Virginia does not add a state supplement to the SSI check of someone living in their own home. If you rent an apartment, own a house, or live with family anywhere in the Commonwealth, your 2026 SSI payment is the federal amount and nothing more: up to $994 a month for an individual and $1,491 for an eligible couple. Virginia's only state supplement for aged, blind, and disabled adults is the Auxiliary Grant, and it is paid only to people living in a licensed assisted living facility, an approved adult foster care home, or a certified supportive housing setting. For 2026 the Auxiliary Grant rate is $2,130 a month statewide and $2,450 in Northern Virginia, plus an $87 personal needs allowance. That is a real zero for most Virginia SSI recipients, and it is worth knowing before you budget around a supplement that is not coming.
What Virginia Actually Pays in 2026
| Situation | 2026 monthly amount |
|---|
| SSI individual living independently in Virginia | Up to $994 (federal only, no state add-on) |
| SSI eligible couple living independently | Up to $1,491 (federal only, no state add-on) |
| Auxiliary Grant rate, most of Virginia | $2,130 |
| Auxiliary Grant rate, Planning District 8 (Northern Virginia) | $2,450 |
| Personal needs allowance for AG recipients | $87 |
| Maximum total resources counted, most of Virginia | $2,217 ($2,130 plus $87) |
| Maximum total resources counted, Northern Virginia | $2,537 ($2,450 plus $87) |
The Auxiliary Grant rate went up on January 1, 2026. According to the rate letter the Virginia Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services sent to facility owners and administrators on November 10, 2025, the statewide rate rose by $27, from $2,103 to $2,130, an increase that tracks the 2.8% Social Security cost-of-living adjustment. Rates in Planning District 8 rose from $2,418 to $2,450 because of the 15 percent Northern Virginia differential. The personal needs allowance stayed at $87.
Planning District 8 covers Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun, and Prince William counties and the cities of Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls Church, Manassas, and Manassas Park. If you are not sure which rate applies where a facility is located, your local department of social services can confirm it.
The Auxiliary Grant Is a Cost-of-Care Payment, Not a Bonus Check
Most people searching for a state supplement are picturing California or New York, where the state adds a fixed amount to the federal payment and the two arrive together in one deposit. Virginia does not work that way.
The Auxiliary Grant is an income supplement for SSI recipients, and certain other aged, blind, or disabled adults, who reside in an assisted living facility licensed by the Virginia Department of Social Services, an adult foster care home approved by a local department of social services, or a certified Auxiliary Grant supportive housing setting. Three things follow from that:
- The payment follows the placement. No qualifying setting, no Auxiliary Grant. Living alone on SSI in Roanoke or Richmond does not qualify you, no matter how low your income is.
- Most of the money never reaches your pocket. The grant plus your own income together pay the facility's approved monthly rate. What you keep for yourself is the $87 personal needs allowance.
- Your own income is applied first. The state pays the gap between your countable income and the approved rate, not a flat amount on top of it.
Here is the arithmetic. The local department of social services adds the Auxiliary Grant rate to the $87 personal needs allowance, then subtracts the income available to you from sources like SSI and Social Security.
| Example (most of Virginia) | Amount |
|---|
| AG rate plus personal needs allowance | $2,217 |
| Your income (SSI only, at the 2026 maximum) | $994 |
| Auxiliary Grant payment | About $1,223 |
| Example (Northern Virginia) | Amount |
|---|
| AG rate plus personal needs allowance | $2,537 |
| Your income (SSI only, at the 2026 maximum) | $994 |
| Auxiliary Grant payment | About $1,543 |
Someone with higher income gets a smaller grant. A person receiving $1,600 a month in Social Security disability outside Northern Virginia would see an Auxiliary Grant of roughly $617. Once your countable income reaches the rate plus the allowance, $2,217 in most of the state, there is no grant left to pay. These figures are simplified illustrations; the caseworker applies the program's own income counting rules to your specific case.
Who Qualifies for a Virginia Auxiliary Grant
To be eligible in 2026 you generally must:
- Be aged 65 or older, blind, or disabled under the standards used for SSI, and be 18 or older.
- Receive SSI, or meet SSI eligibility criteria except that your income is too high for a federal payment. People who are ineligible for SSI or whose SSI is not enough to meet the state's need standard can still qualify.
- Live in a qualifying setting: a VDSS-licensed assisted living facility, a local-DSS-approved adult foster care home, or a certified Auxiliary Grant supportive housing site.
- Have countable resources under $2,000 for one person or $3,000 for a couple. This is the same asset test SSI uses, and it counts cash, checking and savings balances, stocks, bonds, and mutual funds.
- Have countable income below the approved rate for the home plus the personal needs allowance.
- Have lived voluntarily in Virginia for at least 90 days. The 90-day rule is waived if you moved to Virginia to join a close relative who has lived here at least 90 days.
- Be assessed as needing that level of care. A case manager or adult services social worker completes a Uniform Assessment Instrument before placement in an assisted living facility to establish whether you need residential living care or assisted living level of care.
Adults approved for an Auxiliary Grant are also eligible for Virginia Medicaid, which matters because the personal needs allowance is small and Medicaid covers the medical costs the allowance cannot.
One practical warning: not every licensed assisted living facility in Virginia accepts the Auxiliary Grant. The approved rate is well below private-pay rates at many facilities, so ask before you plan a move, and ask specifically whether the facility has an available AG bed.
How to Apply for a Virginia Auxiliary Grant
- Find a facility or setting that accepts the Auxiliary Grant. Because the grant follows the placement, this step usually comes first. A hospital discharge planner, an Area Agency on Aging, or an adult services social worker can help you identify participating assisted living facilities, approved adult foster care homes, or supportive housing sites.
- Complete the level-of-care assessment. A case manager completes the Uniform Assessment Instrument to document the care you need. This is required before placement in an assisted living facility and is a condition of the grant.
- File your Social Security claim. If you are not already receiving SSI, SSDI, or Social Security retirement, apply at ssa.gov or by calling 1-800-772-1213 (TTY 1-800-325-0778). Auxiliary Grant amounts are calculated from that income, so the caseworker needs the figures.
- Apply at your local department of social services using VDSS Form 032-03-0824, Application for Benefits. File in the locality where you lived before entering the facility or adult foster care home. Find your local office through the VDSS local agency directory at dss.virginia.gov.
- Submit verifications. Expect to document income from every source, bank balances and other resources, identity, Virginia residency, your age or disability determination, and your facility placement. Missing verifications are one of the most common reasons applications stall.
- Report changes and complete reviews. Report income, resource, and living arrangement changes promptly. Your case is reviewed periodically, and a change in income directly changes your grant amount.
Questions about program policy can go to the DARS Auxiliary Grant Program Manager at 804-662-7531. Questions about your own application belong with your local department of social services, which is the agency that makes the eligibility decision.
What Virginia SSI Recipients Get Instead of a Supplement
If you live independently, the absence of a cash supplement does not mean Virginia offers nothing. The help arrives through other programs.
- Medicaid. Virginia is a Section 1634 state, so SSA sends your SSI eligibility data to the state Medicaid agency and coverage starts without a separate application.
- SNAP. SSI counts as income for food benefits, but many single SSI recipients still qualify. Apply through CommonHelp at commonhelp.virginia.gov.
- Energy assistance. Virginia's Energy Assistance Program helps with heating, cooling, and crisis fuel needs, also through CommonHelp.
- Medicare Savings Programs. If you have Medicare, these can pay your Part B premium and some cost sharing, which is worth roughly $2,100 a year in premium relief.
- Lifeline. SSI recipients qualify for the federal phone and internet discount.
- Medicaid waivers. The Commonwealth Coordinated Care Plus waiver and the Developmental Disabilities waivers fund personal care and other services for people who need help at home rather than in a facility. These are the programs that often matter more than a cash supplement, because they pay for care instead of handing you money to buy it.
More Virginia-specific program detail is on our Virginia benefits page.
Virginia SSI and Auxiliary Grant Resources
| What you need | Where to go |
|---|
| Apply for SSI or SSDI | ssa.gov or 1-800-772-1213 |
| Apply for an Auxiliary Grant | Local department of social services, Form 032-03-0824 |
| Program policy questions | DARS Auxiliary Grant Program Manager, 804-662-7531 |
| Assisted living facility licensing and complaints | Virginia Department of Social Services, Division of Licensing Programs |
| SNAP, Medicaid, energy assistance | commonhelp.virginia.gov |
| Long-term care complaints | Virginia Long-Term Care Ombudsman, 1-800-552-3402 |
| Free legal help with a denial | Virginia Legal Aid, 1-866-534-5243, or the disAbility Law Center of Virginia, 1-800-552-3962 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Virginia pay an SSI state supplement in 2026?
Only in specific residential settings. Virginia has no general state supplement for SSI recipients living in their own home or with family. The Commonwealth's Auxiliary Grant pays toward the cost of care for people in a licensed assisted living facility, an approved adult foster care home, or certified supportive housing, at a 2026 rate of $2,130 a month statewide and $2,450 in Planning District 8, plus an $87 personal needs allowance.
How much is SSI in Virginia in 2026?
For someone living independently, up to $994 a month for an individual and $1,491 for an eligible couple, the same as in every other state. Virginia adds nothing to that figure. Your actual payment is reduced by any countable income you have.
How much of the Auxiliary Grant do I keep?
$87 a month. The rest goes toward the facility's approved monthly rate. Regulations bar the personal needs allowance from being used for required recreational activities, administration of your account, debts you owe the facility for basic services, or laundry charges above $10 a month. It is meant for clothing, toiletries, medical copayments, over-the-counter medicine, dental care, eyeglasses, a personal phone, personal transportation, and activities the provider is not required to offer.
Do I apply to Social Security or to Virginia for the Auxiliary Grant?
To Virginia. The Auxiliary Grant is state supervised and locally administered, funded 80 percent by the state and 20 percent by localities. You apply at the local department of social services in the city or county where you lived before entering the facility. SSA has no role in it and cannot look up your grant amount.
Will the Auxiliary Grant reduce my SSI check?
Generally no. SSA excludes assistance based on need that is wholly funded by a state or local government from countable income, and the Auxiliary Grant is entirely state and locally funded. Confirm your own case with SSA, since other income changes can affect your payment.
Does moving into an assisted living facility cut my SSI to $30 a month?
No. The $30 institutional payment applies when Medicaid pays more than half the cost of care in a medical institution such as a nursing home. A licensed assisted living facility funded through the Auxiliary Grant is not a Medicaid institution, so residents generally keep the full federal benefit rate, which is then applied toward the facility's rate.
Why did the 2026 rate go up by exactly $27?
Because that is the 2026 Social Security cost-of-living increase for an individual SSI recipient. Raising the Auxiliary Grant rate by the same $27 keeps the facility whole while ensuring the COLA does not simply shift money from the state to the resident's income column. The Northern Virginia rate rose $32 because the 15 percent differential is applied to the higher base.
Can I get an Auxiliary Grant in my own apartment?
Only through Auxiliary Grant supportive housing, and only where it exists. Virginia expanded the program to allow payments in certified permanent supportive housing, a more integrated setting than an assisted living facility, but availability is limited to participating localities and certified providers. Ask your local department of social services or community services board whether a certified supportive housing slot is available near you.
What if my countable income is higher than the Auxiliary Grant rate?
Then there is no grant to pay. Once your income equals or exceeds the rate plus the $87 allowance, $2,217 in most of Virginia and $2,537 in Planning District 8, you are financially ineligible and pay the facility privately. Some people in that position look instead at Medicaid long-term services and supports, which use different income rules.
Rates and policy in this article come from the Virginia Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services 2026 Auxiliary Grant rate letter dated November 10, 2025, Virginia Department of Social Services Auxiliary Grant program materials, and Article 9 of Chapter 14 of Title 51.5 of the Code of Virginia. Compare other states on our SSI state supplement amounts by state hub, or read the neighboring guides for Maryland, Tennessee, and Georgia.
