Social Security Number System | Change Your Social Security Number

Here is a detailed explanation of the coded social security numbering system. If you ask around, you'll find that most people still believe that social security numbers are assigned in a random fashion.

That's simply not true! The numbering system has a clearly defined structure to it. Here are the details:

A Social Security Number has three separate parts - each separated by a hyphen.

The first three numbers are called the "area number" and indicate the geographical area of issue. They're coded as follows:

Area Numbers
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)
223-231 VA	501-502 ND	587-588 MS
232-236 WV	503-504 SD	589-595 FL
237-246 NC	505-508 NE	596-599 PR (Puerto Rico)
247-251 SC	509-515 KS	600-601 AZ
252-260 GA	516-517 MT	602-626 CA
261-267 FL	518-519 ID	627-645 TX
268-302 OH	520 WY	646-647 UT
303-317 IN	521-524 CO	648-649 NM
318-361 IL	525 NM
362-386 MI	526-527 AZ
387-399 WI	528-529 UT
650-699 Unassigned - Reserved for future use
700-728 Used by railroad workers until 1963 - No longer used
729-999 Unassigned - Reserved for future use

The area numbers are assigned from low to high. The two middle numbers are the "group numbers" and are assigned in a tricky sequence as follows:

Let�s take Texas as an example. They began issuing numbers with 627-01-0001 and proceeded to

627-09-9999. After that group series (01-09) was exhausted they moved on to 627-10-0001 to

627-98-9999. then 627-02-001 etc... Get the idea? Also, a SSN that has any of the three groups equal to all zeroes is invalid.

Here's a bit of interesting social security trivia - way back in 1946 a major wallet manufacturer began placing fake paper social security cards in each of their wallets. To make the social security card look authentic, they placed the social security number
078-05-1120 on each card.

Over the years over five thousand different people have attempted to use this social security number! There is little chance that a clerk or retail person will recognize this number as a fake but any federal official will recognize it as a fake immediately should it pass across their desk. Avoid using this particular number under any circumstances.

For show business purposes the social security administration has created special social security numbers for show business use. This series runs from 987-65-4320 to 987-65-4329. Carefully avoid these number ranges.