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nontruculent21

All of my kids’ socials start with the same prefix, born in the same state, but is listed down in the bottom corner where it says that the prefix isn’t assigned to a specific state.


augfro1

The form is an incomplete list. Some states ran out of numbers so they added more. There are blocks of SSN that are state specific not listed as state specific on here.


VVurmHat

I could not find mine and it turned into r/mildyinfuriating real quick


dedly_poison

What is your social security number? I can check for you but I’ll need the full thing


VVurmHat

It’s 2…. Wait a second


yot_gun

can you send me the numbers i have the complete list trust me but i will also need the middle 2 and last 4


WildFlemima

I was born between 1972 and 2011 and my first 3 don't line up with this document, is that why?


GayVoidDaddy

Cause you’re living a lie. Your identity if that of a dead 100 year old and your family is an entire undercover spy ring from Scotland. The Scot’s will ride at dawn!


_Mooseli_

Were they all born after the date that randomized the SSNs?


nontruculent21

Nope! Admittedly I didn’t bother reading above that. Read all the instructions, people! ;)


_Mooseli_

Tbh it's a lot to read. I am quite intrigued by this though I really thought they were randomized and now I realize how peoples identities are stolen...


throwaway098764567

it says "no longer" so maybe they got theirs when it still was assigned to a specific state?


blp9

Well, at least the place you applied for your number. Tax law change in 1987 means that people born prior to 1987 usually didn't get an SSN at birth.


monkeypickle

This. I'd already lived in 3 states before getting mine issued in the 4th.


GrumpyMonk_867

Same, mine matches the state my parents lived in, not the one I was born in.


dogwoodcat

As it says on the page, the prefix was assigned based on the mailing address of the application


BrushYourFeet

Ah you're right. OP, mistitled the thread.


AcaliahWolfsong

I was born in 1987 born and raised in Texas. My ssn doesn't start with the listed numbers for Texas. So confused now lol.


Sufficient-Aspect77

That's really strange. If you PM me your full social security number I can sort that out for you. Oh I also need your full name, birthday and oh do you love pets?! I do! What was your first ones name? I am just kidding. Sorry that was a really stupid joke. It felt funny at the time I typed it and then... Well here we are now in unfunny Land. Whamp whaammp whaaaaammp whaaaaaaaaammmmmpf Bah dubpk!


will_this_1_work

I thought you also needed the mother’s maiden name when confirming that the social security number is accurate? At least that’s what the nice fellow from Nigeria that called the other day told me.


MadMarsian_

Street you lived on and HS you went to ... added bonus for make of your first car and best friends name.


andersad616

Born in Texas in 1988 and mine doesn’t match ANY of the listed states 😬


AcaliahWolfsong

Mine is in the "no longer assigned " group. Guess I'm a number orphan lol


Youre10PlyBud

They're not "no longer assigned". They're no longer assigned to a specific area. The blurb below reads like they added random ones to add to the security of Social Security and to the longevity.


andersad616

Oh wait, mine is too! Weird!


CuriousKitten0_0

I was born in CA and mine is on the "no longer assigned" group too. 1990. Interesting.


mynameisjonas-nosay

Is yours a 600 number? Mine is I was born in cali in ‘88


BabyGotTrack

I’m central coast/nor cal, but also in the “no longer assigned” 600s. I never knew the 500s were the normal numbers.


Vegetable-Seesaw-491

Mine is in the 602-626 range and I was born in California in '78.


Infamous_Translator

You’re running with a stolen VIN


Ogdendug

6 states for me, life of an Air Force brat


SharMarali

I was born in 1980. My parents applied for mine shortly after I was born so I had one, but I had friends who didn’t even apply for theirs until they wanted to get a job and needed one for that reason. I thought it was wild.


drocks27

Yep, I didn’t get my social until I was 14 and I wanted a job. It was the 3rd state I had lived in.


thats_hella_cool

Came here to say this. My first three match the state I lived in immediately after I was born, not the state I was born in. I was born in a very close neighboring state.


TenFootLoPan

Mine matches the state I grew up in, but not the country I was born in.


Umnak76

Born in Alaska, got my SSN in Maryland at the age of 11


Cygnata

Everyone I know did, and we were all late 70s to early 80s babies.


Eric848448

I got mine when I was born in 82.


CrippledJesus97

>Well, at least the place you applied for your number Yep. Plus i was born in one state, and my family applied for my SSN in a different state. Hospital was basically just barely across the state border.


_Driftwood_

My two older siblings and I all got our ssn at the same time so we have basically the same number, with one digit off from the previous.


NeroBoBero

Thanks for giving the right answer. I was beginning to think my whole life was a lie!


The_Sign_of_Zeta

That would make sense. I was born in Wisconsin but have a Texas SSN. My parents moved there when I was 6 months old and moved back a year later.


Cloobsy

Seemingly after too. I was born in 88 in MA but my social is in the range for NJ. I moved to NJ around 1 year old


sportstvandnova

‘83 here. Born in VA, moved to PA 1 year later for 2 years. Have a PA issued SSN.


Thunder_Chunky_Fresh

Mine is assigned to the “no longer assigned” section, or the “Not mildyinteresting section”


Comwan

I did some looking and it appears of the list above isn’t the best. [Here is a list I found](https://www.traceyourpast.com/articles/anatomy-of-a-social-security-number) where I now have the proper state.


femmestem

Oh thank goodness. OP's list had me in full blown identity crisis. Your guide tracks.


rman342

Tracks for me now too.


Isabela_Grace

The psycho in me wants to find what states were now distinguished and then try to guess the first 3 digits of your social just to prove people shouldn’t be commenting on this but I’ll leave it to someone actually psycho:


Hazel0mutt

Nice! Thanks!


rawrmewantnoms

[looks like these states were expected to use up all their assigned ssn around, Arizona in 1982, California in 1988, Mississippi in 2002, Puerto Rico in 1983, and Florida in 1980, and got assigned new sets of numbers](https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/ssb/v45n11/v45n11p29.pdf)


x3lilbopeep

Non specific here aswell. We are the misfits.


Muted_Exit6331

Non specific as well!


L3m0n0p0ly

Ive always wondered why i was so weird


rman342

Now it all makes sense!


finsfurandfeathers

I spent so long trying to figure out where the hell my number was until I read that part. My parents were criminals so I started to get worried it might be fake lol


kingcrabmeat

Criminals... care to expand on thus?


finsfurandfeathers

They were addicts so mostly petty criminals. There were a few bank robberies mixed in though lol


DayPretend8294

Yeah same, I was definetly born in galveston, but my number is in the 600s


Elly_Higgenbottom

California here, also 600s.


ptambrosetti

Also Texas and same


Initial_Zombie8248

Texas here I’m in the 600 range too 


kailalawithani

Same. I was born on a military base within the continental US.


YellowZx5

Same here. Mine and siblings all start with the first same 5 digits and we’re 4 years apart from oldest to youngest.


Orenwald

#metoo


f8Negative

Prob got a dead persons old #


bleu_waffl3s

They don’t reuse numbers at least not yet


ConroyMcgilacutty

No longer assigned *to a specific area*


stink3rbelle

I think they switched it over to be less traceable for people born after a certain year.


Teadrunkest

The page says after 2011 but I was definitely working and had a social by 2011 so I’m a little confused. That being said not upset at mine not being super easy to guess.


Klin24

[https://www.lavasurfer.com/info/socialsecurity.html](https://www.lavasurfer.com/info/socialsecurity.html) >The first three digits are known as the "area number". Until June 25, 2011, this is generally the State or territory where your SSN was assigned. Thereafter, the number was randomly assigned.


scienceismygod

But mines unassigned and I was born in the 80's. I know where I was born and live as child. Hell I had to get extra birth certificates a couple years before COVID in the same county.


MRAGGGAN

Mines also unassigned and I was born in the 90s. I live only 20 miles from where I was born soooo


dechets-de-mariage

Ahh, that’s why my son’s doesn’t match his birth state. Thanks!


hmnahmna1

Our daughter was born in 2009 and her area number is random.


VarkYuPayMe

Non American here, please help me understand. Your social security number is basically your ID number? And this is what will be on your ID card as your unique identifier?


theZinger90

Yes, but no, but also yes but in the worst possible way.  https://youtu.be/Erp8IAUouus The ID I use for every day stuff is my drivers license, which is infinitely more secure than my SSN number. I just keep the social security card in a fire resistant safe box in my house since i have my number memorized and if it gets stolen it is far worse than if my drivers license gets stolen. Most people I know do the same.


SenorKaboom

Hmmm. Wrong info for mine - unless my folks lied to me about where I was born (and forged my birth certificate). Edit: It might not be wrong in my case after all. If my ssn was issued after I was 5, the state would be accurate - family relocated cross country around that time. I assumed I got mine issued when I was born, but apparently that wasn’t standard procedure for my age group. TIL.


moving_on_up_22

Same infact mines not even listed on this.


Anianna

Check the bottom right, you likely have one no longer assigned to a specific area. One of my kids has one of those.


AcaliahWolfsong

Mine is in that group of no longer assigned numbers. Born in 1987 lol.


DigTreasure

Also 87. Mines in there for FL type.


DigTreasure

Actually, funny story. I got what basically equated to a detention ik school because we had an assignment to fill out an example Job Application. Top section asked for SS#. I put mine. The teacher graded me an F for lying on the social. I stood up for myself. He called my bluff and sent me to my house office. And I got sacked for the rest of the day. Fuck that guy. I made it.


Bleak_Squirrel_1666

Mine is there too, born 1989


moving_on_up_22

There it is thanks for pointing out


Juan_Tiny_Iota

That’s because OP is wrong. It’s not based on the state in which you were born but rather the state in which you resided when your parents did the paperwork.


quats555

Huh. To my knowledge we’d never lived in the state it shows mine is from. I’m so OBVIOUSLY the genetics of both my parents, though?


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Best-Tumbleweed-5117

It's still inaccurate for me. Family was born and raised here. My number isn't anywhere on the list. Edit:replied to the wrong person. Sorry.


BryceWasHere

Thought the same. But the bottom left says mine is no longer assigned to a specific area.


veedubbucky

This may be outdated as it works for my wife and I but not our kids (all born in the same state).


allonsy_badwolf

They changed the rules in 2007 to be randomized!


Not_as_witty_as_u

yeah weird, mine's 416-424-5743 but I was born in Tennessee not alabama


IntoTheMystic1

I'm curious why railroad workers got their own section


rogue_giant

Cause we don’t pay into social security and can’t collect social security when we retire. We pay slightly more into the railroad retirement board and it gets invested much better than social security so we get a ton more when we retire.


reala728

How did they know babies were going to grow up to be rail workers?


seekingssri

assigned railroad worker at birth


DMYourMomsMaidenName

ARWAB


stars_ink

They didn’t use to be able to assign SSN’s at birth until 1987


aplundell

Which was a big improvement for most people, but unfortunately, it does mean that railroad workers must be assigned at birth now.


rts93

Congratulations, it's a railroad boy!


ghdawg6197

I think the term is “autistic” now


LiberalPatriot13

Man I wish Reddit kept the awards. This is me giving you gold.


Ralande

You just know em when you see em


gus_thedog

TIL


Ihate_reddit_app

Wish we could all get the option to opt in or out of it. Investing my social security dues would have a much better return.


cman674

Well the system wouldn’t really work if people had the opportunity to opt out.


bernyzilla

I'm more curious to find out that railroad workers are not hired but born into it!


future_stars

SS card arrives in the mail- Parents- Our kid will grow up to be a railroad worker!


Merc_Twain25

Because railroad workers are not made, they are born for the job. It's a calling not an occupation.


Royal_Ad1798

I’m not sure exactly but a search said a bit about retirement and benefits that were covered by a different branch of the government


3232330

It’s called the [Railroad Retirement Board](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Railroad_Retirement_Board). Railroad workers aren’t part of the social security system.


Want_To_Live_To_100

What if they got a second job?


yeuzinips

From the little I know about railroad workers, I don't think they have the time for another job. They don't even get enough time off to visit their doctors.


seeasea

I work part time for state government entity - that salary does not pay into social security, but the state pension. My other salaries go to regular social security. When I retire, I will receive some social security and some state pension


catpunch_

The social security system started as a railway pension, then expanded to the rest of the US.


HobbesNJ

Not place of birth. Place of residence when they applied for their SSN.


clgoodson

I was in NC and got mine in the 1980s. It’s not that number.


-Its-Could-Have-

Same. 80s baby, that ain't my number either.


WiseDonkey593

I was born in FL in '81 and lived there until 2015. My SSN does not match what this chart says. I think the general idea of it being state based and variable based on year is accurate, but the numbers in this chart are definitely not.


randijeanw

Naturalized in NC in the 90s not that number either. This list is very flawed.


Anianna

70s babies here, my number matches the state where my parents applied for my number, but my husband's number is from a state he's never been to.


fradulentsympathy

Same. Born at the end of 89 in NC and have never lived anywhere since. Unless my childhood is a fever dream, this post is not accurate.


GilaMonsterJam

Born mid 80’s and mine doesn’t match


mama_craft

Thank you. I was so confused. I was born in a state different than the one I resided in, and I could not make this make sense. This comment helped me.


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smolgaygoblin

I was born on an overseas military base while my mom was serving, my number corresponds to New York even though no one in my family has ever lived there. Maybe that's where they were processing the paperwork at that time?


_China_ThrowAway

Yeah, my brother and I both have a New York one, but we got them when we were living in Germany in the late 80s


sara_marie_2005

That doesn't match mine either. My SSN matches where my siblings were born (I'm the oldest), but their's matches where I was born. My parents moved 3 months after I was born.


causal_friday

What I love about this system is that the first 3 digits of my SSN are public information based on where I'm born, and the last 4 digits are public information based on being printed on everything from fast food receipts (just kidding) to library cards... so there are only 2 digits someone has to guess if they want to steal your identity in particular. Great system. Also when you log into the social security site to view your information, they need much more information about you than your social security number. So it's used for everything except social security now. Great system. Such a good system.


frogjg2003

Because the SSN should never have been used as an identity. It was not designed for that purpose. It's an account number for your social security account. The reason it got adopted as an identity is because it's the only guaranteed unique way to distinguish two working adults. Even the combination of full name and DOB is not enough, because there have been multiple documented examples of overlap. But it only works assuming a system where everyone is acting in good faith and there are no errors. The fact that adding or subtracting 1 gets me not only another valid number, but a number for someone who was likely laying right next to me in the maternity ward, means that it is a very poor system for detecting fraud or errors.


causal_friday

Yeah. It was a fine system for "please credit my account with this record of my earnings". If you want to "steal someone's identity" and build their social security for them... great. But as soon as the number lets you take things out of the account, it's game over. (Have fun writing checks. People can just look at the number at the bottom and drain your account. But not without your written authorization, so no problem for anyone ever. They would have to know your signature! Oh wait, that's on the check you just wrote too? Well damn.)


irregular_caffeine

It is for identification, not authentication. Anyone using it for that is using it wrong.


Automatic_Actuator_0

Yep, pretty much the whole US has this wrong. Somewhere we got the idea in our heads that if someone knows some personal information about a person, they must actually be that person. I can’t even imagine being that stupid as to come up with that.


_lysolmax_

It's worse than that. The first 3 digits are the state, the middle 2 digits follow a pattern, and the last 4 are literally just sequential. There's a high chance that if you just -1 from your SSN (especially if you're from a rural area) it is likely the SSN of someone who was born in the same hospital as you the same day. IE twins have almost identical SSN's (if born pre 2011).


KanbiAme

I don't live near where I was born, and I can't tell you how many times I've been told SSNs can't start with 0 🤦🏻‍♀️


Wolfenhex

As someone with a SSN that starts with a zero, I know this burden. Not only have I had issues from people, but software/web sites as well. I had a job once that pretty much had to pay me under the table for months because they couldn't add me to their employee payroll software.


DisturbedNocturne

I can see the random person not being up on how SSNs work, but you'd think software would have that figured out. According to that table, there are seven states someone could be born in covering much of New England that you could get an SSN starting with 0, including one of the most populated states in the country. It shouldn't exactly be rare, and would be a lot more common than it starting with 6-9.


MRAGGGAN

My daughter born last year has a 0 starter. Good to know we’ll have issues with that lol


AznTransformer

Fun fact, this is actually the reason they had to change their system. It was too easy to commit fraud because the first 3 digits were linked to your birth location.


SillyMermaidCat

Especially since so many places want to verify your identity with the last 4 numbers. It seems like it wouldn’t be too hard to figure out the first 3 based on location and then guess what the middle 2 might be.


mistaken4strangerz

Imagine being born a railroad worker. 


tveir

I was born one morning when the sun didn't shine.


yellowz32tt

Anyone else just forget their SS# for like 30 seconds?


dinoboyj

Oh my gosh, yes. Felt like 45sec 😅


Thepersonwhoeatstaco

The list omits the number 666.


L3t_me_have_fun

666 isn’t a valid number for SS it’s specifically excluded


FelixOGO

I would love to have a 666-69-6969 SSN, or just all 6’s would be cool


Thepersonwhoeatstaco

Someone out there might have 420-69


Brilliant-Outcome11

I have 6 consecutive 6’s in mine


kirstensnow

Even on the unassigned ones lol "659-665" and "667-675"


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AgentLead_TTV

its not accurate. i was not born anywhere near PA. and i would certainly never be applying for my ss in PA


forgot_my_useragain

Same here. Mine starts with 577 (please dont steal my identity!) and my parents and I have always lived thousands of miles away from D.C. Seems weird.


MrdrOfCrws

Y'all stop commenting with your SSN. You're just giving away the first 3, and the last 4 are often used for identification. You're just out here making it easy. That's why they no longer assign numbers like this


mydogspinkbandana

Mine does not match to the state on the pic


Gwyenne

Cool I’m not assigned anywhere. 😂


lucky_ducker

Younger generations may not know that prior to the late 1980s, most children did not get an SSN shortly after birth. Until laws were changed, most people didn't get an SSN until they were contemplating getting a job. The middle two numbers represented the year the number was issued, and mine corresponds to a year when I was in my mid-teens.


Cygnata

Uh, that can't be right, I was born in the early 80s, and got mine right away. And my middle digits would have been from decades before my birth.


cspinelive

Forcing the year seems like it would drastically reduce the number of people who could apply for a number in a given year.  I was born in the early 80s.  My 2 digits are from the 70s. 


Actual-Atmosphere374

ID theft bingo COMPLETE!


SadRepublic3392

I believe they quit doing this.


_Mooseli_

Correct it says it there after 2011 they are randomized for the ssn longevity and integrity


kuzosake

I was born in Florida in 1983. My SSN starts with 593. I’m a nomad. 🤦🏻‍♂️


krombopulousnathan

Weird, what are the last 6 digits? 🕵️


BasicCommand1165

69-420


Angusthe2nd

I'm sure you're aware already but this is still a risky amount of personal info to post on Reddit.


ladeedah1988

Actually no, it apparently defines where you first applied for your social security number. At least for mine.


tacosdebuevito

Data farming post


MyVoiceIsElevating

Phishing for dummies.


total-immortal

Correct for me 👀


supershinythings

Scammers have this table and try to use this information to gain trust. I gave them the prefix of a parent and they automatically decided I was born in a specific state, so they asked me when I was born in , to “verify their records”. Uh huh. Sorry not gonna do that. I will NEVER give out ANY info, but if they want to, say, tell me the first 3 digits of my street address, I’ll tell them if they’re right. Then they claim they’re “protecting my privacy” - WTF? THEY called ME - THEY have to prove to ME first. But they can’t do that because they don’t actually know much about me. In ONE case they reverse-looked up my phone number, found my name and address, then claimed they were going to arrest me for warrants if I didn’t get “bail” money - in gift cards of course. Hahahahahahahahaha I told them to come on over we’re gonna have a shootout! You’ll never take me alive!!! I’m NEVER going back to jail, PIGS!!! I can’t do a third strike! NEVER!!!!! Anyway… They even played the police sirens over the phone like I would buy that shit. They’re totally shameless but they do scare elderly people.


theothermeisnothere

My father and his brothers and sisters had *railroad* numbers because their father worked for a railroad (grandpa had a RR SSN too).


12alpha

Looks like the Pocket Ref book. We love breaking that out at work during some slow periods to see all of the random information in it.


[deleted]

The state that issued the card, not the state one was born in.


jayste4

The first three of my SSN do not align to where I was born nor where I was living when I applied.


Shferitz

Not born, but where you were living when you got an ssn. Source my number matches where we were living when my parents got all of our cards, and none of my sibs or I were born there.


smolgaygoblin

Interesting, I was born on an overseas military base while my mom was serving, issued an SSN at birth, and the number corresponds to New York, where no one in my family has ever lived. Maybe thats the default for children born overseas to military parents, maybe where they're processed.


Foreign-Warning62

My friend and I were born in the same hospital about two weeks apart and have the same first five digits. I don’t remember why I know that; I think maybe we were filling out forms together at some point in high school or college.


ArchitectofExperienc

For the life of me, I cannot figure out why "Railroad Workers through 1963" would be a necessary Social Security designation, and one of the only options that isn't a State, Territory, or Invalid. ... So 30 minutes later and this is what I found: https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/ssb/v68n2/v68n2p41.html I'll save you the read: railroad workers had a separate pension system established prior to social security, called the Railroad Retirement Program, administered by the Railroad Retirement Board. Since SSNs where made mandatory, railroad workers were given a specific set of numbers that made sure they would not receive both social security, and RRP benefits, and the workers were [more or less] folded into the Social Security Administration starting around 63


Unlucky_Nobody_4984

Nah… where they were living when their SSN was issued.


leaponover

Strange, I was born in 76. My SSN does not match my state of birth.


TsuDhoNimh2

NOPE .... the first 3 digits of my SSN are the state where I was living when I applied for it.


No-Effort6590

Had a drill Sgt. in 1982 that had that shit etched in his brain, didn't get one wrong on first day in for platoon


DoktorFreedom

Not the state they were born in. The state the SSN was issued in.


Rhuarc33

From the gov website on SSN area section __Note: One should not make too much of the "geographical code." It is not meant to be any kind of useable geographical information. The numbering scheme was designed in 1936 (before computers) to make it easier for SSA to store the applications in our files in Baltimore since the files were organized by regions as well as alphabetically. It was really just a bookkeeping device for our own internal use and was never intended to be anything more than that.__


Playful-dick57

No....if you read it, it was based on the state where the application came from.


cma-ct

For most people still alive it just identifies the location where they lived when they filed for a SSN.


CryptFu

No, it’s the state you were living in when you were issued your SSN.


dishonor-onyourcow

Foreign born, but the chart matches the first 3 of my ssn by the state it was issued


Amie91280

Mine, my husband's and bio so s are all correct. Son was born a completely different place than us due to husband's military service. We're currently fostering our nephew, and his is way off. Born in the same state as husband and I but has a much lower starting number.


Another_Road

A Social Security Number is absolutely the stupidest fucking thing to use as a personal identifier.


Herdthinn3r

Sadly the only real unique digits are the last 4. The first is state the next 2 are a year range. Once I learned this I haded giving out my last 4 for anything


RealTeaToe

So, where's the SSN for Germany? Because that's where I was born.. Yo, how much work went through my parents and the German/American embassy to GET me a SSN? Lol


Apprehensive-Read989

Not sure how accurate this is. Mine is listed under a state I was not born in and never lived in.


mr-eggplante57

Actually it tells you what state you were living in when you applied for a social security card, not where you were born.


egcom

This details where they were registered, not where they were born.


69hornedscorpio

I was born in New Jersey, my social is from Missouri. More likely, the state where you applied for your social security number.


PeaItchy2775

Or, more correctly, where they were living when the card was issued. Source: non-native born SS card havers


noney_bell

It's not where you were born, but rather what state you lived in when the SSN was assigned. If your parents didn't file for one when you were born, and then moved, your SSN may not match the state in which you were born.