How Many Work Credits You Need for SSDI

Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) is not a welfare program — it is an insurance program you pay into through your paycheck. Before the Social Security Administration (SSA) will consider paying you benefits, you must first demonstrate that you have worked enough and recently enough to qualify. That threshold is measured in work credits, and understanding exactly how they are calculated can mean the difference between an approved claim and a denial before your case is even reviewed on the merits.

What Are Work Credits and How Are They Earned?

The SSA uses work credits as a standardized way to measure your work history under Social Security. You earn credits based on your total wages or self-employment income during the year. In 2024, you earn one credit for every $1,730 in covered earnings, up to a maximum of four credits per year.

The dollar threshold adjusts slightly each year to account for wage growth, so the exact figure changes annually. What never changes is the cap: no matter how much you earn, you cannot accumulate more than four credits in a single calendar year. This means the fastest anyone can build work credits is four per year.

For Texas workers, nearly all employment is covered under Social Security. Government employees hired before 1984 may be in a separate retirement system and may have gaps in their Social Security record — a detail that catches many Texas state and municipal employees off guard when they apply for SSDI.

The General Rule: 40 Credits, 20 Recent

For most adults who become disabled, the SSA requires 40 total work credits, with at least 20 of those earned in the 10-year period immediately before you became disabled. Because the maximum is four credits per year, 40 credits represents roughly a 10-year work history, and the 20 recent credits represent approximately five years of work out of the last ten.

This is often called the "20/40 rule," and it exists to ensure that SSDI benefits go to workers who have a meaningful, recent connection to the workforce. Someone who worked steadily in their 20s, stopped entirely, and then became disabled at 55 may find they no longer qualify — even if they accumulated far more than 40 lifetime credits — simply because their recent work history has lapsed.

• 40 total credits required for most applicants over age 31
• 20 credits in the last 10 years (the "recent work" test)
• Credits do not expire, but your insured status does
• Your Date Last Insured (DLI) marks the deadline by which you must prove disability onset

Your Date Last Insured is a critical concept. If you stopped working in 2020 and your DLI is December 31, 2025, you must prove that your disabling condition began on or before that date. Missing this window is one of the most common — and most devastating — procedural errors in SSDI cases.

Reduced Credit Requirements for Younger Workers

The SSA recognizes that younger workers have not had the opportunity to accumulate 40 credits, so the rules scale down with age. If you become disabled before age 31, you qualify under a modified formula:

• Under age 24: You need only 6 credits earned in the 3-year period ending when your disability began
• Ages 24 through 30: You need credits for half the time between age 21 and the date you became disabled
• Age 31 and older: The standard 20/40 rule applies, with the total credits required increasing gradually up to the maximum of 40

A 26-year-old Texas construction worker injured in a serious accident, for example, would need credits for roughly half the years between age 21 and 26 — meaning approximately 10 to 12 credits, not the full 40 required of older applicants. These reduced thresholds exist because it would be fundamentally unfair to deny benefits to young workers who simply have not had the time to build a longer work history.

How to Check Your Work Credits Before Filing

Before investing time and energy into an SSDI application, confirm that you actually meet the insured status requirement. The SSA makes this straightforward:

• Create or log into your account at ssa.gov/myaccount to view your Social Security Statement
• Your statement shows your complete earnings record and your current insured status
• Call the SSA directly at 1-800-772-1213 to speak with a representative
• Visit your nearest SSA field office — Texas has offices in Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, Austin, and dozens of other cities

Review your earnings record carefully for any gaps or errors. If an employer failed to report your wages, or if your name or Social Security number was recorded incorrectly, credits you legitimately earned may be missing from your record. Correcting these errors requires documentation — pay stubs, W-2s, or tax returns — and is far easier to resolve before you file than after a denial.

If you are self-employed in Texas, your credits depend entirely on whether you properly reported your net self-employment income on your federal tax returns. Under-reporting income to reduce taxes — a common but short-sighted practice — can quietly eliminate the SSDI coverage you may desperately need later.

What Happens If You Do Not Have Enough Credits

Failing the work credits test means automatic disqualification from SSDI regardless of how severe your disability is. However, this is not the end of all options. Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is a separate, needs-based program that does not require any work history. SSI has strict income and asset limits but can provide monthly benefits to disabled individuals who never worked or who did not accumulate sufficient credits.

In Texas, SSI recipients automatically qualify for Medicaid, which provides health coverage that can be equally or more valuable than the monthly cash payment itself. For Texans who fall short on work credits, SSI applications can be filed simultaneously with an SSDI application, and the SSA will evaluate both programs when it processes your claim.

Additionally, if you have a spouse or ex-spouse (marriage of at least 10 years) who has sufficient work credits, you may qualify for disabled widow(er)'s benefits or disabled divorced spouse benefits under different rules — an option many Texans overlook entirely.

Work credits also affect your dependents. If you are approved for SSDI, your minor children and, in some cases, your spouse may qualify for auxiliary benefits based on your earnings record — additional monthly payments that can significantly impact your household's financial stability during a period of disability.

Understanding the work credit rules is the essential first step in any SSDI case. An experienced disability attorney can pull your earnings record, calculate your Date Last Insured, and identify whether your onset date is documented early enough to protect your eligibility — before you file a single form.

Need Help? If you have questions about your case, call or text 833-657-4812 for a free consultation with an experienced attorney.

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