45. WHAT YOUR SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER TELLS ABOUT YOU
Posted by BJM | Under business, credit card, customer service, information, marketing, reports Thursday Jan 8, 2009Your social security number is a unique identifier. 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 | Philippine 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 | Un | assigned, reserved for future use | ||
| 318-361 | IL | 525 | NM | 700-728 | Railroad workers through 1963, | |||
| discontinued | ||||||||
| 362-386 | MI | 526-527 | AZ | 729-899 | Un | assigned, 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.
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