Johnstown Hearing Office - ALJ Approval Rates & Wait Times

Johnstown is a Social Security disability hearing office serving claimants in Pennsylvania. Operating within SSA Region 03, the office has 4 ALJs who preside over disability appeals.

The office's average approval rate is 58.6%, which is near the national average of 57.6%. Being close to the national average suggests this office's case mix and decision patterns are broadly representative of the system as a whole. Judge approval rates at this office range from 48% to 61.5%, indicating relatively consistent decision patterns across the bench.

The current average wait time for a hearing at this office is 8 months, which is comparable to the national average of 8.4 months. Once a hearing takes place, this office issues decisions in an average of 259 days. There are currently 963 cases pending at this office. That works out to approximately 241 pending cases per judge.

Across the judges at this office, the average fully favorable rate is 45.7%. A fully favorable decision means the claimant receives benefits from the onset date they requested, as opposed to a partially favorable decision which may award benefits from a later date.

The relatively consistent decision patterns across judges at Johnstown can give claimants and their representatives a clearer sense of what to expect. This consistency suggests that case-level factors — strength of medical evidence, quality of representation, and vocational circumstances — are likely the primary drivers of outcomes at this office.

With an average wait time of 8 months and 259 days average processing time, claimants at Johnstown can expect a total timeline of roughly 17 months from hearing request to decision.

Judges at Johnstown have collectively issued 1,069 decisions in the current fiscal year, averaging 267 decisions per judge. Individual caseloads range from 13 to 524 decisions, reflecting differences in hearing schedules and case complexity.