How long does a Social Security disability appeal take?
Social Security appeals — Social Security disability appeals in federal court — take a median of 1.0 years from filing to resolution, based on 204,499 real cases in the public federal court record. Most resolve between 240 days and 1.6 years — here's the full picture.
Filing to termination · 204,499 cases · median 367 days
How Social Security disability appeal cases end
Of 184,471 resolved cases — the observed record, not a prediction of any one case.
Social Security appeals duration by court
Median time to resolution in the districts with the most Social Security disability appeal cases.
| District | Cases | Median | Slowest 10% |
|---|---|---|---|
| C.D. Cal. | 10,461 | 324d | 1.5 yr |
| M.D. Fla. | 8,438 | 1.1 yr | 1.5 yr |
| W.D. Wash. | 7,081 | 232d | 355d |
| E.D. Cal. | 5,881 | 1.2 yr | 1.8 yr |
| N.D. Ill. | 5,639 | 1.1 yr | 2.6 yr |
| N.D. Ohio | 5,337 | 328d | 1.4 yr |
| S.D.N.Y. | 5,195 | 305d | 1.6 yr |
| S.D. Ohio | 4,747 | 1.0 yr | 1.6 yr |
| E.D.N.Y. | 4,501 | 338d | 2.2 yr |
| W.D. Mo. | 3,998 | 357d | 1.4 yr |
| D.N.J. | 3,954 | 1.1 yr | 2.0 yr |
| D. Ariz. | 3,651 | 1.0 yr | 1.5 yr |
| D. Md. | 3,566 | 328d | 1.3 yr |
| N.D. Ga. | 3,512 | 1.2 yr | 1.6 yr |
| E.D. Mich. | 3,428 | 1.1 yr | 1.5 yr |
Have a specific Social Security disability appeal?
These are averages across every Social Security disability appeal. For a forecast tuned to your case — your court, your amount, your posture — get a free estimate, or the full report built from your complaint.
Other case types
Source: data/fjc/civil.parquet (Federal Judicial Center), cleaned by Tertius · model tertius-acta-3. Durations are filing to termination for U.S. federal civil cases. This is observed historical data, not a prediction of any specific case, and not legal advice. Tertius forecasts timing and disposition, never merits or damages.