The SSA’s 5-Step Evaluation: How Every Disability Claim Is Decided

Every SSDI and SSI claim runs the same 5-step sequence. Knowing where claims fail tells you exactly what evidence yours needs.

SSA 5-step evaluation — Step 1: are you working above SGA?

If you’re earning above the substantial gainful activity level — $1,690/month for non-blind individuals in 2026, per the SSA Red Book — the claim is denied before medical evidence is even reviewed.

Step 2: Is your impairment severe?

A medically determinable impairment must significantly limit basic work activities and be expected to last at least 12 months or result in death. Thin treatment records fail here — not because the condition isn’t real, but because it isn’t documented.

Step 3: Does it meet a listing?

The SSA’s Blue Book listings describe conditions severe enough to be disabling per se. Meeting a listing wins the claim at step 3 — but listings are strict, and most claims are decided later in the sequence.

Step 4: Can you do your past work?

The SSA assesses your residual functional capacity (RFC) — what you can still do — and compares it to your past relevant work. This is where treating-physician opinions about sitting, standing, lifting, and concentration carry the case.

Step 5: Can you do any other work?

Finally the SSA asks whether jobs exist in significant numbers that someone with your RFC, age, education, and skills could do. Age matters enormously here under the medical-vocational rules — the same limitations that lose at 45 can win at 55. This is also where the vocational expert testifies at hearing.