Dale’s Daily Data: Social Security Numbers

Here’s something Clay asked me about the other day and got me to thinking about.  He said all of his brothers and sisters have Social Security numbers that begin with the same first numbers.  I thought that was odd because that wasn’t the case with my family.  We all have completely different Social Security numbers, so I looked into it.

Social Security numbers are divided into three sections –

The first 3 numbers are called the area number

The second two numbers are the group numbers

And the last four are the serial number.

Why do all of Clay’s sisters and brothers have the same first three Social Security numbers?   It’s probably the same with most families since 1972.  That’s when Social Security numbers began to be issued based on the zip code of the person applying. 

The first 3 numbers of a Social Security number is the area number and that’s probably the only thing you might be able to tell about someone – where they applied for their card.  Numbers issued to people in eastern states have low numbers. 

In New York state they range from 050 to 134.

People in western states have high numbers.

The seconds set of numbers – the group numbers further categorize the area numbers. 

Then once you’re assigned an area and group number, the third set of numbers is the serial number.

Five and a half million new cards are issued every year and since 1936 when the program began more than 447-million Social Security cards have been issued.   Once a person dies the numbers are never reused.  Using the current system there are enough new numbers for several more generations before any changes have to be made. 

SOURCE: Social Security Administration