SSI for people 65 and older: who qualifies, 2027 amounts and the rules

Supplemental Security Income, or SSI, is the part of Social Security that most people know the least about, and it is the part built for people with the least. It is a monthly payment for people who are 65 or older, blind, or have a qualifying disability, and who have limited income and limited resources. Unlike regular Social Security retirement benefits, SSI does not depend on your work record. Someone who never worked, or who worked too little to earn much of a retirement benefit, can still qualify.

That makes SSI an important safety net for older Americans with small or no Social Security checks, and a frequent source of confusion, because its rules about income, savings and living arrangements are strict and very different from the rest of Social Security. This guide explains those rules for people 65 and older, using the Social Security Administration's own handbook, Understanding Supplemental Security Income (2026 edition), and its announcement of the 2027 amounts.

The 2027 SSI amounts

SSI payments rise each year with the same cost-of-living adjustment as Social Security. For 2027 that adjustment is 3.6 percent, effective with January 2027 payments. SSA has published these amounts:

The federal payment is a maximum. What you actually get is that amount minus your countable income, plus any state supplement. SSA also sets a 2027 amount of $516 for an "essential person." You can see all of SSA's figures on our SSI payment amounts page.

Notice that the resource limits did not rise with the cost-of-living adjustment: SSA lists the same $2,000 and $3,000 for both years.

Who qualifies

SSA says you may be eligible for SSI if you are 65 or older, blind, or have a qualifying disability, and you:

• Have limited income.
• Have limited resources.
• Are a U.S. citizen or national, or a noncitizen in certain categories.
• Live in one of the 50 states, the District of Columbia or the Northern Mariana Islands.
• Are not out of the country for a full calendar month or for 30 days in a row or more.
• Are not confined to an institution, such as a hospital or prison, at government expense.
• Apply for any other benefits or payments you may be eligible for, such as pensions or Social Security.
• Give SSA permission to contact any financial institution and request your financial records.
• File an application.

For SSI, "aged" simply means 65 or older. If you qualify on age, you do not have to prove a disability. That is a big difference for someone in their late 60s or 70s whose only question is whether their income and savings are low enough.

One rule surprises many applicants: you must apply for every other benefit you may be eligible for. If you could get Social Security retirement or survivor benefits, a pension, or veterans benefits, SSA expects you to claim them. Those payments then count as income and reduce your SSI.

Noncitizens

Since August 22, 1996, most noncitizens must be in a "qualified alien" category and also meet a condition that lets qualified aliens get SSI. The conditions SSA lists include having been on SSI and lawfully residing in the U.S. on August 22, 1996; being a lawful permanent resident with 40 qualifying quarters of earnings (a spouse's or parent's work can count); and certain refugees, asylees and similar groups, who may get SSI for up to 7 years.

Two points matter for military families. SSA says the condition can be met if you are on active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces or are an honorably discharged veteran whose discharge was not because you are a noncitizen, and that it may also apply to the spouse, surviving spouse or dependent child of certain military personnel. And a lawful permanent resident who entered on or after August 22, 1996, may not be eligible for the first 5 years even with 40 quarters. These rules are detailed, so a noncitizen should ask SSA to review their situation.

What counts as a resource

Resources are things you own that could be turned into cash and used for food or shelter. SSA lists cash, bank accounts, stocks, mutual funds, U.S. savings bonds, digital currencies, land, life insurance, personal property, vehicles, and anything else you own that could be changed to cash. If the value of your countable resources is over the limit at the beginning of a month, you cannot get SSI for that month.

The good news is that much of what an older person owns does not count. SSA does not count:

• The home you live in and the land it is on.
• Household goods and personal effects, such as wedding and engagement rings.
• Life insurance policies with a combined face value of $1,500 or less.
• One vehicle, regardless of value, if you or someone in your household uses it for transportation.
• Burial spaces for you or your immediate family.
• Burial funds for you and your spouse, each valued at $1,500 or less.
• Property used in a trade or business, or on your job.
• Up to $100,000 in an ABLE account.

Some money is ignored for a while after you get it. Retroactive SSI or Social Security payments do not count for nine months after you receive them, including installments. Federal tax refunds and advanced tax credits do not count for 12 months, and neither do earned income tax credit payments.

If you are married and live with your spouse, the couple limit applies. If your spouse is not on SSI, SSA may count part of your spouse's resources as yours, a process called deeming.

Don't give things away to qualify

SSA is clear that if you, your spouse or a co-owner give away a resource or sell it for less than it is worth to get under the limit, you may be ineligible for up to 36 months, depending on the value transferred. The legitimate path is to sell excess resources for what they are worth; you may get SSI starting the month after the sale. If you are trying to sell real property or other resources that put you over the limit, you may get "conditional benefits" while you sell, after signing an "Agreement to Sell Property" form that SSA accepts. You then repay those benefits when the sale closes.

How income reduces SSI

Income for SSI includes almost anything you receive in cash or in kind that can be used for food or shelter. SSA groups it into four types:

• Earned income: wages and net earnings from self-employment, among others.
• Unearned income: Social Security benefits, pensions, unemployment, interest, dividends, and cash from friends and relatives.
• In-kind income: shelter you get for free or for less than its fair market value.
• Deemed income: part of the income of a spouse you live with, or of a noncitizen's sponsor.

The math works in two steps. First SSA subtracts the income it does not count from your total income; what is left is your countable income. Then it subtracts your countable income from the federal benefit rate. The result is your SSI payment. In SSA's examples, the first $20 of income is not counted, and for earnings, SSA also does not count the first $65 and one half of earnings over $65 in a month.

SSA's handbook shows two examples using the 2026 rate of $994:

The comparison shows why work is treated more gently than other income. A person with $317 in wages keeps more SSI than a person with a $300 Social Security check. For someone 65 or older with a small Social Security benefit, the first example is the common case: each dollar of Social Security above the first $20 reduces SSI by a dollar, so the two payments together come to roughly the federal benefit rate plus $20.

Many things do not count as income at all. SSA's list includes SNAP benefits, income tax refunds, home energy assistance, state or local assistance based on need, small amounts of income received irregularly or infrequently, food or shelter based on need from nonprofit agencies, loans you have to repay, and money someone else spends on your expenses other than shelter, such as paying your phone or medical bills.

Where you live changes the amount

Living arrangements are the rule that catches the most people by surprise. If someone else pays for your shelter, SSA counts that help as income, called in-kind support and maintenance. Since September 30, 2024, food no longer counts; only shelter does, which includes rent, mortgage and utilities such as electricity and heating fuel.

SSA may reduce your SSI when you:

• Live in another person's home and pay less than your fair share of the housing costs.
• Live in your own home and someone else pays all or part of your rent, mortgage, electricity or heating fuel.
• Are in a hospital or nursing home for the whole month and Medicaid pays more than half the cost of your care.

SSA does not count in-kind support if you:

• Live alone and pay for your own shelter.
• Live only with your spouse and minor children and nobody outside the household pays for your shelter.
• Live with other people and pay your share of the shelter expenses.

There is a cap on how much shelter help can reduce SSI. SSA values it at no more than one-third of the federal benefit rate plus $20, a figure it calls the presumed maximum value. For 2026 that was $351.33. SSA's handbook works through common situations at the 2026 rate:

The second example is worth reading twice. A child who wants to help a parent on SSI can pay the phone and cable bills without affecting the check, because SSA does not count help with items other than shelter. Paying the electric bill, which is a shelter cost, does reduce it. Families who understand that rule can help without costing the parent money.

If you live in someone else's household, SSA's handbook lists a lower 2026 maximum: $662.67 for an individual and $994.00 for a couple. For someone in a medical facility for the whole month where Medicaid pays more than half the cost, SSI is limited to $30 a month, plus any state supplement. If you will be in a medical institution for 90 days or less, you may be able to keep your regular SSI.

State supplements

Many states add money to the federal payment, which makes total SSI higher. SSA's handbook lists seven places that pay no supplement: Arizona, Arkansas, Mississippi, North Dakota, Tennessee, West Virginia and the Northern Mariana Islands.

In California, Hawaii, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey and Vermont, and partly in Delaware, the District of Columbia, Iowa, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island, Social Security administers the supplement, so you can ask SSA about your total. The other states pay and run their own supplements, and you contact the state for those amounts.

SSI, Medicaid, Medicare and Extra Help

SSI often opens the door to other help, which can be worth more than the payment itself:

• Medicaid. In most states, SSI recipients may be automatically eligible for Medicaid, and an SSI application is also a Medicaid application. In other states you apply separately, and SSA will direct you to the right office.
• Medicare premiums. States pay the Medicare premiums for people who get SSI if they are also eligible for Medicaid.
• Extra Help with drug costs. If you get SSI and have Medicare, you are eligible for Extra Help with prescription drug plan costs without a separate application. See our Extra Help page.
• SNAP. SSI recipients may qualify for SNAP food assistance, and you can get SNAP information and an application at your local Social Security office. In some states the SSI application can serve as a SNAP application if you live alone.

If your income or savings are a little too high for SSI, the Medicare Savings Programs may still help pay Medicare premiums, and our guide to help paying for Medicare walks through all of the options.

How to apply

SSA strongly recommends checking the eligibility rules before you apply, and calling 1-800-772-1213 (TTY 1-800-325-0778) if you are unsure. You can start online through SSA's SSI pages, call to make an appointment, have someone call for you, or call your local Social Security office to schedule a telephone appointment. Anyone may apply, and there is no charge.

Apply as soon as possible. SSA cannot pay benefits for periods before the effective date of your application. If you call to make an appointment and then keep it and file, SSA may use the date of your call as your filing date. If you miss the appointment without rescheduling, you have 60 days from the date you contacted SSA to submit a signed application.

SSA will fill out the forms based on what you tell it and help you get the documents you need. You have the right to a representative, to a written notice of every decision about your eligibility or payment, to examine your file, and to appeal most decisions.

When past-due SSI is large, SSA pays it in no more than three installments, six months apart, after first repaying your state for any interim assistance it gave you while you waited.

Payment dates

SSA's 2027 payment schedule says that if you get both Social Security and SSI, or you received Social Security before May 1997, Social Security is paid on the 3rd and SSI on the 1st. If a payment does not arrive on the expected date, allow three additional mailing days before contacting Social Security. The full calendar is in our 2027 payment schedule guide.

What you must report, and when

SSI is a month-by-month program, so changes in your life change your payment. You must report changes including your address, living arrangements, income (and your spouse's if you live together), resources, help with living expenses from friends or relatives, marriage or the death of a spouse or household member, eligibility for other benefits, admission to or discharge from a hospital or nursing home, and leaving the country for a full calendar month or 30 days in a row or more.

Report as soon as possible and no later than 10 days after the end of the month in which the change happened. If you don't, you may be overpaid and have to pay it back, and SSA may reduce your payment by $25 to $100 each time you fail to report or report late. Knowingly giving false information or failing to report important changes can lead to sanctions that withhold payments for 6 months, then 12, then 24.

Travel abroad

If you plan an extended trip, keep the absence rule in mind. You are ineligible for any month you are outside the U.S. for the whole month, and once you have been away for 30 consecutive days or more, you must be back for 30 consecutive days before you are eligible again. A long visit to family overseas can cost more than one month of payments.

A quick self-check

• Are you 65 or older (or blind or disabled)?
• After leaving out your home, one car, household goods and small burial funds, are your savings under $2,000 ($3,000 for a couple)?
• Is your countable income below the federal rate of $1,029 ($1,544 for a couple) in 2027, plus any state supplement?
• Have you applied for every other benefit you may be able to get?

If the answers are close, apply and let SSA decide; the rules have many exclusions, and an application costs nothing. If you are deciding when to claim regular Social Security alongside SSI, our guide to when to start Social Security and the guide to how your benefit is calculated explain the other half of the picture.