDI payments on your individual earnings history. It calculates your average earnings over 35 years, applies a formula that limits how much you’ll receive depending on what you made when you worked, and offsets some of your payment based on other benefits you might be getting, like workers’ compensation. Because the number is tied to your own earnings, no two checks are alike.
How are SSI payments calculated?
SSI starts with a maximum payment that Social Security sets as the national standard. Then it subtracts from that for you based on any other financial resources you have that count against your SSI benefit. Money you make from working and money you get from other forms of support or benefits will reduce your payment. If you have too much in other financial resources or assets, you won’t qualify for SSI at all.
What’s the difference between SSDI and SSI?
SSDI is for people who have paid into Social Security through work, which is why payments reflect your earnings history. SSI is need-based, with strict asset limits of $2,000 for individuals and $3,000 for couples. You can qualify for SSI without a recent work history. But savings, investments or property other than your primary residence can disqualify you.
What is a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) and how does it affect my payments?
Most years Social Security raises the amount of SSDI and SSI checks to account for inflation that makes everything more expensive. These are the amounts that payments went up in recent years:
- 2026: 2.8%
- 2025: 2.5%
- 2024: 3.2%
- 2023: 8.7%
- 2022: 5.9%