The Listing of Impairments (the Blue Book) is the regulatory document SSA uses at step 3 of its five-step disability evaluation. Listings live in two parts. Part A covers adults age 18 and older. Part B covers children under 18 with criteria adjusted for childhood functioning. Each part is split into body systems, and each body system contains specific impairment listings with detailed medical and functional criteria.
Meeting a listing is one route to approval, not the only route. Most disability claims that get approved are decided at later steps after SSA looks at past work, education, age, and the work that exists in the national economy. The listings still matter because meeting one ends the evaluation in your favor without an in-depth vocational analysis, and because the medical evidence the listings ask for is the same evidence later steps rely on.
Adult body systems
13
Part A of the Blue Book
Active adult listings
116
Conditions with current criteria
Child body systems
15
Part B, claimants under 18
Active child listings
97
Often paired with an adult counterpart
213 of 213 listings have a plain-English breakdown page. The rest still appear in their body-system table; detail pages light up as breakdowns land.
Conditions people search for most
Plain-English breakdowns for the conditions claimants ask about most often. Each page covers what SSA looks for under that listing, the medical evidence the criteria require, and what happens if the records don't quite match.
Listing 12.04
Is depression a disability?
Listing 14.02
Is lupus a disability?
Listing 11.09
Is multiple sclerosis a disability?
Listing 12.06
Is anxiety a disability?
Listing 11.10
ALS and SSDI: Blue Book listing 11.10
Listing 5.06
Crohn's, IBS, and IBD disability claims
Listing 1.15
Is back pain a disability?
Listing 3.03
Is asthma a disability?
Listing 3.02
Is COPD a disability?
Listing 13.10
Is breast cancer a disability?
Listing 11.02
Is epilepsy a disability?
Listing 12.10
Is autism a disability?
Adult body systems (Part A)
Used for claimants 18 and older. Each system page lists every active listing in the system, links the regulatory text on ssa.gov, and explains how SSA approaches that family of conditions.
1.00
Musculoskeletal disorders
9 active listings
2.00
Special senses and speech
7 active listings
3.00
Respiratory disorders
7 active listings
4.00
Cardiovascular system
8 active listings
5.00
Digestive system
8 active listings
6.00
Genitourinary disorders
5 active listings
7.00
Hematological disorders
5 active listings
8.00
Skin disorders
3 active listings
10.00
Congenital disorders that affect multiple body systems
1 active listing
11.00
Neurological disorders
16 active listings
12.00
Mental disorders
10 active listings
13.00
Cancer (malignant neoplastic diseases)
28 active listings
14.00
Immune system disorders
9 active listings
Child body systems (Part B)
Used for claimants under 18 in SSI childhood-disability claims. Many child listings have an adult counterpart with similar diagnostic criteria but different functional thresholds, since SSA evaluates a child's ability to engage in age-appropriate activities rather than work.
100.00
Low birth weight and failure to thrive
2 active listings
101.00
Musculoskeletal disorders (children)
10 active listings
102.00
Special senses and speech (children)
5 active listings
103.00
Respiratory disorders (children)
6 active listings
104.00
Cardiovascular system (children)
5 active listings
105.00
Digestive system (children)
9 active listings
106.00
Genitourinary disorders (children)
7 active listings
107.00
Hematological disorders (children)
4 active listings
108.00
Skin disorders (children)
3 active listings
109.00
Endocrine disorders (children)
1 active listing
110.00
Congenital disorders that affect multiple body systems (children)
2 active listings
111.00
Neurological disorders (children)
14 active listings
112.00
Mental disorders (children)
12 active listings
113.00
Cancer (malignant neoplastic diseases, children)
8 active listings
114.00
Immune system disorders (children)
9 active listings
How a listing decision actually works inside a claim
SSA's disability evaluation runs in five steps. Listings come in at step 3. The full sequence:
- Step 1. Are you working at or above the substantial gainful activity threshold? If yes, claim denied.
- Step 2. Do you have a medically determinable severe impairment expected to last 12 months or result in death? If no, claim denied.
- Step 3. Does the impairment meet or equal a Blue Book listing? If yes, claim approved.
- Step 4. Can you do any of your past relevant work? If yes, claim denied.
- Step 5. Considering your age, education, and work experience, can you do any other work in the national economy? If yes, claim denied. If no, claim approved.
Most approvals come at step 3 or step 5. A listing approval at step 3 is the cleanest outcome because it skips vocational analysis and the disability examiner does not need to weigh past work or labor-market evidence. Even when a claim does not meet a listing exactly, the medical evidence developed for that listing carries straight into the residual functional capacity assessment used at steps 4 and 5.
Reading a Blue Book listing without legal training
A typical listing has three parts. The first is the heading: a code (1.15, 12.04, 13.05) and a short clinical name. The second is the qualifying language, which usually starts with "documented by A, B, C and D" or a similar phrase. That language is the structure of the test. The third is the lettered criteria themselves, which are the medical and functional findings you have to demonstrate.
Some listings require all of the lettered subsections. Some allow you to meet any one of several. The conjunction in the heading line ("and" vs "or") is doing the work, and missing it is one of the most common ways claimants misread a listing. Each system page on this site preserves SSA's exact regulatory text for every active listing along with a plain-English summary of which subsections you have to meet versus which are alternates.