SSI Annual Statistical Report, 2021

Children Under Age 18

Table 17. Recipients and average monthly payment, by SSA administrative region and state or other area, December 2021
Region and state or area Number Average monthly payment a (dollars)
All areas 1,038,149 687.17
Boston 37,462 675.06
Connecticut 8,261 680.01
Maine 3,464 666.28
Massachusetts 19,308 672.65
New Hampshire 1,857 638.71
Rhode Island 3,332 685.40
Vermont 1,240 731.15
New York 94,175 693.19
New Jersey 22,176 682.04
New York 71,999 696.62
Philadelphia 103,853 681.71
Delaware 2,905 665.08
District of Columbia 3,315 694.87
Maryland 17,484 667.66
Pennsylvania 53,192 689.71
Virginia 20,612 672.92
West Virginia 6,345 683.05
Atlanta 263,307 679.70
Alabama 19,353 685.94
Florida 91,090 676.66
Georgia 41,982 684.11
Kentucky 22,355 694.12
Mississippi 17,447 686.27
North Carolina 32,933 672.29
South Carolina 16,358 674.33
Tennessee 21,789 673.51
Chicago 154,572 685.73
Illinois 31,981 693.72
Indiana 20,324 679.64
Michigan 31,810 689.31
Minnesota 10,381 667.90
Ohio 41,113 685.68
Wisconsin 18,963 682.66
Dallas 186,554 686.02
Arkansas 22,026 698.89
Louisiana 29,477 698.80
New Mexico 6,992 691.25
Oklahoma 14,092 689.71
Texas 113,967 679.44
Kansas City 38,335 669.72
Iowa 7,822 670.64
Kansas 8,168 669.19
Missouri 18,431 673.45
Nebraska 3,914 651.38
Denver 17,920 651.17
Colorado 7,644 659.19
Montana 1,886 677.89
North Dakota 1,067 625.91
South Dakota 2,138 647.35
Utah 4,369 632.79
Wyoming 816 655.92
San Francisco 113,044 730.92
Arizona 15,475 683.95
California 87,595 743.99
Hawaii 1,121 662.47
Nevada 8,628 691.18
Northern Mariana Islands 225 736.49
Seattle 28,927 660.29
Alaska 1,050 649.67
Idaho 4,210 641.12
Oregon 9,232 668.22
Washington 14,435 661.56
SOURCE: Social Security Administration, Supplemental Security Record, 100 percent data.
a. Includes federally administered state supplementation payments.
CONTACT: (410) 965-0090 or statistics@ssa.gov.
Table 18. Percentage distribution of recipients, by monthly payment, December 2021
Payment (dollars) Percentage of total
Total  
Number 1,038,149
Percent 100.0
None a 0.1
Under 50 1.8
50–99 0.7
100–199 1.9
200–299 2.3
300–399 3.0
400–499 4.0
500–599 10.3
600–699 8.4
700–793 8.6
794 58.8
SOURCE: Social Security Administration, Supplemental Security Record, 100 percent data.
a. Persons receiving only a federally administered state supplementary payment on December 1, 2021.
CONTACT: (410) 965-0090 or statistics@ssa.gov.
Table 19. Recipients, by selected characteristics, December 2021
Characteristic Number Percentage of total
Total 1,038,149 100.0
Age  
Under 1 year 9,975 1.0
1 17,923 1.7
2 24,101 2.3
3 32,523 3.1
4 43,146 4.2
5 51,526 5.0
6 56,483 5.4
7 60,472 5.8
8 63,554 6.1
9 68,019 6.6
10 70,550 6.8
11 74,059 7.1
12 78,326 7.5
13 80,029 7.7
14 80,467 7.8
15 78,858 7.6
16 74,828 7.2
17 73,310 7.1
Sex  
Male 703,099 67.7
Female 335,050 32.3
Citizenship status  
Citizen 1,036,038 99.8
Noncitizen 2,111 0.2
Living arrangements  
Own household 133,422 12.9
Another's household 38,095 3.7
Parent's household 854,479 82.3
Medicaid institution 12,066 1.2
Unknown 87 (L)
SOURCE: Social Security Administration, Supplemental Security Record, 100 percent data.
NOTE: (L) = less than 0.05 percent.
CONTACT: (410) 965-0090 or statistics@ssa.gov.
Table 20. Recipients, by diagnostic group and age, December 2021
Diagnostic group All ages Under 3 3–5 6–12 13–17
  Number
All recipients under age 18 1,038,149 51,999 127,195 471,463 387,492
Congenital anomalies 58,574 8,810 12,049 23,950 13,765
Endocrine, nutritional, and metabolic diseases 7,755 329 1,345 3,803 2,278
Infectious and parasitic diseases 261 19 41 95 106
Injuries 4,653 262 745 2,039 1,607
Mental disorders  
Autism spectrum disorders 214,771 960 27,818 115,724 70,269
Developmental disorders 210,748 4,549 42,344 108,564 55,291
Childhood and adolescent disorders not elsewhere classified 22,184 4 350 9,961 11,869
Intellectual disorders 87,496 29 1,368 32,646 53,453
Depressive, bipolar, and related disorders 24,705 0 45 6,170 18,490
Neurocognitive disorders 14,334 46 901 7,522 5,865
Schizophrenia spectrum and other psychotic disorders 1,563 0 3 280 1,280
Other mental disorders 192,128 66 2,599 86,502 102,961
Neoplasms 7,984 432 1,594 3,700 2,258
Diseases of the—  
Blood and blood-forming organs 6,966 192 689 3,103 2,982
Circulatory system 3,288 462 779 1,189 858
Digestive system 15,772 4,649 5,596 4,177 1,350
Genitourinary system 2,294 171 313 921 889
Musculoskeletal system and connective tissue 7,554 420 1,141 3,277 2,716
Nervous system and sense organs 72,361 2,865 9,784 33,029 26,683
Respiratory system 10,974 773 2,148 5,043 3,010
Skin and subcutaneous tissue 1,501 52 205 721 523
Other 58,804 26,207 13,734 13,890 4,973
Unknown 11,479 702 1,604 5,157 4,016
  Percent
All recipients under age 18 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Congenital anomalies 5.6 16.9 9.5 5.1 3.6
Endocrine, nutritional, and metabolic diseases 0.7 0.6 1.1 0.8 0.6
Infectious and parasitic diseases (L) (L) (L) (L) (L)
Injuries 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.4 0.4
Mental disorders  
Autism spectrum disorders 20.7 1.8 21.9 24.5 18.1
Developmental disorders 20.3 8.7 33.3 23.0 14.3
Childhood and adolescent disorders not elsewhere classified 2.1 (L) 0.3 2.1 3.1
Intellectual disorders 8.4 0.1 1.1 6.9 13.8
Depressive, bipolar, and related disorders 2.4 0.0 (L) 1.3 4.8
Neurocognitive disorders 1.4 0.1 0.7 1.6 1.5
Schizophrenia spectrum and other psychotic disorders 0.2 0.0 (L) 0.1 0.3
Other mental disorders 18.5 0.1 2.0 18.3 26.6
Neoplasms 0.8 0.8 1.3 0.8 0.6
Diseases of the—  
Blood and blood-forming organs 0.7 0.4 0.5 0.7 0.8
Circulatory system 0.3 0.9 0.6 0.3 0.2
Digestive system 1.5 8.9 4.4 0.9 0.3
Genitourinary system 0.2 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.2
Musculoskeletal system and connective tissue 0.7 0.8 0.9 0.7 0.7
Nervous system and sense organs 7.0 5.5 7.7 7.0 6.9
Respiratory system 1.1 1.5 1.7 1.1 0.8
Skin and subcutaneous tissue 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.1
Other 5.7 50.4 10.8 2.9 1.3
Unknown 1.1 1.4 1.3 1.1 1.0
SOURCE: Social Security Administration, Supplemental Security Record, 100 percent data.
NOTE: (L) = less than 0.05 percent.
CONTACT: (410) 965-0090 or statistics@ssa.gov.
Table 21. Recipients, by diagnostic group and sex, December 2021
Diagnostic group Total Male Female
Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent
All recipients under age 18 1,038,149 100.0 703,099 100.0 335,050 100.0
Congenital anomalies 58,574 5.6 31,486 4.5 27,088 8.1
Endocrine, nutritional, and metabolic diseases 7,755 0.7 4,036 0.6 3,719 1.1
Infectious and parasitic diseases 261 (L) 136 (L) 125 (L)
Injuries 4,653 0.4 2,730 0.4 1,923 0.6
Mental disorders  
Autism spectrum disorders 214,771 20.7 171,640 24.4 43,131 12.9
Developmental disorders 210,748 20.3 144,638 20.6 66,110 19.7
Childhood and adolescent disorders not elsewhere classified 22,184 2.1 16,809 2.4 5,375 1.6
Intellectual disorders 87,496 8.4 53,540 7.6 33,956 10.1
Depressive, bipolar, and related disorders 24,705 2.4 14,016 2.0 10,689 3.2
Neurocognitive disorders 14,334 1.4 9,217 1.3 5,117 1.5
Schizophrenia spectrum and other psychotic disorders 1,563 0.2 855 0.1 708 0.2
Other mental disorders 192,128 18.5 142,970 20.3 49,158 14.7
Neoplasms 7,984 0.8 4,516 0.6 3,468 1.0
Diseases of the—  
Blood and blood-forming organs 6,966 0.7 3,972 0.6 2,994 0.9
Circulatory system 3,288 0.3 1,799 0.3 1,489 0.4
Digestive system 15,772 1.5 8,452 1.2 7,320 2.2
Genitourinary system 2,294 0.2 1,394 0.2 900 0.3
Musculoskeletal system and connective tissue 7,554 0.7 3,757 0.5 3,797 1.1
Nervous system and sense organs 72,361 7.0 39,852 5.7 32,509 9.7
Respiratory system 10,974 1.1 6,688 1.0 4,286 1.3
Skin and subcutaneous tissue 1,501 0.1 778 0.1 723 0.2
Other 58,804 5.7 32,296 4.6 26,508 7.9
Unknown 11,479 1.1 7,522 1.1 3,957 1.2
SOURCE: Social Security Administration, Supplemental Security Record, 100 percent data.
NOTE: (L) = less than 0.05 percent.
CONTACT: (410) 965-0090 or statistics@ssa.gov.
Table 22. Adult recipients who first became eligible for SSI before age 18, by year of first eligibility and age in December 2021
Year of first eligibility All ages Age in December 2021
18–21 22–25 26–29 30–39 40–49 50 or older a
Total  
Number 1,177,697 240,368 181,687 168,867 336,363 163,413 86,999
Percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
1974–1976 3.6 . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.1 44.3
1977–1980 3.8 . . . . . . . . . (L) 10.1 32.3
1981–1984 3.7 . . . . . . . . . 1.4 15.6 14.8
1985–1989 6.5 . . . . . . . . . 10.8 19.9 8.6
1990–1994 19.7 . . . . . . 12.3 41.4 43.8 . . .
1995–1999 16.7 . . . 20.4 36.0 25.2 8.5 . . .
2000–2004 19.0 25.1 35.7 26.7 15.9 . . . . . .
2005–2009 14.6 33.6 23.8 17.7 5.2 . . . . . .
2010–2014 8.8 25.6 16.7 7.2 . . . . . . . . .
2015–2019 3.5 14.4 3.4 . . . . . . . . . . . .
2020–2021 0.2 1.2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
SOURCE: Social Security Administration, Supplemental Security Record, 100 percent data.
NOTES: . . . = not applicable; (L) = less than 0.05 percent.
a. Those under age 18 in 1974 would be no older than 65 in 2021.
CONTACT: (410) 965-0090 or statistics@ssa.gov.
Table 23. Recipients and average monthly amount of child's income, by type of income, December 2021
Type of income Number Percent Average monthly amount (dollars)
Total 1,038,149 100.0 . . .
No earned or unearned income a 758,579 73.1 . . .
With income b 279,570 26.9 316
Earned income only 1,439 0.1 720
Unearned income only 277,511 26.7 260
Both earned and unearned income 620 0.1 849
With unearned income c 278,131 26.8 260
Social Security benefits 63,919 6.2 285
Veterans' benefits 8,487 0.8 81
Income based on need 14,464 1.4 219
Support from absent parents 146,389 14.1 241
Support and maintenance 64,741 6.2 203
Asset income 462 (L) 9
Other 5,592 0.5 324
SOURCE: Social Security Administration, Supplemental Security Record, 100 percent data.
NOTES: . . . = not applicable; (L) = less than 0.05 percent.
a. The percentage of children receiving the full federal benefit rate, as shown in Table 18, is smaller than the percentage of those with no income, as shown here, because of the effect of parental deemed income in the payment computation.
b. Does not include income deemed from parents in the household.
c. The sum of the entries may be greater than the total because some recipients may receive more than one type of unearned income.
CONTACT: (410) 965-0090 or statistics@ssa.gov.
Table 24. Recipients, by number of parents in the household, December 2021
Parents in household Number Percentage of total
Total 1,038,149 100.0
No parents a 132,751 12.8
One parent 713,984 68.8
Two parents 191,414 18.4
SOURCE: Social Security Administration, Supplemental Security Record, 100 percent data.
NOTE: The total of children with one or two parents in the household differs slightly from the number of children living in a parent's household in Table 19. This is because the data in Table 19 represent only households in which a parent is the head of the household, whereas the data in this table include children living with parents who are not the head of the household.
a. Children with no parents in the household reside independently, with other relatives or nonrelatives, or in institutions or in foster care. Deeming does not apply in these situations.
CONTACT: (410) 965-0090 or statistics@ssa.gov.
Table 25. Recipients with one parent in the household, by type and monthly amount of parental income, December 2021
Parental income All children living with one parent Children living with—
Mother only Father only
Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent
Total 713,984 100.0 668,983 100.0 45,001 100.0
No parental income 337,880 47.3 318,301 47.6 19,579 43.5
Parental income a 376,104 52.7 350,682 52.4 25,422 56.5
Earned income 274,875 38.5 257,180 38.4 17,695 39.3
Unearned income 119,092 16.7 110,454 16.5 8,638 19.2
Total income (dollars)  
None 337,880 47.3 318,301 47.6 19,579 43.5
Under 200 28,264 4.0 27,034 4.0 1,230 2.7
200–399 20,520 2.9 19,342 2.9 1,178 2.6
400–599 23,619 3.3 22,212 3.3 1,407 3.1
600–999 65,387 9.2 61,151 9.1 4,236 9.4
1,000 or more 238,314 33.4 220,943 33.0 17,371 38.6
Earned income (dollars)  
None 439,109 61.5 411,803 61.6 27,306 60.7
Under 200 5,408 0.8 5,099 0.8 309 0.7
200–399 8,340 1.2 7,896 1.2 444 1.0
400–599 13,068 1.8 12,427 1.9 641 1.4
600–999 36,190 5.1 34,564 5.2 1,626 3.6
1,000 or more 211,869 29.7 197,194 29.5 14,675 32.6
Unearned income (dollars)  
None 594,892 83.3 558,529 83.5 36,363 80.8
Under 200 30,274 4.2 29,070 4.3 1,204 2.7
200–399 16,154 2.3 15,227 2.3 927 2.1
400–599 13,780 1.9 12,813 1.9 967 2.1
600–999 34,483 4.8 31,540 4.7 2,943 6.5
1,000 or more 24,401 3.4 21,804 3.3 2,597 5.8
SOURCE: Social Security Administration, Supplemental Security Record, 100 percent data.
a. The sum of the entries may be greater than the total because some parents may receive both earned and unearned income.
CONTACT: (410) 965-0090 or statistics@ssa.gov.
Table 26. Recipients with two parents in the household, by type and monthly amount of parental income, December 2021
Parental income All children living with two parents Mother Father
Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent
Total 191,414 100.0 191,414 100.0 191,414 100.0
No parental income 38,809 20.3 125,218 65.4 69,503 36.3
Parental income a 152,605 79.7 66,196 34.6 121,911 63.7
Earned income 131,077 68.5 50,239 26.2 102,165 53.4
Unearned income 34,562 18.1 18,355 9.6 23,821 12.4
Total income (dollars)  
None 38,809 20.3 125,218 65.4 69,503 36.3
Under 200 2,900 1.5 6,699 3.5 3,400 1.8
200–399 3,102 1.6 3,794 2.0 2,599 1.4
400–599 3,831 2.0 4,387 2.3 3,830 2.0
600–999 11,861 6.2 11,139 5.8 11,733 6.1
1,000 or more 130,911 68.4 40,177 21.0 100,349 52.4
Earned income (dollars)  
None 60,337 31.5 141,175 73.8 89,249 46.6
Under 200 1,232 0.6 1,713 0.9 1,115 0.6
200–399 1,621 0.8 2,050 1.1 1,420 0.7
400–599 2,516 1.3 2,928 1.5 2,268 1.2
600–999 7,152 3.7 6,832 3.6 6,057 3.2
1,000 or more 118,556 61.9 36,716 19.2 91,305 47.7
Unearned income (dollars)  
None 156,852 81.9 173,059 90.4 167,593 87.6
Under 200 4,048 2.1 6,189 3.2 3,599 1.9
200–399 3,396 1.8 2,188 1.1 1,767 0.9
400–599 3,392 1.8 1,839 1.0 2,217 1.2
600–999 10,090 5.3 4,896 2.6 7,059 3.7
1,000 or more 13,636 7.1 3,243 1.7 9,179 4.8
SOURCE: Social Security Administration, Supplemental Security Record, 100 percent data.
a. The sum of the entries may be greater than the total because some parents may receive both earned and unearned income.
CONTACT: (410) 965-0090 or statistics@ssa.gov.
Table 27. Recipients with one or more parents who have income and average monthly amount of parental income, by type of income, December 2021
Type of income All children with parental income Children with parental income from—
Mother Father
Number Average monthly amount (dollars) Number Average monthly amount (dollars) Number Average monthly amount (dollars)
Total a 528,709 1,696 416,878 1,411 147,333 2,092
Earned income 405,952 1,953 307,419 1,659 119,860 2,340
Unearned income b 153,654 704 128,809 607 32,459 854
Social Security benefits 67,849 870 52,870 805 17,833 917
Other pensions 7,371 605 5,630 381 2,769 827
Public income-maintenance 36,123 169 33,903 171 4,320 192
Asset income 3,165 142 2,531 114 875 186
Other 44,640 779 37,623 730 7,717 1,047
SOURCE: Social Security Administration, Supplemental Security Record, 100 percent data.
a. The sum of the entries may be greater than the total because some parents may receive more than one type of earned or unearned income or both earned and unearned income.
b. The sum of the entries may be greater than the total because some parents may receive more than one type of unearned income.
CONTACT: (410) 965-0090 or statistics@ssa.gov.
Table 28. Recipients subject to deeming, by factors affecting parental deemed income, December 2021
Deeming factors All children living with parent(s) Children living with—
One parent Two parents
Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent
Total 905,398 100.0 713,984 78.9 191,414 21.1
  No deemed income used in child's payment computation
Subtotal 739,748 100.0 599,964 100.0 139,784 100.0
No parental income 376,689 50.9 337,880 56.3 38,809 27.8
Parent(s) receive public income-maintenance payments 36,123 4.9 31,419 5.2 4,704 3.4
Income less than deeming allocations a 41,662 5.6 33,557 5.6 8,105 5.8
Income less than exclusions b 285,274 38.6 197,108 32.9 88,166 63.1
  Deemed income used in child's payment computation
Subtotal 165,650 100.0 114,020 100.0 51,630 100.0
Parent(s) with—  
Earned income only 124,091 74.9 82,433 72.3 41,658 80.7
Unearned income only 27,249 16.4 23,494 20.6 3,755 7.3
Both earned and unearned income 11,996 7.2 6,036 5.3 5,960 11.5
Manually computed deemed income 2,314 1.4 2,057 1.8 257 0.5
SOURCE: Social Security Administration, Supplemental Security Record, 100 percent data.
a. Includes allocations for ineligible children and SSI-eligible aliens sponsored by parents.
b. Includes the general income exclusion ($20), the earned income exclusion ($65 plus one-half of the remaining earned income), and the parental living allowance.
CONTACT: (410) 965-0090 or statistics@ssa.gov.