How the SSA Decides Disability: The 5-Step Sequential Evaluation
The SSA uses a structured, five-step process — called the sequential evaluation — to decide whether an adult is disabled. Understanding these steps demystifies decisions and helps you see which parts of your file matter most.
Step 1: Are you working above SGA?
The SSA first checks whether you are performing 'substantial gainful activity' (SGA). In 2026, the SGA threshold is a specific monthly earnings amount published by the SSA. Earnings above SGA typically end the analysis with a denial, with some exceptions for blindness and trial work periods.
Step 2: Is your condition 'severe'?
The SSA next asks whether you have a medically determinable impairment that significantly limits basic work activities and has lasted, or will last, at least 12 months. This is a low bar — but the impairment must be documented by acceptable medical evidence.
Step 3: Do you meet or equal a Listing?
The SSA maintains the 'Listing of Impairments,' a catalog of medical criteria that, if met, automatically qualify you as disabled. Meeting a Listing exactly is difficult; many claims move past this step.
Step 4: Can you do your past work?
If you don't meet a Listing, the SSA determines your 'residual functional capacity' (RFC) — what you can still do despite your limitations — and compares it to your past relevant work over the last 15 years. If you can still do that past work, the claim is denied here.
Step 5: Can you do any other work?
If you can't do past work, the SSA looks at whether other work exists in significant numbers in the national economy that you could do, given your RFC, age, education, and work experience. Age becomes especially important here under the Medical-Vocational Guidelines (the 'grids').
- Every adult claim moves through the same five questions.
- Most claims are decided at Step 4 (past work) or Step 5 (other work).
- Your 'residual functional capacity' drives Steps 4 and 5.
- Age, education, and work experience matter more as you get older.
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