What is the approval rate for Social Security Disability Benefits?
Thirty-eight percent of applicants who meet technical requirements are accepted initially, but 50% of applicants who appeal that decision are ultimately approved.
Today’s young workers have about a one in three chance of becoming disabled or dying before they reach retirement age, according to 2016 actuarial estimates from the Social Security Administration (SSA). To lessen the financial burden of disability due to loss of work, disabled workers can apply for SSA-administered disability benefits[1].
In June 2022, around 7.8 million disabled workers received disability benefits in the United States. That’s approximately 4% of the adult population[2] between ages 18 and 64.
Based on the latest state-level data, some states have much higher percentages of disabled workers receiving benefits than others. In 2021, 11.1% of West Virginia’s adult population were receiving disability benefits.
Percentage of working-age adults receiving disability benefits by state in 2021
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
12%
Percent of adults receiving disability benefits: | 5.6% |
---|
What makes someone eligible for Social Security disability?
Each year, 2 million people[3] apply for one or both of the SSA’s disability benefit programs. To apply, an applicant must meet the SSA’s self-described “strict” definition of disability. They must:
- be unable to participate in “substantial gainful activity” (i.e., earning more than $1,350 per month for non-blind applicants or $2,260 for blind applicants)
- be unable to work in their previous field or another field due to their condition
- have a disability that will last at least a year or result in death
Further, to qualify for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), applicants must have worked long enough and recently enough in a job covered by Social Security. Alternatively, to apply for Supplemental Security Income (SSI), the SSA’s second disability benefit program, applicants must have limited income and resources. Applicants can apply for one or both programs and the process for submission and approval is the same for both programs.
Some cases are expedited after application, such as those with diagnoses for acute leukemia, ALS (also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease), and pancreatic cancer or those determined by a “computer-based predictive model” to be highly likely to qualify. When an application isn’t expedited, the process can take months or years and may involve several appeals.
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What percentage of people get approved for disability benefits?
Disability benefit determinations are based on several medical and non-medical factors. The approval rate has also varied over time and by state or even presiding judge. Using national averages and the most recent data available, an estimate of the percentage of people ultimately accepted for benefits throughout the entire process can be reached.
Around 2 million people apply for disability benefits each year in the US.
Each square in the graphic represents 1,000 applications for disability benefits.
Applicants who don’t meet the SSA’s technical requirements (e.g., haven’t worked long or recently enough, weren’t covered by Social Security, etc.) are denied before their medical condition is officially assessed. Referred to as a “technical denial,” this was the outcome for about 37% of initial applications.
For clarity, technical denials will be temporarily removed from the graphic to focus on applications that met technical requirements and received a medical review.
After meeting the technical requirements, remaining applications were sent directly to applicants’ local Department of Disability Services (DDS) to determine if applicants meet both medical and non-medical requirements. In April 2023, applicants waited an average of seven months and thirteen days for a decision.
The national approval rate for initial applications was around 38%.
The remaining applicants who were denied had 60 days to appeal the decision.
Time since initial application submission:
7 months, 13 days
Around half of applicants denied at the initial stage appealed the decision, according to an SSA report.
To better understand the likelihood of an applicant appealing the decision ultimately being granted benefits, applicants who were approved or didn’t appeal their denial at the initial stage will be temporarily hidden from this graphic.
Time since initial application submission:
1 year, 1 month, 11 days
The first step of appeal, called “reconsideration,” involves the application returning to the applicant’s local DDS to go through the same process with a different set of reviewers.
Around 15% of applications submitted at the reconsideration stage were approved.
The remaining applicants who were denied have the chance to appeal the decision a second time.
Approximately 77% of applicants denied at the reconsideration stage appealed that decision, moving to the next round in the process: a hearing with an administrative law judge.
Time since initial application submission:
2 years, 4 months, 16 days
Nationally, 51% of applicants who were heard by an administrative law judge (ALJ) were approved. This stage has the highest rate of acceptance for applicants.
Despite efforts to reduce the burden, the wait time at this stage can be months or years long. The national average between October 2022 and March 2023 was 460 days, but the average in some locations reached over 700 days.
Of the applicants denied at the ALJ level, 35% appealed that decision and moved forward to an appeals council hearing.
Time since initial application submission:
3 years, 1 month, 5 days
Approximately 1% of disability benefits cases heard in an appeals council were approved.
The remaining applicants were either denied (84%), dismissed (3%), or remanded back to the ALJ level (12%). All are displayed as “denied” here. These applicants have one more opportunity to appeal and have their case heard at a federal court.
Time since initial application submission:
4 years, 1 month, 14 days
Just 3% of those denied in the appeals council appealed the decision further.
The federal court ultimately accepted around 1% of cases, or less than one square displayed here.
After navigating through up to four levels of appeal, about half of applicants who met technical requirements and appealed their initial decision are approved at some point in the process.
Taken together with those approved and denied at the initial level, just under half of all applicants who met technical qualifications were ultimately approved for benefits.
When applicants who didn’t meet technical requirements are factored back in, around 33% of all applicants are ultimately accepted.
Nearly half of all applicants who appeal their initial denial ultimately receive benefits, but the time from initial submission to decision can be substantial. According to a report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the median wait time for a decision on claims filed in 2010 was 561 days (approximately 1.5 years). This increased to 839 days (approximately 2.3 years) for claims filed in 2015.
In the same report, the GAO found that roughly 10,000 applicants die and 8,000 file for bankruptcy while waiting for a decision on their application.
While it’s too soon to know how long a final decision will take for claims submitted today, the wait time for an initial decision has increased 83% (from four to over seven months) between April 2019 and April 2023.
Learn more about this and other Social Security and Medicare programs.
Sources & Footnotes
- Social Security Administration
Annual Statistical Report on the Social Security Disability Insurance Program, 2021 - Table 68
Last updated
December 2021
- Social Security Administration
Fiscal Year 2022 Workload Data: Disability Decisions
Last updated
January 26, 2023
- Social Security Administration
Combined Disability Processing Time
Last updated
May 2, 2023
- Social Security Administration
Social Security Administration (SSA) Annual Data for Disability Reconsideration Average Processing Time
Last updated
February 28, 2023
- Social Security Administration
Hearing Office Average Processing Time Ranking Report FY 2023 (through 3/31/23)
Last updated
March 31, 2023
- Social Security Administration
The Social Security Administration’s Appeals Council Workloads Report
Last updated
June 2022
- United States Courts
Table C-5—U.S. District Courts–Civil Federal Judicial Caseload Statistics
Last updated
December 31, 2022