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How Long Does Disability Claim Take?Social Security Disability claims can take an extremely long time to be processed. Below you will find how long
the average processing time in days is for each Office of Disability Adjudication and Review or ODAR nationally.
Keep in mind this is how long it takes from requesting a hearing until a decision is made and does not include the application
and reconsideration process.
In July of 2007 the claims backlog for SSDI and SSI cases was at its highest mark ever reaching 749,224 cases. The information below should help give you an idea of how long it takes to get a decision at the hearing level. The national average is 528 days. As of 5/30/08 a new report was published with an update on processing times at the hearing level. The new national average is 523 days. As you can see the average time it takes at hearing has not improved all that much from the last report. In fact, it appears there has only been a 5 day decrease in processing times nationally. I will show the new average time it takes at hearing next to the last published results to show the increase or decrease in wait times at the individual hearing offices. As you can see some ODAR offices have had some substantial improvement while others have gotten worse. There are so many factors involved that it can not be assumed that an ODAR with a very long wait time is inefficient. Some offices deal with a substantially higher case load than others. I am providing this information because one of the most frequently asked questions I get is how long does it take? Keep in mind these are averages and every individual case is different. SSA is working on ways to decrease the processing time of cases and a special emphasis has been placed on extremely aged cases. As part of the economic stimulus package Social Security is expected to receive additional funding which they will use to hire new employees and open new hearing offices to help reduce the time it takes for a case to be processed at the hearing level. By the year 2010 there will be a total of four National Hearing Centers (NHC). The purpose of these NHC's is to hold a majority of their hearings by video conference across the nation to help reduce the backlogs in the areas experiencing the biggest delays in hearing processing time. There is also plans to open 13 new ODAR offices across the nation. I will be updating the wait times at the hearing level at a later time to help show if these changes are having any effect on the backlog.Try not to be discouraged by the numbers you see here and do the best you can to stay patient. I am posting these statistics so that you can prepare yourself for the long delays that occur in a Social Security Disability or SSI claim. Sorry for the uneven columns as this was done by hand. ODAR Hearing Processing Times
RANK HEARING OFFICE
PROCESSING TIME New Processing Times month ending 05/30/08 NEW
RANK
2 Charleston 276 330 8 3 Harrisburg 277 295 1 4 Middllesboro 280 530 94 5 Tupelo 340 559 105 6 Huntington 353 351 15 7 Morgantown 361 383 26 8 Portland 362 314 5 9 Springfield 365 609 114 10 Charlottesville 374 444 52 10 Roanoke 374 368 20 12 White Plains 378 425 45 13 Boston 379 369 21 14 Evanston 381 488 74 15 Chattanooga 384 425 45 15 Kingsport 384 379 24 17 New Haven 386 383 26 18 Manchester 390 439 49 19 Las Vegas 393 347 13 20 Louisville 394 521 90 21 Fort Smith 396 449 55 22 Billings 397 390 32 23 Tucson 404 461 62 24 Washington 405 330 8 25 Elkins Park 408 416 42 26 Orlando 409 502 82 27 McAlester 412 462 63 28 Creve Coeur 418 513 87 28 Salt Lake City 418 339 11 30 Oklahoma City 419 371 22 31 Florence 422 556 103 32 Long Beach 424 459 60 33 Norfolk 427 442 51 34 Orange 429 358 19 35 Downey 430 407 39 35 Providence 430 342 12 37 Shreveport 431 396 35 38 Eugene 436 470 65 40 New York 439 545 98 41 Dover 440 352 16 42 San Bernardino 441 393 33 42 Wilkes Barre 441 400 36 44 Houston Downtown 445 328 7 45 Richmond 446 352 16 46 Hattiesburg 449 529 93 47 Los Angeles Downtown 451 380 25 48 Memphis 456 480 70 49 Philadelphia 460 386 29 50 Honolulu 462 297 2 51 Sacramento 463 337 10 52 Fresno 464 384 28 53 Johnstown 468 402 37 53 Paducah 468 484 72 53 Ponce 468 550 100 56 Mobile 469 506 86 57 Tulsa 470 446 54 58 Santa Barbara 472 408 40 58 Stockton 472 327 6 60 Lexington 473 451 58 61 Oakland 474 504 84 62 Hartford 477 386 29 64 Voorhees 479 554 101 65 Jericho 480 554 101 66 Charleston 481 583 111 66 Macon 481 541 97 68 Fargo 482 472 66 69 Denver 483 440 50 70 Newark 484 519 88 71 Dallas Downtown 487 460 61 71 Little Rock 487 497 80 73 New Orleans 489 376 23 74 Raleigh 490 550 99 75 Alexandria 498 490 75 76 Philadelphia East 500 353 18 77 St. Louis 504 475 67 78 Syracuse 507 612 115 79 Colorado Springs 511 450 57 79 Wichita 511 505 85 81 Knoxville 512 503 83 82 Phoenix 521 476 68 83 West Des Moines 523 528 92 84 Minneapolis 525 618 116 85 Albuquerque 530 491 76 86 Spokane 531 480 70 87 Metairie 532 495 79 88 Brooklyn 536 500 81 89 Pittsburgh 537 444 52 90 San Antonio 544 454 59 91 Springfield 548 430 48 92 Columbia 551 565 106 92 Ft. Lauderdale 551 388 31 94 Los Angeles West 557 405 38 94 San Jose 557 419 44 96 Birmingham 568 618 116 96 San Diego 568 602 113 98 Montgomery 579 586 112 99 Albany 584 556 103 100 Baltimore 589 494 78 101 Evansville 590 704 135 102 Bronx 591 577 109 103 Chicago 593 575 108 104 Houston-Bissonnet 594 491 76 104 Savannah 594 538 96 106 Orlando Park 600 634 119 107 Seattle 602 567 107 108 Jacksonville 604 519 88 109 Portland 605 679 129 110 Pasadena 610 449 55 111 Greensboro 611 710 136 111 Omaha 611 630 118 113 Flint 612 724 138 113 Greenville 612 827 145 115 San Juan 614 395 34 116 Tampa 615 682 131 117 Fort Wayne 624 638 122 118 Queens 633 462 63 118 San Rafael 633 426 47 120 Cleveland 634 673 128 121 Cincinnati 637 637 121 122 Detroit 651 673 128 122 Madison 651 680 130 122 Milwaukee 651 634 119 125 Charlotte 658 643 125 126 Dallas North 675 487 73 127 Oak Park 676 727 139 128 Kansas City 680 688 132 129 Oak Brook 687 758 142 130 Jackson 694 740 141 131 Buffalo 709 665 127 132 Grand Rapids 716 642 123 133 Mayaguez 717 300 4 134 Dayton 719 738 140 134 Peoria 719 688 132 136 Miami 740 652 126 137 Lansing 742 716 137 138 San Francisco 767 411 41 139 Indianapolis 836 815 144 140 Columbus 881 702 134 141 Atlanta North 900 838 146 142 Atlanta
973
773
143 Source: NOSSCR Social Security Forum |
