WHAT YOUR SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER TELLS ABOUT YOU.
Your social security number
is a unique identifer. You are the only person who has that number. But did
you ever wonder what the numbers in your social security number mean? This
report will tell you exactly what those numbers tell about you, and how to
effectively use social security numbers as a means of identifying your
customers.
Your social security number is made up of 3 parts called the AREA (XXX), GROUP
(XX), and SERIAL(XXXX). I'll explain these parts separately. First, the AREA
(XXX) has one of two meanings, depending on when you got your number. If you
received your social security card before 1972, the area number shows what
state you APPLIED for your card in. If you received your social security card
after 1972, the area number shows the state you RESIDED in at the time you
applied. Here is a list of the number combinations and their corresponding
states.
000 NONE 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 - Guam, American
223-231 VA 501-502 ND Samoa, Northern Mariana Islands,
232-236 WV 503-504 SD Phillipine Islands)
237-246 NC 505-508 NE 587-588 MS
247-251 SC 509-515 KS 589-595 FL
252-260 GA 516-517 MT 596-599 PR (Puerto Rico)
261-267 FL 518-519 ID 600-601 AZ
268-302 OH 520 WY 602-626 CA
303-317 IN 521-524 CO 627-699 Unassigned, reserved for future use
318-361 IL 525 NM 700-728 Railroad workers through 1963, discontinued
362-386 MI 526-527 AZ 729-899 Unassigned, reserved for future use
900-999 Were used when state aid to the aged, blind, and disable was converted
to federal programs administered by the Social Security Association,
not valid social security numbers
You will see that some states have more than one group of numbers. This is
because their original group of numbers became exhausted.
The GROUP (XX) has no meaning other than to determine whether or not a number
has been assigned. This is important to know, if you want to use social
security numbers as identification for your customers. Here's how you should
use this information.
Every month, the Social Security Association publishes a list of the highest
group assigned for each AREA. The order of assignment is odd numbers under
10, even numbers over 9, even numbers under 9 (except for 00, which is not
used), and odd numbers over 10. So, for example, if the highest GROUP
assigned for AREA 999 is 72, then a customer who gives you the social security
number 999-04-1234 is a fraud, because even GROUPS under 9 have not yet been
assigned.
The SERIAL (XXXX) portion has no meaning and is not assigned in strict
numerical order. 0000 is never used.
If you know what to look for, social security numbers are an important tool
for screening customers.
