Key Findings

64%Denied

SSA denied 64 percent of the 2,246,542 initial disability applications it decided in fiscal year 2025, and approved 36 percent.

16%Approved

Only 16 percent of the 584,625 reconsideration decisions issued in FY 2025 were approvals, making reconsideration the lowest odds stage of the entire process.

50%Approved

Administrative law judges approved 50 percent of the 277,740 hearing level cases decided in FY 2025, roughly three times the approval rate at reconsideration.

283Days avg.

Across SSA's 161 local hearing offices, the average case took 283 days from hearing request to final decision in FY 2025. The median office took 273 days.

76of 161

Only 76 of SSA's 161 local hearing offices met the agency's own 270 day processing goal in FY 2025, and 44 offices averaged more than 300 days.

276Day gap

The fastest local hearing office, Jackson, Mississippi, averaged 204 days in FY 2025. The slowest, Ponce, Puerto Rico, averaged 480 days. Where you live changes your wait by more than nine months.

What Are Your Real Chances at Each Level of a Disability Claim?

Every year the Social Security Administration publishes a full accounting of how disability claims were decided at each of the five levels of the process. Most people never see it, because it lives in a workload PDF on a government server. This report puts the fiscal year 2025 numbers, the most recent full year available, in one place and keeps them updated annually. The pattern in the data has held for years, and it matters if you were just denied: the initial application and reconsideration stages deny most people, and the hearing stage approves about half. In FY 2025, a claimant who kept going to a hearing in front of an administrative law judge had triple the approval odds of a claimant at reconsideration. Giving up after a first or second denial is statistically the worst decision a person with a legitimate claim can make. Two numbers in that chart deserve a closer look. The Appeals Council approved only 1 percent of cases outright in FY 2025, but it remanded 15 percent, sending those cases back for a new hearing. And federal courts remanded 65 percent of the disability cases they decided. A remand is not a win on paper, but it is very often a win in practice, because remanded cases get a second hearing where the original error has already been identified.

How Long Will You Wait for a Hearing Decision Where You Live?

SSA's Office of Hearings Operations runs 161 local hearing offices plus two centralized national components. The agency ranks every one of them by average processing time, which is the number of days from the date a hearing is requested to the date of the final decision. SSA's own goal is 270 days. In FY 2025, less than half of local offices met it. These gaps are not trivia. A Cherry Hill claimant routed through South Jersey and a Fort Myers claimant with an identical medical file are separated by roughly four and a half months of waiting, on average, for the same federal benefit. That is time without income for people who cannot work.

What Percentage of SSDI Applications Are Approved?

SSA approved 36 percent of the 2,246,542 initial disability applications it decided in federal fiscal year 2025 and denied 64 percent. A first denial says very little about whether a claim is legitimate. Initial applications are reviewed on paper by state agency examiners, often with incomplete medical records and never with a hearing where the claimant can explain how their condition actually affects daily life.

What Percentage of Claims Win at Reconsideration?

Only 16 percent of the 584,625 reconsideration decisions SSA issued in FY 2025 were approvals, which makes reconsideration the lowest odds stage of the entire disability process. It is largely a repeat of the initial paper review by the same type of state agency. The practical takeaway is that reconsideration is a required step in most states, not the place where most valid claims get fixed.

What Are the Chances of Winning an SSDI Hearing?

Administrative law judges approved 50 percent of the 277,740 hearing level cases decided in FY 2025, and denied 33 percent, with the remainder dismissed. The hearing is the first point in the process where a human decision maker sees the claimant, hears testimony, and can weigh credibility. It is also the stage where preparation matters most: updated medical records, treating source opinions, and testimony that connects the medical evidence to the inability to work.

How Long Does an SSDI Hearing Decision Take in 2026?

Across SSA's 161 local hearing offices, the average case took 283 days from hearing request to final decision in FY 2025, and the median office took 273 days. SSA's stated goal is 270 days, and the agency reports that as of mid 2026 hearings claimants are waiting on average under nine months for a decision. Individual offices vary enormously, from 204 days in Jackson, Mississippi to 480 days in Ponce, Puerto Rico. Within the fifty states, Fresno, California was the slowest at 412 days.

Why One Denial Rarely Means One Problem

Something we see constantly in this data, and in our own cases, is that the person waiting 300 days for a hearing decision is almost never dealing with only one claim. The same injury or illness that produced the SSDI application often produced a workers' compensation claim, a short or long term disability claim, an employment law issue, or a personal injury case. We call this a DISINJURY™: a single injury or illness that triggers multiple overlapping legal claims that must be managed together, because resolving one carelessly can damage another. A workers' compensation settlement worded the wrong way can reduce SSDI benefits. An LTD policy may demand repayment out of an SSDI back award. The waiting periods in this report are exactly when those interactions get decided, whether anyone is watching them or not.

Methodology and Sources

Decision outcome figures come from SSA's Fiscal Year 2025 Workload Data: Disability Decisions, prepared by SSA's Decision Support and Strategic Information office on January 8, 2026. They include Title II (SSDI), Title XVI (SSI), and concurrent claims decided in FY 2025 regardless of filing year. Hearing office processing times come from the Hearing Office Average Processing Time Ranking Report for FY 2025, covering September 28, 2024 through September 26, 2025 across 247 workdays. Averages and counts in this report cover the 161 local hearing offices and exclude the National Adjudication Team and the Special Review Cadre, which are centralized components. SSA's 270 day goal and current national performance come from SSA's performance page. All percentages are as SSA published them and may not total 100 due to rounding. This page is updated annually when SSA releases the next fiscal year's data.

About the Law Offices of Eric A. Shore

The Law Offices of Eric A. Shore has helped tens of thousands of injured and disabled people throughout the United States since Eric Shore began practicing in 1994. The firm handles Social Security Disability and SSI claims nationwide, private long term disability claims nationwide, personal injury cases in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Florida, and Maryland, and employment law matters in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Clients of the firm have received or are expected to receive over $250 million in judgments, settlements, and estimated lifetime benefits.