SSDI Work Credits: What Maryland Residents Need

Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) is an earned benefit, not a welfare program. To qualify, you must have worked and paid Social Security taxes for a sufficient period. The Social Security Administration (SSA) measures this work history through a system called work credits. Understanding how many credits you need — and how they are calculated — is one of the first steps in determining whether you are eligible to file an SSDI claim in Maryland.

What Are Work Credits and How Are They Earned?

Work credits are the SSA's unit of measurement for your employment history. Each year you work and pay Social Security payroll taxes (FICA), you can earn up to four work credits. The dollar amount required to earn one credit changes annually based on wage increases. In 2025, you earn one credit for every $1,810 in covered earnings, meaning you reach the maximum of four credits per year after earning $7,240.

It does not matter whether you earned those wages in January or spread them across the entire year — once you hit the threshold, you receive the credit. Credits accumulate over your lifetime and never expire, though as explained below, their relevance to your SSDI eligibility does depend on how recently you worked.

Self-employed workers in Maryland are also subject to this system. If you pay self-employment tax on net earnings of $400 or more, those earnings count toward work credits just as wages from an employer would.

How Many Credits Do You Need to Qualify for SSDI?

The total number of work credits required depends on your age at the time you become disabled. The SSA applies two separate tests:

• The Duration Test: You must have earned a minimum total number of credits over your working life.
• The Recency Test: You must have earned a certain number of credits in the years immediately before your disability onset date.

For most adults who become disabled at age 31 or older, the standard rule is that you need 40 total work credits, with 20 of those earned in the 10 years immediately before you became disabled. This effectively means you must have worked roughly five out of the last ten years.

Younger workers face less stringent requirements because they have had less time to accumulate credits:

• Disabled before age 24: You need only 6 credits earned in the 3-year period ending when your disability began.
• Disabled between ages 24 and 30: You need credits for half the time between age 21 and the date your disability started.
• Disabled at age 31 or older: You generally need 40 credits, with 20 earned in the last 10 years.

This tiered structure means a 26-year-old Maryland resident who becomes disabled after five years of work may qualify, while a 45-year-old who stopped working a decade ago may not — even if that older worker has far more lifetime credits.

Maryland-Specific Considerations for Work Credit Eligibility

Maryland residents are subject to the same federal SSA rules as every other state. However, several factors specific to Maryland's economy and workforce deserve attention.

Maryland has a large population of federal government employees, particularly in the Baltimore-Washington corridor. Most federal workers hired after 1983 are covered under the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) and do pay Social Security taxes, meaning their federal service counts toward SSDI work credits. Workers hired before 1984 under the older Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) may not have paid into Social Security and could find themselves without sufficient credits despite decades of public service.

Maryland also has a significant number of workers employed by state and local government agencies. Some of these positions are covered by Social Security; others are not. If you worked for a Maryland county, municipality, or school district, verify whether your employer withheld Social Security taxes from your paycheck. If not, that period of employment likely did not generate work credits.

Additionally, workers in the gig economy — a growing sector in Maryland's urban areas — must ensure they are properly filing self-employment taxes. Failing to report gig income means missing out on work credits that could determine your SSDI eligibility years later.

What Happens If You Don't Have Enough Work Credits?

Falling short of the required work credits does not necessarily leave you without options. Two primary alternatives exist:

Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is a needs-based program that does not require work credits. SSI is available to disabled individuals with limited income and resources, regardless of work history. In Maryland, SSI recipients may also receive additional state supplement payments through the Maryland Department of Human Services, which can modestly increase monthly benefit amounts beyond the federal SSI baseline.

Disabled Adult Child (DAC) benefits allow an adult who became disabled before age 22 to receive SSDI based on a parent's work record, even if the disabled adult has never worked. This can be a critical lifeline for Maryland residents with early-onset conditions whose parents are retired, disabled, or deceased.

If you are close to meeting the work credit threshold but not quite there, it may also be worth reviewing your complete earnings history. The SSA's records are not infallible, and wages are sometimes misreported or omitted. Requesting your Social Security Statement through the SSA's online portal allows you to verify your recorded earnings year by year. Discrepancies can often be corrected with pay stubs, W-2 forms, or employer records.

Protecting Your Work Credits: Planning Ahead

If you have a progressive or degenerative condition and are still able to work part-time, continuing to work — even in a reduced capacity — can preserve your eligibility window. Each year you continue earning credits pushes your Date Last Insured (DLI) further into the future. The DLI is the deadline by which you must establish disability onset to qualify for SSDI benefits based on your current credit total.

Missing your DLI is one of the most consequential and irreversible errors in SSDI claims. A Maryland applicant whose DLI has passed cannot simply apply and hope the SSA overlooks the gap. The onset date must be proven to fall before that cutoff, which often requires detailed medical records, treating physician statements, and in some cases, the testimony of vocational or medical experts.

Working with an experienced disability attorney before filing — or even before your DLI passes — can help you document your condition thoroughly, avoid procedural errors, and build the strongest possible case. Maryland claimants who are represented by an attorney at the hearing level are statistically more likely to receive a favorable decision from an Administrative Law Judge.

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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