Medical Vocational Guidelines or Grids and Disability

The Medical-Vocational Guidelines, commonly known as the “grids,” are used by SSA to determine if a person is disabled or not, when a claimant is age 50 or older and has physical conditions that limit their exertional work capacity. Generally speaking, at age 50 or older, you can be found disabled if you are limited to sedentary work, and at age 55+ if you are limited to light or sedentary work, provided you cannot do any of your past relevant work, you do not have job skills that would transfer to a lighter exertional level, and your education does not provide for direct entry into skilled work. When you are found to be disabled as a result of these rules, it is known as “gridding out.” The following table is the complete Medical-Vocational Guidelines, showing the outcome according to age, maximum exertional work capacity, education, and skill level and transferability of past work. You may organize the information by using the search bar or clicking on any column header to sort by that column’s data.