SSI Annual Statistical Report, 2021

Applications

Table 57. All applications, by age of applicant, 1973–2021
Year All ages Under 18 18–64 65 or older
Number Percentage of total Number Percentage of total Number Percentage of total
Total 95,522,387 15,070,274 15.8 66,862,641 70.0 13,589,472 14.2
State conversions a 3,402,474 3,939 0.1 1,419,041 41.7 1,979,494 58.2
Federal applications b  
1973 282,472 5,007 1.8 82,993 29.4 194,472 68.8
1974 2,069,452 125,028 6.0 1,098,373 53.1 846,051 40.9
1975 1,468,610 99,996 6.8 977,209 66.5 391,405 26.7
1976 1,207,448 83,960 7.0 865,790 71.7 257,698 21.3
1977 1,268,462 95,314 7.5 903,618 71.2 269,530 21.2
1978 1,265,436 99,610 7.9 902,756 71.3 263,070 20.8
1979 1,323,113 106,828 8.1 949,087 71.7 267,198 20.2
1980 1,408,034 114,508 8.1 1,013,221 72.0 280,305 19.9
1981 1,148,844 94,246 8.2 864,481 75.2 190,117 16.5
1982 1,015,848 93,872 9.2 775,491 76.3 146,485 14.4
1983 1,131,890 101,087 8.9 834,190 73.7 196,613 17.4
1984 1,264,820 104,748 8.3 868,375 68.7 291,697 23.1
1985 1,399,869 119,021 8.5 1,049,758 75.0 231,090 16.5
1986 1,467,326 124,938 8.5 1,098,832 74.9 243,556 16.6
1987 1,435,024 126,575 8.8 1,069,285 74.5 239,164 16.7
1988 1,365,117 125,953 9.2 1,013,316 74.2 225,848 16.5
1989 1,388,545 130,307 9.4 1,015,483 73.1 242,755 17.5
1990 1,547,230 166,416 10.8 1,133,564 73.3 247,250 16.0
1991 1,807,821 248,325 13.7 1,315,918 72.8 243,578 13.5
1992 2,087,788 378,808 18.1 1,465,039 70.2 243,941 11.7
1993 2,310,005 503,486 21.8 1,571,203 68.0 235,316 10.2
1994 2,260,271 540,124 23.9 1,517,140 67.1 203,007 9.0
1995 2,055,907 500,333 24.3 1,375,696 66.9 179,878 8.7
1996 1,922,472 465,685 24.2 1,289,985 67.1 166,802 8.7
1997 1,601,970 336,074 21.0 1,133,623 70.8 132,273 8.3
1998 1,629,223 339,243 20.8 1,139,825 70.0 150,155 9.2
1999 1,661,448 350,382 21.1 1,153,450 69.4 157,616 9.5
2000 1,744,386 360,329 20.7 1,224,826 70.2 159,231 9.1
2001 1,861,123 376,002 20.2 1,324,057 71.1 161,064 8.7
2002 2,084,828 414,068 19.9 1,490,731 71.5 180,029 8.6
2003 2,224,739 437,492 19.7 1,608,391 72.3 178,856 8.0
2004 2,418,096 458,236 19.0 1,771,003 73.2 188,857 7.8
2005 2,545,079 458,588 18.0 1,850,002 72.7 236,489 9.3
2006 2,648,570 459,805 17.4 1,923,288 72.6 265,477 10.0
2007 2,703,004 460,925 17.1 1,945,464 72.0 296,615 11.0
2008 2,827,541 476,251 16.8 2,030,774 71.8 320,516 11.3
2009 3,143,078 545,619 17.4 2,285,852 72.7 311,607 9.9
2010 3,148,689 546,407 17.4 2,314,739 73.5 287,543 9.1
2011 3,041,500 532,216 17.5 2,235,535 73.5 273,749 9.0
2012 2,888,237 513,775 17.8 2,120,521 73.4 253,941 8.8
2013 2,571,864 458,616 17.8 1,879,330 73.1 233,918 9.1
2014 2,329,811 427,515 18.3 1,686,579 72.4 215,717 9.3
2015 2,281,250 444,913 19.5 1,623,538 71.2 212,799 9.3
2016 2,101,257 410,578 19.5 1,488,121 70.8 202,558 9.6
2017 2,006,446 391,879 19.5 1,405,664 70.1 208,903 10.4
2018 1,852,616 374,552 20.2 1,297,173 70.0 180,891 9.8
2019 1,845,437 363,807 19.7 1,304,381 70.7 177,249 9.6
2020 1,573,189 302,222 19.2 1,136,805 72.3 134,162 8.5
2021 1,484,728 272,666 18.4 1,019,125 68.6 192,937 13.0
SOURCE: Social Security Administration, Supplemental Security Record, 100 percent data.
a. Persons who were converted to the SSI program in 1973 from the state Old-Age Assistance, Aid to the Blind, and Aid to the Permanently and Totally Disabled programs.
b. Includes applications taken under the abbreviated application process, which was used from 1987 to 1999. Omits reapplications filed as a result of the Sullivan v. Zebley decision. Those reapplications were received from 1991 to 1995.
CONTACT: (410) 965-0090 or statistics@ssa.gov.
Table 58. Applications for children under age 18, by selected characteristics, 2013–2021
Characteristic 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
Total 458,616 427,515 444,913 410,578 391,879 374,552 363,807 302,222 272,666
Age  
Under 5 157,736 147,407 151,538 141,991 136,120 131,098 132,498 115,970 107,857
5–12 219,915 205,877 214,973 197,147 187,425 179,058 169,381 133,060 116,092
13–17 80,965 74,231 78,402 71,440 68,334 64,396 61,928 53,192 48,717
Sex  
Male 286,218 267,428 278,166 256,638 245,344 235,417 228,501 189,476 170,386
Female 172,398 160,087 166,747 153,940 146,535 139,135 135,306 112,746 102,280
Citizenship status  
Citizen 456,114 424,998 442,111 407,773 389,116 372,571 362,081 300,895 271,378
Noncitizen 2,502 2,517 2,802 2,805 2,763 1,981 1,726 1,327 1,288
SSA administrative region  
Boston 16,899 15,674 15,637 13,769 13,221 12,351 12,421 9,457 8,532
New York 35,442 32,997 36,576 33,445 32,008 29,295 27,401 21,710 20,828
Philadelphia 47,879 45,014 48,840 43,552 42,217 38,511 38,492 29,361 26,205
Atlanta 127,272 119,350 121,463 113,786 109,532 105,400 103,908 88,168 80,886
Chicago 71,254 65,153 66,620 60,128 57,414 58,126 53,441 46,214 41,915
Dallas 80,583 74,394 77,067 73,344 69,081 65,021 62,095 52,991 44,052
Kansas City 16,028 14,570 14,851 14,409 13,619 13,743 12,971 11,893 11,667
Denver 7,280 6,730 6,960 6,679 6,324 5,956 5,949 5,003 4,292
San Francisco 45,533 42,977 45,006 40,802 38,268 36,157 37,183 29,249 27,305
Seattle 10,415 10,613 11,836 10,384 9,784 9,661 9,651 7,849 6,600
Unknown 31 43 57 280 411 331 295 327 384
SOURCE: Social Security Administration, Supplemental Security Record, 100 percent data.
CONTACT: (410) 965-0090 or statistics@ssa.gov.
Table 59. Applications for adults aged 18–64, by selected characteristics, 2013–2021
Characteristic 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
Total 1,879,330 1,686,579 1,623,538 1,488,121 1,405,664 1,297,173 1,304,381 1,136,805 1,019,125
Age  
18–21 134,823 117,236 117,597 108,078 108,922 102,855 104,980 93,499 86,199
22–25 109,576 96,124 94,951 84,783 83,058 73,116 71,328 64,871 58,178
26–29 110,090 97,695 97,225 90,156 90,567 82,838 81,952 72,247 62,834
30–39 314,498 282,717 277,395 256,280 243,644 224,143 225,775 195,172 174,185
40–49 451,106 395,171 369,711 332,630 301,956 274,580 274,906 238,401 215,019
50–59 598,354 553,194 526,697 485,092 452,314 420,373 421,409 363,160 317,440
60–64 160,883 144,442 139,962 131,102 125,203 119,268 124,031 109,455 105,270
Sex  
Men 944,852 847,039 818,135 754,617 715,141 661,593 669,486 587,724 522,985
Women 934,478 839,540 805,403 733,504 690,523 635,580 634,895 549,081 496,140
Citizenship status  
Citizen 1,806,887 1,620,487 1,559,919 1,431,298 1,355,499 1,254,459 1,265,531 1,106,933 990,114
Noncitizen 72,443 66,092 63,619 56,823 50,165 42,714 38,850 29,872 29,011
SSA administrative region  
Boston 82,724 75,749 71,858 63,443 60,235 55,681 55,193 43,301 39,183
New York 131,051 120,728 124,285 113,600 107,499 96,066 93,083 78,531 70,080
Philadelphia 183,359 167,714 163,266 149,318 143,720 128,457 132,864 105,978 96,511
Atlanta 496,334 448,044 420,979 383,997 360,682 336,371 334,851 301,513 273,479
Chicago 305,230 270,402 254,500 229,128 211,870 195,077 199,194 174,743 160,539
Dallas 256,527 229,565 220,652 212,549 201,365 187,951 186,647 170,816 149,194
Kansas City 81,740 69,931 70,089 67,173 63,829 57,880 59,669 53,061 46,723
Denver 44,804 39,317 38,839 37,028 35,309 31,395 31,333 29,593 26,554
San Francisco 231,371 206,470 202,456 178,230 168,637 158,307 160,620 135,552 119,755
Seattle 66,088 58,550 56,368 52,128 50,801 47,965 48,850 41,858 35,373
Unknown 102 109 246 1,527 1,717 2,023 2,077 1,859 1,734
SOURCE: Social Security Administration, Supplemental Security Record, 100 percent data.
CONTACT: (410) 965-0090 or statistics@ssa.gov.
Table 60. Applications for adults aged 65 or older, by selected characteristics, 2013–2021
Characteristic 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
Total 233,918 215,717 212,799 202,558 208,903 180,891 177,249 134,162 192,937
Age  
65–69 136,000 125,102 122,494 115,978 118,426 101,905 98,474 78,254 102,238
70–74 43,893 40,313 40,043 38,186 41,915 35,359 35,536 26,327 43,697
75 or older 54,025 50,302 50,262 48,394 48,562 43,627 43,239 29,581 47,002
Sex  
Men 94,857 87,645 86,333 81,706 83,900 72,834 71,615 54,694 80,559
Women 139,061 128,072 126,466 120,852 125,003 108,057 105,634 79,468 112,378
Citizenship status  
Citizen 166,821 149,908 146,969 139,860 152,174 131,087 131,225 101,413 145,416
Noncitizen 67,097 65,809 65,830 62,698 56,729 49,804 46,024 32,749 47,521
SSA administrative region  
Boston 16,381 14,336 12,258 11,113 10,024 8,089 7,001 5,193 7,801
New York 31,044 28,838 29,563 27,722 28,451 26,614 24,021 16,657 27,203
Philadelphia 12,408 10,749 10,643 10,234 11,747 9,528 9,913 7,836 13,126
Atlanta 42,549 41,286 41,720 40,205 42,925 35,065 34,278 28,183 38,888
Chicago 21,197 18,195 16,701 15,509 16,649 13,330 12,892 10,244 13,706
Dallas 27,402 25,459 24,242 22,962 24,260 20,669 19,719 14,724 20,739
Kansas City 3,403 3,014 2,961 2,848 3,154 2,636 2,630 2,090 2,748
Denver 3,179 3,153 3,323 3,585 3,816 3,156 2,954 2,421 3,286
San Francisco 70,309 65,280 65,930 62,899 62,270 57,016 58,691 42,964 60,845
Seattle 6,040 5,395 5,415 5,271 5,411 4,521 4,822 3,653 4,400
Unknown 6 12 43 210 196 267 328 197 195
SOURCE: Social Security Administration, Supplemental Security Record, 100 percent data.
CONTACT: (410) 965-0090 or statistics@ssa.gov.
Table 61. All applications, by state or other area and age of applicant, 2021
State or area Total Under 18 18–64 65 or older
Number Percentage of total Number Percentage of total Number Percentage of total
All areas 1,484,728 272,666 18.4 1,019,125 68.6 192,937 13.0
Alabama 30,279 5,523 18.2 23,429 77.4 1,327 4.4
Alaska 2,404 206 8.6 1,789 74.4 409 17.0
Arizona 27,594 4,570 16.6 19,543 70.8 3,481 12.6
Arkansas 20,645 4,868 23.6 15,135 73.3 642 3.1
California 166,003 20,559 12.4 90,660 54.6 54,784 33.0
Colorado 16,131 1,734 10.7 12,211 75.7 2,186 13.6
Connecticut 14,045 2,125 15.1 10,034 71.4 1,886 13.4
Delaware 3,776 889 23.5 2,585 68.5 302 8.0
District of Columbia 4,819 965 20.0 3,329 69.1 525 10.9
Florida 128,200 27,480 21.4 76,560 59.7 24,160 18.8
Georgia 61,908 14,417 23.3 42,873 69.3 4,618 7.5
Hawaii 4,609 299 6.5 3,432 74.5 878 19.0
Idaho 5,545 941 17.0 4,316 77.8 288 5.2
Illinois 47,905 9,411 19.6 33,645 70.2 4,849 10.1
Indiana 30,574 5,812 19.0 23,781 77.8 981 3.2
Iowa 12,228 2,670 21.8 9,113 74.5 445 3.6
Kansas 12,138 2,616 21.6 8,975 73.9 547 4.5
Kentucky 29,733 5,567 18.7 22,895 77.0 1,271 4.3
Louisiana 33,218 7,995 24.1 23,646 71.2 1,577 4.7
Maine 6,158 800 13.0 4,982 80.9 376 6.1
Maryland 25,755 3,751 14.6 18,744 72.8 3,260 12.7
Massachusetts 24,466 4,236 17.3 15,809 64.6 4,421 18.1
Michigan 43,053 9,249 21.5 30,849 71.7 2,955 6.9
Minnesota 15,982 2,169 13.6 12,342 77.2 1,471 9.2
Mississippi 26,818 5,041 18.8 20,655 77.0 1,122 4.2
Missouri 29,811 5,000 16.8 23,483 78.8 1,328 4.5
Montana 3,545 382 10.8 2,891 81.6 272 7.7
Nebraska 6,961 1,381 19.8 5,152 74.0 428 6.1
Nevada 9,570 1,822 19.0 6,067 63.4 1,681 17.6
New Hampshire 4,010 411 10.2 3,372 84.1 227 5.7
New Jersey 30,312 6,152 20.3 17,914 59.1 6,246 20.6
New Mexico 9,924 1,486 15.0 7,575 76.3 863 8.7
New York 87,799 14,676 16.7 52,166 59.4 20,957 23.9
North Carolina 47,508 8,526 17.9 35,823 75.4 3,159 6.6
North Dakota 1,941 282 14.5 1,559 80.3 100 5.2
Ohio 57,657 11,324 19.6 43,826 76.0 2,507 4.3
Oklahoma 19,344 2,981 15.4 15,251 78.8 1,112 5.7
Oregon 14,167 1,665 11.8 11,414 80.6 1,088 7.7
Pennsylvania 58,985 13,567 23.0 39,900 67.6 5,518 9.4
Rhode Island 4,623 728 15.7 3,146 68.1 749 16.2
South Carolina 29,112 6,137 21.1 21,578 74.1 1,397 4.8
South Dakota 3,235 525 16.2 2,541 78.5 169 5.2
Tennessee 39,695 8,195 20.6 29,666 74.7 1,834 4.6
Texas 130,854 26,722 20.4 87,587 66.9 16,545 12.6
Utah 7,318 1,172 16.0 5,683 77.7 463 6.3
Vermont 2,214 232 10.5 1,840 83.1 142 6.4
Virginia 32,269 5,671 17.6 23,491 72.8 3,107 9.6
Washington 24,257 3,788 15.6 17,854 73.6 2,615 10.8
West Virginia 10,238 1,362 13.3 8,462 82.7 414 4.0
Wisconsin 20,989 3,950 18.8 16,096 76.7 943 4.5
Wyoming 1,962 197 10.0 1,669 85.1 96 4.9
Outlying area  
Northern Mariana Islands 129 55 42.6 53 41.1 21 16.3
Unknown 2,313 384 16.6 1,734 75.0 195 8.4
SOURCE: Social Security Administration, Supplemental Security Record, 100 percent data.
CONTACT: (410) 965-0090 or statistics@ssa.gov.
Table 62. All applicants, by year of first application and age, 1973–2021
Year All ages Under 18 18–64 65 or older
Number Percentage of total Number Percentage of total Number Percentage of total
Total 60,794,336 11,385,841 18.7 39,721,826 65.3 9,686,669 15.9
State conversions a 3,402,447 3,939 0.1 1,419,029 41.7 1,979,479 58.2
Federal applications b  
1973 279,923 4,921 1.8 81,976 29.3 193,026 69.0
1974 2,007,786 122,958 6.1 1,064,223 53.0 820,605 40.9
1975 1,303,896 93,684 7.2 859,790 65.9 350,422 26.9
1976 971,621 75,158 7.7 686,086 70.6 210,377 21.7
1977 943,084 81,750 8.7 661,112 70.1 200,222 21.2
1978 899,731 84,845 9.4 629,784 70.0 185,102 20.6
1979 912,850 89,054 9.8 637,521 69.8 186,275 20.4
1980 936,442 93,059 9.9 652,690 69.7 190,693 20.4
1981 721,999 74,306 10.3 529,231 73.3 118,462 16.4
1982 604,008 72,480 12.0 448,905 74.3 82,623 13.7
1983 645,244 78,616 12.2 467,151 72.4 99,477 15.4
1984 736,509 81,634 11.1 486,922 66.1 167,953 22.8
1985 857,757 91,242 10.6 628,241 73.2 138,274 16.1
1986 933,045 97,656 10.5 689,437 73.9 145,952 15.6
1987 892,945 98,174 11.0 653,728 73.2 141,043 15.8
1988 839,066 96,325 11.5 608,131 72.5 134,610 16.0
1989 852,453 98,931 11.6 605,939 71.1 147,583 17.3
1990 978,993 129,266 13.2 695,281 71.0 154,446 15.8
1991 1,198,677 208,822 17.4 835,058 69.7 154,797 12.9
1992 1,451,391 336,632 23.2 955,060 65.8 159,699 11.0
1993 1,624,332 440,585 27.1 1,030,912 63.5 152,835 9.4
1994 1,571,525 459,531 29.2 982,275 62.5 129,719 8.3
1995 1,381,111 406,498 29.4 860,162 62.3 114,451 8.3
1996 1,246,066 361,211 29.0 780,058 62.6 104,797 8.4
1997 981,841 256,888 26.2 644,982 65.7 79,971 8.1
1998 984,062 251,074 25.5 640,585 65.1 92,403 9.4
1999 996,186 256,120 25.7 641,973 64.4 98,093 9.8
2000 1,038,677 259,137 24.9 680,397 65.5 99,143 9.5
2001 1,127,672 272,977 24.2 753,650 66.8 101,045 9.0
2002 1,278,653 302,682 23.7 862,899 67.5 113,072 8.8
2003 1,367,391 320,201 23.4 938,352 68.6 108,838 8.0
2004 1,489,330 336,735 22.6 1,038,077 69.7 114,518 7.7
2005 1,559,272 335,539 21.5 1,079,252 69.2 144,481 9.3
2006 1,611,484 333,436 20.7 1,107,658 68.7 170,390 10.6
2007 1,635,005 333,377 20.4 1,100,954 67.3 200,674 12.3
2008 1,683,238 343,118 20.4 1,123,307 66.7 216,813 12.9
2009 1,847,784 392,481 21.2 1,247,597 67.5 207,706 11.2
2010 1,831,983 394,599 21.5 1,254,710 68.5 182,674 10.0
2011 1,746,222 383,366 22.0 1,194,291 68.4 168,565 9.7
2012 1,635,635 366,930 22.4 1,117,483 68.3 151,222 9.2
2013 1,428,090 326,148 22.8 966,650 67.7 135,292 9.5
2014 1,279,917 304,340 23.8 852,445 66.6 123,132 9.6
2015 1,246,666 317,688 25.5 808,669 64.9 120,309 9.7
2016 1,133,857 291,557 25.7 730,091 64.4 112,209 9.9
2017 1,087,051 277,638 25.5 694,053 63.8 115,360 10.6
2018 992,004 266,790 26.9 628,454 63.4 96,760 9.8
2019 977,697 260,610 26.7 624,152 63.8 92,935 9.5
2020 833,895 219,347 26.3 542,280 65.0 72,268 8.7
2021 807,823 201,786 25.0 500,163 61.9 105,874 13.1
SOURCE: Social Security Administration, Supplemental Security Record, 100 percent data.
a. Persons who were converted to the SSI program in 1973 from the state Old-Age Assistance, Aid to the Blind, and Aid to the Permanently and Totally Disabled programs.
b. Includes applications taken under the abbreviated application process, which was used from 1987 to 1999. Omits reapplications filed as a result of the Sullivan v. Zebley decision. Those reapplications were received from 1991 to 1995.
CONTACT: (410) 965-0090 or statistics@ssa.gov.