Congresswoman Heather Wilson, First Congressional District of New Mexico

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How are Social Security Numbers given out?	June 11, 2008

The numbers on your Social Security card actually mean something! Area numbers - The first three numbers originally represented the state in which a person first applied for a Social Security card. Group numbers - These two middle digits, which range from 01 through 99, are simply used to break all the SSNs with the same area number into smaller blocks, which makes administration easier. Serial numbers - Within each group designation, serial numbers -- the last four digits in an SSN -- run consecutively from 0001 through 9999. Although SSNs are issued in some order, there is no simple way to tell a person's age based on his Social Security number.