How Much Does Disability Pay? 2024 Guide

Disability insurance can be purchased from insurance companies. You may get disability coverage through your employer as a workplace benefit or could purchase a policy yourself. Depending on the terms of your policy, it could cover short-term disabilities, long-term disabilities or both.

The specifics of your insurance policy dictate the answer to the question, how much does disability pay if you have private insurance coverage.

In most cases, long-term disability policies replace between 40% to 65% of pre-tax earnings. Policies that replace a larger percentage of your income cost more. If you’re a high earner, there may also be a cap on the total amount of money the policy will provide.

You must purchase private disability insurance before becoming disabled in order for your policy to cover you and provide any payments.

A small minority of states offer disability insurance programs and benefits vary by state.

In California, for example, the California State Disability Insurance program (SDI program) offers short-term disability benefits to eligible employees who can’t work due to pregnancy, family leave or a non-work-related illness or injury. The program pays out about 60% to 70% of your wages.

Check with your state’s Department of Labor or Benefits.gov to find out if you are eligible for state disability insurance and to discover how much it pays if you cannot work and qualify for benefits.

If you get hurt on the job, you may be entitled to workers’ compensation disability benefits. These pay a percentage of lost wages, with the specifics depending on your state’s rules and whether your injury is permanent or temporary and is full or partial.

In Florida, for example, if you become permanently totally disabled, you could receive 66.7% of average weekly wages during the time your disability persists if you cannot engage in “at least sedentary” employment.

Check with your state’s Department of Workers’ Compensation to find out the exact specifics of how much you will receive in disability benefits. It’s important to note these benefits are available through your employer regardless of whether the company was negligent in any way in contributing to the injuries you sustained.

Social Security Disability benefits are another source of disability income. These benefits are available through the Social Security Administration. Because they are federal benefits, the rules and potential payouts are the same across the country.

Many people end up relying on these benefits if their state doesn’t offer disability coverage, they didn’t get hurt at work and they didn’t have a disability insurance policy in place before becoming sick or injured.

Social Security Disability benefits can come from one of two programs; Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI). The amount of income the disability benefits provide varies by program.

You can qualify for SSDI only if you’ve worked long enough and paid enough Social Security taxes into the Social Security system. The money you receive is based on a percent of average wages earned during the time that you were working before becoming disabled. The maximum benefit as of 2023 is $3,627 monthly but many people receive less than this amount.

SSI, in comparison, doesn’t require any specific work history, but it is a means-tested benefits program so you cannot get any benefits from it if you have too much household income or too many financial resources (more than $2,000 in countable resources for individuals or more than $3,000 for couples). As of 2023, your maximum benefit is $914 if you’re an individual or $1,371 if you are an eligible individual and your spouse is also eligible. If you have “countable” income from other sources, this benefit is reduced.

According to the Social Security Administration, the average benefit for all disabled workers in 2023 is $1,483, up from $1,364 in 2022.

As you can see, it can be complicated to answer the question, how much does disability pay, since it depends on which disability benefit program(s) you can take advantage of. It’s best to work with an experienced disability benefits lawyer to ensure you get the maximum benefits when an injury or an illness prevents you from being able to work.

You need to make sure you qualify for the disability benefits program you are applying for. And, in many cases, it can be hard to prove eligibility. Many SSI and SSDI claims, for example, are initially denied. And sometimes workers’ comp insurers deny a claim or disagree on the extent of your disability.

To make sure you can prove you are entitled to benefits, and to ensure you apply for all programs you’re eligible for, it’s best to talk with an experienced disability benefits lawyer as soon as you get sick or hurt and become unable to work as a result. Your attorney will help you ensure you receive the funds you need to have a secure financial future even when you can’t get a paycheck.