How Many Hours Can I Work and Still Get Disability Benefits?

Being disabled doesn't necessarily mean that you can't work at all—just that you can't perform a full-time, 40 hour workweek. So, how many hours can you work and still collect Social Security disability benefits? That depends on several factors, including type of benefits (SSDI or SSI), hourly pay rate, self-employment status, and if you're already receiving benefits or are still waiting for approval. It's important to know how these factors interact if you're considering picking up extra work, whether you're waiting for a decision or have already been awarded benefits.

How Many Hours Can You Work While Your Disability Application Is Pending?

One of the first things Social Security does when reviewing disability applications is to check if you're currently working. But the number of hours you work isn't necessarily what matters most. Mainly, your eligibility for disability benefits is based on how much you earn from work each month. Social Security considers wages at or above $1,620 per month ($2,700 if you're blind) as an indication that you're performing "full-time work." That's the substantial gainful activity (SGA) level for 2025, which is adjusted every year to account for cost-of-living increases.

While your disability application is pending, you can't work so many hours that you earn above the SGA amount. If you do, your application will be denied—it's a hard limit. Even if you could earn the entire SGA amount in one hour but had to be hospitalized for the rest of the month, Social Security can't consider you disabled if you're making above that level, period.

Assuming you're paid an hourly rate, you can calculate the number of hours you can work every month before you hit SGA. For instance, if you make $30 per hour and you work 12 hours a week, you'll make $1,440 per month, below the SGA limit. You can adjust for your specific income by multiplying your hourly rate by the number of hours you work in a month and seeing if it's less than $1,620.

Keep in mind that while working over 30 hours a week is technically acceptable, it's risky in practice. Social Security considers a 40 hour work week to be the standard for full-time employment, so if you're getting close to that number, the agency is likely going to wonder what, if anything, is stopping you from working those few extra hours. And if you can work 40 hours per week, Social Security won't find you disabled—even if you earn under $1,620 a month despite working a lot of hours.

How Many Hours Can You Work On SSDI or SSI?

Once you begin collecting Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI), however, the rules regarding how many hours you can work—and how much you can earn—are different, depending on the benefit type.

Working While On SSDI

If you receive SSDI, you have a nine-month trial work period, during which you can earn more than the SGA amount of $1,620 per month and keep your full SSDI payment the entire time. After the trial work period has ended, you'll enter a three year "extended period of eligibility," where you'll receive SSDI benefits only in the months that you aren't earning above SGA. When the extended period of eligibility is over, your SSDI benefits will end—although you may qualify for expedited reinstatement if you become unable to work again within five years.

Working While On SSI

Once you begin collecting SSI, the SGA limit no longer applies. But your countable income can't exceed the federal benefit rate—the amount set by the federal government as the baseline for SSI payments—or your SSI check will be reduced. For 2025, the monthly SSI rate is $967 for an individual.

Social Security excludes certain earnings from countable income. If your only income is from working, the SSI program doesn't count the first $85 you earn each month and counts only half of your remaining earned income. Here's an example:

In addition to the income exclusions, Social Security also offers work incentives for SSI recipients, such as employment services and deductions for impairment-related work expenses. For more information on how income affects both SSDI and SSI payments, check out our article on working while receiving Social Security benefits.

How Does Social Security Count the Number of Hours Worked If I'm Self-Employed?

The actual number of hours you work counts more for Social Security disability purposes if you're self-employed or the head of a corporation, LLC, or other business. That's because self-employed people and corporate owners can potentially work many hours while receiving no pay—they may be reinvesting money in their business or haven't yet made a profit, so they don't pay themselves much. So if you're self-employed, Social Security will look at how many hours you worked in addition to your income.

Generally, if you're self-employed, you can work up to 45 hours per month without losing eligibility for disability. (20 C.F.R. § 404.447(a)(2).) That works out to just under 10.5 hours per week that you can work in your own business or as a gig worker without losing SSDI. But you can't be the only person working for the business, and you can't be making substantial income.

Depending on how long you've been collecting benefits, Social Security will apply different tests to determine if you're doing SGA. If you've been collecting disability for more than two years, you can make a substantial income as long as you don't work over 45 hours. (Find out about the tests Social Security uses to determine SGA when you work for yourself.)

Do I Have to Let Social Security Know That I'm Working?

Given the high cost of living in many areas and typically low average benefits paid to disabled adults, it can be tempting to pick up a lucrative "side hustle" and hope that the Social Security Administration won't notice. But this isn't a smart move—the agency will eventually find out, and you may be on the hook for overpayment of benefits and potentially even charges of fraud. If you'd like to try your hand at getting back in the workforce, Social Security offers many vocational programs designed to assist disabled workers without jeopardizing their benefits.