SSI Countable Income Calculation Nevada

The SSI Earned Income Formula

The Social Security Administration uses a specific formula to calculate how earned income reduces an SSI payment. It's predictable once you understand the steps, but families who don't know the formula often assume any earnings will eliminate their benefits entirely — which isn't true.

For 2026, the SSI Federal Benefit Rate is $994/month for an individual. Here's how earned income reduces that payment:

1. Subtract the $20 general income exclusion (this applies to any income, earned or unearned — if there's no unearned income, it applies to earned income first)
2. Subtract the $65 earned income exclusion
3. Subtract any Impairment-Related Work Expenses (IRWE) — these are out-of-pocket costs for items or services the person needs specifically because of their disability in order to work (medications, specialized transportation, attendant care at work)
4. Divide the remainder by 2 — SSA only counts half of remaining earned income

The result is countable earned income. Your SSI payment equals the Federal Benefit Rate minus countable income.

Example: A young adult in Nevada earns $800/month at a supported employment job. They spend $50/month on specialized transportation to work (an allowable IRWE).

• $800 − $20 (general exclusion) = $780
• $780 − $65 (earned income exclusion) = $715
• $715 − $50 (IRWE) = $665
• $665 ÷ 2 = $332.50 countable earned income
• SSI payment: $994 − $332.50 = $661.50

Total monthly income: $800 wages + $661.50 SSI = $1,461.50 — substantially more than the $994 SSI-only payment.

The Student Earned-Income Exclusion

Working students under age 22 who regularly attend school or a transition program get an even larger exclusion. The Student Earned-Income Exclusion lets them exclude up to $2,410/month of earnings in 2026, up to an annual maximum of $9,730. The SEIE is applied before the standard $65 earned income exclusion.

For a student earning $1,500/month, the entire amount would be excluded under SEIE (since it's below the $2,410 monthly cap), resulting in zero countable earned income and a full $994 SSI payment. This makes the SEIE one of the most powerful tools for transition-age youth entering the workforce.

The exclusion applies to students in high school, college, vocational programs, or state-recognized transition programs like CCSD's POST and PACE programs. It ends when the student turns 22 or stops attending school — whichever comes first.

Unearned Income Rules

Unearned income (Social Security benefits, DAC payments, pensions, interest, gifts) follows a simpler and harsher formula: after the $20 general income exclusion, every dollar of unearned income reduces the SSI payment dollar-for-dollar.

This is where Disabled Adult Child benefits create a coordination challenge. When a parent retires, becomes disabled, or dies, a disabled adult child can receive DAC benefits on the parent's Social Security record. But because DAC counts as unearned income, a DAC payment of $1,000/month would reduce SSI by $980 ($1,000 minus the $20 exclusion). If the DAC payment exceeds $994 + $20, it eliminates the SSI cash benefit entirely.

The critical protection: even if DAC payments push SSI to zero, the individual qualifies for continued Medicaid coverage under the DAC Medicaid protection provision. In Nevada, because it's an SSI Criteria State, the family must proactively report this transition to DWSS to ensure the person is correctly placed in the protected MAABD category rather than being erroneously terminated.

When Earnings Get Close to the Limit

The Substantial Gainful Activity threshold for 2026 is $1,690/month for non-blind individuals. If a person's earnings consistently exceed this amount, SSA may determine they're engaging in SGA, which can lead to a finding that they're no longer disabled for SSI purposes.

But earning above SGA doesn't trigger immediate termination. The Trial Work Period applies primarily to SSDI and allows someone receiving SSDI (or concurrently receiving SSDI and SSI) to test their ability to work for up to nine months within a rolling 60-month window. In 2026, any month with earnings above $1,210 counts as a TWP month. During the TWP, SSDI benefits continue under the TWP rules; any concurrent SSI payment is still calculated under SSI's income rules.

Separately, Section 1619(b) provides a safety net specific to SSI recipients: even when SSI cash payments drop to zero because of earnings, Medicaid coverage can continue if the person still meets the disability and other non-disability requirements and has annual gross earnings below Nevada's 1619(b) threshold — $49,629 in 2026.

Protecting Resources While Working

Once earnings are retained, they can count toward the $2,000 SSI resource limit — unless they're sheltered. SSA measures countable resources at the first moment of each month; a paycheck received later in the month is treated under income rules for the month received, and unspent money may count as a resource at the following month's determination. The two main options in Nevada:

• ABLE account: the first $100,000 is excluded from the resource limit. A working person can contribute up to $20,000/year (or up to $35,960 with the ABLE-to-Work enhancement if they don't have an employer retirement plan).
• Special Needs Trust: assets held in a properly structured SNT are excluded from countable resources. First-party trusts require Medicaid payback at death; third-party trusts do not.

Understanding the income formula is essential, but it's one piece of a larger coordination challenge when transitioning to adult benefits in Nevada. The Nevada SSI at 18 & Adult Disability Benefits Guide walks through how income calculations interact with the separate Medicaid application, ABLE accounts, and work-incentive programs in a single planning sequence.

See more Nevada guides →