What Your Social Security Number Tells About You
Your social security number is a unique identification. 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
586PI (Pacific Islands - Guam)
223-231VA 501-502 ND
232-236 WV 503-504 SD
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
318-361 IL 525NM
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.
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