# Social Security #'s

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-security-s/168219>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [April 12, 2003, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-security-s/168219 "2003-04-12T06:49:36Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 10\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Tony\_Montana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/278dde/32.png) [@Tony\_Montana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tony_Montana)\
**Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-security-s/168219/1 "2003-04-12T06:49:36Z")

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Simple question:

Does the prefix (first 3 numbers) of your SS# indicate where you were born?

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**Author:** ![Tony\_Montana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/278dde/32.png) [@Tony\_Montana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tony_Montana)\
**Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-security-s/168219/2 "2003-04-12T06:51:16Z")

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Doh!

That should read _what state_ you were born in…

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**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\
**Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-security-s/168219/3 "2003-04-12T06:53:44Z")

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[Social Security Numbers.](http://www.cpsr.org/cpsr/privacy/ssn/ssn.structure.html)

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**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\
**Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-security-s/168219/4 "2003-04-12T06:57:10Z")

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[And from the SSA,](http://www.ssa.gov/foia/stateweb.html)

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**Author:** ![Tony\_Montana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/278dde/32.png) [@Tony\_Montana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tony_Montana)\
**Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-security-s/168219/5 "2003-04-12T07:00:06Z")

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I just knew \*\*Q.E.D. \*\*would have sumthin’ for me!

Thanks

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**Author:** ![Tony\_Montana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/278dde/32.png) [@Tony\_Montana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tony_Montana)\
**Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-security-s/168219/6 "2003-04-12T07:07:50Z")

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So, what I gather it doesn’t necassarily(sp) indicate what state you were born in correct? (specifically asking about those who were born in the states)

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**Author:** ![Coriolanus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coriolanus/32/18769_2.png) [@Coriolanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coriolanus)\
**Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-security-s/168219/7 "2003-04-12T07:36:02Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Tony Montana \*  
> \*\*So, what I gather it doesn’t necassarily(sp) indicate what state you were born in correct? (specifically asking about those who were born in the states) \*\*

[http://www.investigateanyoneonline.com/ssn-aboutnumbers.shtml](http://www.investigateanyoneonline.com/ssn-aboutnumbers.shtml)

AAA-GGG-SSSS

Area-{classified}-{classified}

The first three digits are your area - which for the most part means the state you were scanned into the Social Security System. Mine are 078 - New York State.

That’s all I can say, now.

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**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\
**Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-security-s/168219/8 "2003-04-12T08:04:10Z")

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The first three digits of a Social Security number indicate the state from which the person applied for a Social Security number. Not the state of birth.

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**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\
**Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-security-s/168219/9 "2003-04-12T12:25:29Z")

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**Cecil Adams** on [Are social security numbers recycled? What do the numbers mean?](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_315.html)

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**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\
**Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-security-s/168219/10 "2003-04-12T13:24:14Z")

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Corbomite makes a good point. It is the state you were in when you applied, not the state you were born in. For instance, I was born in NY state, but my first 3 numbers are 178 - PA