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FROM: Barbara Bennett
SUBJECT: The Social Security Number
SSA has continually emphasized the fact that the SSN identifies a particular
record only and the Social Security Card indicates the person whose record
is identified by that number. In no way can the Social Security Card identify
the bearer. From 1946 to 1972 the legend "Not for Identification" was printed
on the face of the card. However, many people ignored the message and the
legend was eventually dropped. The social security number is the most widely
used and carefully controlled number in the country, which makes it an
attractive identifier.
With the exception of the restrictions imposed on Federal and some State
and local organizations by the Privacy Act of 1974, organizations requiring
a unique identifier for purposes of controlling their records are not
prohibited from using (with the consent of the holder) the SSN. SSA records
are confidential and knowledge of a person's SSN does not give the user access
to information in SSA files which is confidential by law.
Many commercial enterprises have used the SSN in various promotional efforts.
These uses are not authorized by SSA, but SSA has no authority to prohibit
such activities as most are not illegal. Some of these unauthorized uses are:
SSN contests; skip-tracers; sale or distribution of plastic or metal cards;
pocketbook numbers (the numbers used on sample social security cards in
wallets); misleading advertising, commercial enterprises charging fees for
SSN services; identification of personal property.
The Social Security Number (SSN) is composed of 3 parts, XXX-XX-XXXX, called
the Area, Group, and Serial. For the most part, (there are exceptions), the
Area is determined by where the individual APPLIED for SSN (before 1972) or
RESIDED at time of application (after 1972). The areas are assigned follows:
000 unused 387-399 WI 528-529 UT
001-003 NH 400-407 KY 530 NV
004-007 ME 408-415 TN 531-539 WA
008-009 VT 416-424 AL 540-544 OR
010-034 MA 425-428 MS 545-573 CA
035-039 RI 429-432 AR 574 AK
040-049 CT 433-439 LA 575-576 HI
050-134 NY 440-448 OK 577-579 DC
135-158 NJ 449-467 TX 580 VI Virgin Islands
159-211 PA 468-477 MN 581-584 PR Puerto Rico
212-220 MD 478-485 IA 585 NM
221-222 DE 486-500 MO 586 PI Pacific Islands*
223-231 VA 501-502 ND 587-588 MS
232-236 WV 503-504 SD 589-595 FL
237-246 NC 505-508 NE 596-599 PR Puerto Rico
247-251 SC 509-515 KS 600-601 AZ
252-260 GA 516-517 MT 602-626 CA
261-267 FL 518-519 ID *Guam, American Samoa,
268-302 OH 520 WY Northern Mariana Islands,
303-317 IN 521-524 CO Philippine Islands
318-361 IL 525 NM
362-386 MI 526-527 AZ
627-699 unassigned, for future use
700-728 Railroad workers through 1963, then discontinued
729-899 unassigned, for future use
900-999 not valid SSNs, but were used for program purposes
when state aid to the aged, blind and disabled was
converted to a federal program administered by SSA.
As the Areas assigned to a locality are exhausted, new areas from the pool
are assigned. This is why some states have non-contiguous groups of Areas.
The Group portion of the SSN has no meaning other than to
determine whether or not a number has been assigned. SSA
publishes a list every month of the highest group assigned for
each SSN Area. The order of assignment for the Groups is: odd
numbers under 10, even numbers over 9, even numbers under 9
except for 00 which is never used, and odd numbers over 10. For
example, if the highest group assigned for area 999 is 72, then
we know that the number 999-04-1234 is an invalid number because
even Groups under 9 have not yet been assigned.
The Serial portion of the SSN has no meaning. The Serial is not
assigned in strictly numerical order. The Serial 0000 is never assigned.
Before 1973, Social Security Cards with pre-printed numbers were issued to
each local SSA office. The numbers were assigned by the local office. In 1973,
SSN assignment was automated and outstanding stocks of pre-printed cards were
destroyed. All SSNs are now assigned by computer from headquarters. There are
rare cases in which the computer system can be forced to accept a
manual assignment such as a person refusing a number with 666 in it!
A pamphlet entitled "The Social Security Number" (Pub. No.
05-10633) provides an explanation of the SSN's structure and
the method of assigning and validating Social Security numbers.