Short-Term Disability Calculator
Your pay, the policy, and who pays the premium
Your result will appear here
Fill in the fields on the left and this updates as you type.
Know what this estimate is based on
- Jurisdiction
- General mathematical model
- Scope and limitations
- Educational estimate only. Confirm the assumptions, current rules, fees, and rounding that apply to your situation before making a decision.
- Source links checked
- Jul 30, 2026
Built and regression-tested by Smart Tools Lab. It has not been individually reviewed by a licensed financial, tax, or legal professional.
How to use
- 01
Enter your normal gross pay for a week. If you are paid monthly, divide by 4.33 rather than 4, or the benefit will come out too high.
- 02
Enter the share of pay the policy replaces and any weekly cap. A cap turns a generous percentage into a much smaller number for higher earners, and the page shows how much it cuts.
- 03
Enter the elimination period in days and the weeks the benefit would run for. The elimination period pays nothing at all, and it is the part people forget when they plan for an absence.
- 04
Answer the premium question carefully: 1 if your employer pays it or it comes out of pre-tax pay, 0 if you pay it with after-tax dollars. That single answer decides whether the whole benefit is taxed.
- 05
Add any state programme benefit and the savings you could put against the shortfall, then read the week-by-week table from the first day out.
Formula
The weekly benefit is a share of pay, capped: Benefit a week before tax = the smaller of (weekly pay × replacement share, the weekly cap) Whether tax comes off depends on who paid the premium (IRS Publication 525): If the employer paid, or the premium came out of pre-tax pay, the benefit is taxable: Benefit after tax = Benefit before tax × (1 − your marginal rate) If you paid with after-tax dollars, the benefit is tax-free and the two are the same. The absence is longer than the paid part of it: Elimination period in weeks = elimination days ÷ 7 What the elimination period costs = weekly pay × those weeks Total received = Benefit after tax × benefit weeks The gap = weekly pay × (benefit weeks + elimination weeks) − Total received And savings are measured against the weekly shortfall rather than the whole absence: Weeks your savings cover = savings ÷ (weekly pay − Benefit after tax).
Example
Take $1,400 of normal gross pay a week, a policy replacing 60% with a $1,000 weekly cap, a seven-day elimination period, twelve weeks of benefit, a $22 monthly premium paid by the employer, and a 22% marginal rate, with $5,000 of savings. Sixty percent of $1,400 is $840, which is inside the $1,000 cap, so the benefit is $840 a week before tax. Because the employer pays the premium the benefit is taxable, and 22% takes $185, leaving $655 a week — a real replacement rate of 47% rather than the 60% on the policy. The elimination period pays nothing and costs $1,400 of normal pay. Twelve weeks of benefit pay $7,862 in all, against the $18,200 you would have earned across the thirteen weeks out, leaving a gap of $10,338. The $5,000 of savings covers the $745 lost each week for about 6.7 weeks. Rerunning the page with the premium paid by the employee out of after-tax dollars changes the answer sharply: the benefit is tax-free at the full $840 a week, the total over twelve weeks rises to $10,080, the gap falls to $8,120, the replacement rate returns to 60%, and the same savings stretch to 8.9 weeks. That difference is worth $2,218 across the twelve weeks, for a premium of $264 a year — which is the arithmetic behind choosing to pay the premium yourself when an employer offers the choice.
Definitions
- Elimination period
- The days at the start of a disability during which no benefit is paid, often seven or fourteen. It is unpaid time, and some policies measure it differently for an accident than for an illness.
- Replacement rate
- The share of normal pay a policy replaces, typically 60% to 70% before tax. Where the benefit is taxable the rate actually received is lower than the one on the policy.
- Weekly benefit cap
- A ceiling on the weekly payment regardless of the percentage. It bites hardest on higher earners, for whom a generous-sounding share can be cut to a much smaller sum.
- Taxable benefit
- A disability payment reported as income because the employer paid the premium, or because your premium came out of pre-tax pay through a cafeteria plan and so counts as employer-paid (IRS Publication 525).
- State disability programme
- A statutory short-term disability scheme run by a state. Only California, Hawaii, New Jersey, New York and Rhode Island operate one; elsewhere an employer policy is the only cover available.
Good to know
What the policy replaces, and what it quietly does not
Short-term disability insurance replaces part of your income while you are unable to work because of an illness or injury that did not happen at work — a surgery and its recovery, a serious illness, or the weeks after childbirth. It is the cover people are most likely to have through an employer and least likely to have read. Policies usually replace 60% to 70% of pay, subject to a weekly cap, for a period measured in weeks. On the page's example a 60% policy on $1,400 a week pays $840, which sits inside the $1,000 cap, for twelve weeks. Two features cut the real value below the headline. The first is the cap, which bites hardest on higher earners: a generous-sounding percentage becomes a much smaller sum once a fixed weekly ceiling applies, and someone earning $2,500 a week under the same policy would receive $1,000 rather than $1,500, replacing 40% of pay before tax. The second is tax, covered in the next section. Together they mean the example's 60% policy actually replaces 47% of normal pay. Over the twelve weeks the benefit pays $7,862, against $18,200 of pay across the thirteen weeks out, leaving a gap of $10,338. The policy also replaces income only. It pays nothing towards the medical bills arriving from the same illness, and your health plan's deductible and out-of-pocket maximum apply exactly as they would otherwise — which is why an episode that triggers a disability claim usually triggers a large medical bill in the same months. Planning for one without the other is the common mistake.
Who paid the premium decides whether the benefit is taxed
The single most consequential fact about a short-term disability benefit is one most people never check: who paid the premium. Publication 525 sets out the rule plainly. Amounts received for personal injury or sickness through an accident or health plan paid for by an employer must be reported as income. If you paid the premiums yourself, the benefits you receive are not taxable. Where both of you pay, only the part attributable to the employer's payments is income. There is a trap in the middle that catches a great many people. If your premium is deducted from pay before tax through a cafeteria plan, Publication 525 says that because the premium was not included in your income you are not considered to have paid it — and the benefit is taxable just as if the employer had paid. Pre-tax at work therefore means taxed when you claim. The effect is large relative to the sums involved. On the page's example the employer pays, so 22% takes $185 from the $840 weekly benefit and leaves $655. Rerunning it with the employee paying the same premium with after-tax dollars leaves the full $840: the total over twelve weeks rises from $7,862 to $10,080, the gap against normal pay falls from $10,338 to $8,120, and the replacement rate returns to the 60% on the policy. That tax advantage is worth $2,218 across the twelve weeks, bought for $264 a year of premium. Where an employer offers the choice between paying the premium pre-tax or post-tax, this is the arithmetic behind it, and post-tax is usually the better trade for anyone who thinks a claim is plausible. The small certain cost buys a much larger benefit exactly when income has stopped.
The elimination period is the part nobody plans for
Every short-term disability policy has an elimination period: days at the start of an absence during which nothing is paid at all. Seven or fourteen days is typical, and it is not a formality. On the page's example seven days costs $1,400 of normal pay before the first payment ever arrives, and that money is simply gone. Because the elimination period sits at the very start of an absence, it lands at the worst possible moment — the week of a surgery or a diagnosis, when other costs are also appearing. The page adds it to the benefit weeks when measuring the gap, because thirteen weeks away from work is what actually has to be funded, not twelve. Some policies measure the period differently for an accident than for an illness, and some start it from the first day of treatment rather than the first day out, so the definition is worth reading. Two things fill the gap. Paid sick leave or accrued time off can usually be used across the elimination period, and that is almost always the cheapest way to cover it, which is a good reason not to run a leave balance down to nothing if you can help it. The other is savings, and here the page makes an uncomfortable point. The shortfall on the example is $745 a week once the taxed benefit is counted, so $5,000 of savings lasts about 6.7 weeks against a thirteen-week absence. With a tax-free benefit the shortfall falls to $560 a week and the same savings stretch to 8.9 weeks. Either way the money runs out before the absence does. For most households the useful conclusion is that the emergency fund needs to be larger, rather than that the policy needs to be richer, because the fund covers every other interruption too.
State programmes, and where long-term cover takes over
In most of the United States an employer policy is the only short-term disability cover there is, and someone without one has no wage replacement at all for an illness that keeps them off work. Five states run their own statutory programmes, and the terms differ sharply. California pays 70% to 90% of wages depending on income, to a maximum of $1,765 a week, for up to 52 weeks. New Jersey pays 85% of the average weekly wage to a maximum of $1,119 a week in 2026, for up to 26 weeks after an unpaid waiting week. New York pays 50% of the average weekly wage to a maximum of just $170 a week after a seven-day waiting period, for at most 26 weeks in any 52 — a figure set in statute long ago and now far below what most people earn, which is why New Yorkers should not assume the state programme is meaningful cover. Hawaii pays 58% of average weekly wages for up to 26 weeks. Rhode Island operates a programme as well. Where a state benefit and a private policy both exist, the private policy usually offsets what the state pays rather than stacking on top of it, so read both documents before assuming they add together. Beyond these weeks lies a different product. Long-term disability starts where short-term cover stops, commonly after 90 or 180 days, and can run for years or to retirement age. It is a separate policy at a separate price, and it covers by far the larger financial risk: a few weeks off work is a budgeting problem, while a permanent inability to earn is a life-changing one. Anyone reviewing short-term cover should check the long-term policy at the same time, along with the definition of disability each one uses and how pre-existing conditions are treated.
Frequently asked questions
Is short-term disability taxable?
It depends on who paid the premium. Publication 525 says amounts received for personal injury or sickness through an accident or health plan paid for by an employer must be reported as income. If you paid the premiums yourself, the benefits are not taxable. On the page's example the employer pays, so a $840 weekly benefit is taxed at 22% and lands as $655. Rerunning it with the employee paying leaves the full $840, lifting the total over twelve weeks from $7,862 to $10,080.
What if my premium comes out of pre-tax pay?
Then the benefit is taxable, the same as if the employer paid. Publication 525 closes this loophole explicitly: where the premium ran through a cafeteria plan and was not included in your income, you are not considered to have paid the premiums, and the benefits are taxable. Paying with pre-tax dollars at work therefore buys a small saving now and a much larger tax bill exactly when you can least afford it. Where you and your employer split the premium, only the part due to the employer's payments is income.
How much does short-term disability actually pay?
Less than the headline percentage suggests, once tax and the cap are counted. On the example a 60% policy on $1,400 a week pays $840 before tax, but because the employer paid the premium it is taxed, so the real replacement rate is 47% of normal pay rather than 60%. Over twelve weeks it pays $7,862. Against the $18,200 you would have earned across the thirteen weeks out, that leaves a gap of $10,338.
What is an elimination period?
The days at the start of an absence during which the policy pays nothing. On the example seven days costs $1,400 of normal pay before the first payment ever arrives. It is not a formality — it is the reason an emergency fund matters even for someone with good cover. Sick leave or paid time off can often be used across the elimination period, which is usually the cheapest way to fill it, and some policies measure the period differently for an accident than for an illness.
Does my state run its own programme?
Probably not — only five do, and in the rest an employer policy is the only cover. California pays 70% to 90% of wages depending on income, to a maximum of $1,765 a week for up to 52 weeks. New Jersey pays 85% of the average weekly wage to a maximum of $1,119 a week in 2026, for up to 26 weeks after an unpaid waiting week. New York pays 50% of the average weekly wage to a maximum of just $170 a week after a seven-day wait, for at most 26 weeks in any 52. Hawaii pays 58% of average weekly wages for up to 26 weeks. Rhode Island runs a programme too.
Will savings cover the gap?
On the example, not for long. The shortfall is $745 a week once the taxed benefit is counted, so $5,000 of savings lasts about 6.7 weeks against a thirteen-week absence. If you paid the premium yourself the benefit is tax-free, the shortfall falls to $560 a week and the same savings stretch to 8.9 weeks. Either way the savings run out before the absence does, which is the case for making the emergency fund larger rather than the policy richer.
How is this different from long-term disability?
By how long it lasts and how much is at stake. Short-term cover handles weeks — twelve on the example — while long-term disability starts where it stops, often after 90 or 180 days, and can run for years or to retirement. They are separate policies at separate prices, and the long-term one covers the far larger risk. A short-term benefit also replaces income only: it pays nothing towards the medical bills arriving from the same illness, and your plan's deductible and out-of-pocket maximum still apply.