San Jose Hearing Office - ALJ Approval Rates & Wait Times

The Social Security Administration operates the San Jose hearing office in California as part of its Office of Hearings Operations. Located in SSA Region 09, 6 Administrative Law Judges conduct disability hearings at this location.

The office's average approval rate is 59%, which is near the national average of 57.6%. This figure combines both fully favorable and partially favorable outcomes from all judges at the office. Individual judge approval rates at this office range from 52.9% to 100%, a 47-point spread that reflects significant variation in decision patterns among judges.

The current average wait time for a hearing at this office is 9 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 284 days. There are currently 958 cases pending at this office. That works out to approximately 160 pending cases per judge.

Across the judges at this office, the average fully favorable rate is 60.1%. 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.

Given the significant variation in decision patterns among judges at San Jose, thorough case preparation is especially important. Since judge assignments are rotational, the specific ALJ assigned to a case is not known in advance — ensuring medical evidence and vocational documentation are comprehensive can help regardless of which judge presides.

With an average wait time of 9 months and 284 days average processing time, claimants at San Jose can expect a total timeline of roughly 18 months from hearing request to decision.

Judges at San Jose have collectively issued 822 decisions in the current fiscal year, averaging 137 decisions per judge. Individual caseloads range from 1 to 320 decisions, reflecting differences in hearing schedules and case complexity.