SSN Policy Manual

About the Social Security Number and Card

What the Digits Mean The nine-digit social security number is divided into three parts. The first three digits indicate the state shown in the mailing address on the original application. The lowest social security numbers were assigned to the New England states, and the numbers grew progressively higher in the South and West. However, in recent years, this geographical relationship has been disrupted somewhat by the need to allocate numbers out of sequence as State populations' change. The middle two digits of a social security number have no special significance, but merely serve to break the numbers into blocks of convenient size. The last four digits represent a straight numerical progression of assigned numbers. Social Security Administration has issued more than 392 million social security numbers, and more than five million new numbers are assigned each year. But even at this rate, there will be no need to reissue the same numbers, revise the present system, or devise a new numbering system for several generations. For this reason, Social Security Administration plans to continue using the nine-digit number.

The Structure of the Social Security Number The social security number is structured as follows:

The first three digits indicate the state where social security number is issued. The middle two digits indicate the approximate year the card was issued. "00" was never used. Odd numbers of O5,O7 and 09 were issued in the late 1930s, and the even numbers of 10 or greater were issued in the later years. The last four digits is a sequential number of no particular significance. The following are the first three digit ranges assigned per state: First Three Digits 00 1-003 State New Hampshire

Vermont

008-009