Annual Statistical Supplement, 2021

Supplemental Security Income

Recipient Characteristics

Table 7.E2 Number of federally administered awards, and percentage distribution of awardees by sex and age: By eligibility category, 2020
Sex and age Total Adults Blind and disabled children a
Aged Blind Disabled
  All persons
Number 594,089 74,219 4,354 381,046 134,470
Percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
  Percentage distribution by sex
Male 54.9 40.9 56.5 54.1 65.1
Female 45.1 59.1 43.5 45.9 34.9
  Percentage distribution by age
Under 5 10.5 . . . . . . . . . 46.2
5–9 6.2 . . . . . . . . . 27.3
10–14 3.7 . . . . . . . . . 16.3
15–17 1.4 . . . . . . . . . 6.2
18–21 6.3 . . . 13.8 8.2 3.9
22–29 5.0 . . . 10.7 7.7 . . .
30–39 7.1 . . . 15.9 10.9 . . .
40–49 10.3 . . . 19.6 15.8 . . .
50–59 27.8 . . . 29.5 43.1 . . .
60–64 8.9 . . . 9.9 13.8 . . .
65–69 8.0 61.3 0.4 0.5 . . .
70–74 2.4 18.9 (L) (L) . . .
75–79 1.2 9.9 (L) (L) . . .
80 or older 1.2 9.9 0.1 (L) . . .
  Male
Number 326,367 30,356 2,460 206,005 87,546
Percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Under 5 11.9 . . . . . . . . . 44.5
5–9 8.1 . . . . . . . . . 30.2
10–14 4.3 . . . . . . . . . 16.1
15–17 1.5 . . . . . . . . . 5.4
18–21 7.1 . . . 13.8 9.5 3.6
22–29 5.4 . . . 9.9 8.4 . . .
30–39 7.0 . . . 15.8 10.9 . . .
40–49 9.4 . . . 19.7 14.6 . . .
50–59 26.5 . . . 29.5 41.7 . . .
60–64 9.2 . . . 10.7 14.4 . . .
65–69 6.1 63.0 0.5 0.4 . . .
70–74 1.8 19.4 (L) (L) . . .
75–79 0.9 9.3 . . . (L) . . .
80 or older 0.8 8.3 (L) (L) . . .
  Female
Number 267,722 43,863 1,894 175,041 46,924
Percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Under 5 8.6 . . . . . . . . . 49.3
5–9 3.8 . . . . . . . . . 21.9
10–14 2.9 . . . . . . . . . 16.7
15–17 1.3 . . . . . . . . . 7.7
18–21 5.3 . . . 13.9 6.8 4.4
22–29 4.6 . . . 11.7 6.9 0.1
30–39 7.2 . . . 16.0 10.9 . . .
40–49 11.4 . . . 19.5 17.2 . . .
50–59 29.4 . . . 29.4 44.7 . . .
60–64 8.6 . . . 8.9 13.1 . . .
65–69 10.2 60.1 0.3 0.5 . . .
70–74 3.0 18.6 0.1 (L) . . .
75–79 1.7 10.3 0.1 (L) . . .
80 or older 1.8 11.0 0.2 (L) . . .
SOURCE: Social Security Administration, Supplemental Security Record, 100 percent data.
NOTES: Totals do not necessarily equal the sum of rounded components.
. . . = not applicable; (L) = less than 0.05 percent.
a. Includes students aged 18–21.
CONTACT: (410) 965-0090 or statistics@ssa.gov.
Table 7.E3 Number of recipients of federally administered payments, and percentage distribution of recipients by sex and age: By eligibility category, December 2020
Sex and age All recipients Adults Blind and disabled, under age 18
Aged Blind Disabled
  All persons
Number 7,959,766 1,136,162 61,994 5,652,998 1,108,612
Percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
  Percentage distribution by sex
Male 47.9 35.2 50.2 46.6 67.7
Female 52.1 64.8 49.8 53.4 32.3
  Percentage distribution by age
Under 5 1.8 . . . . . . . . . 13.0
5–9 4.0 . . . . . . . . . 28.8
10–14 5.1 . . . . . . . . . 37.0
15–17 2.9 . . . . . . . . . 21.2
18–21 4.0 . . . 6.1 5.5 . . .
22–29 7.6 . . . 13.8 10.5 . . .
30–39 9.2 . . . 15.4 12.7 . . .
40–49 9.0 . . . 13.6 12.5 . . .
50–59 17.1 . . . 18.8 23.9 . . .
60–64 10.4 . . . 10.4 14.5 . . .
65–69 8.6 14.9 8.3 9.1 . . .
70–74 7.1 23.0 5.0 5.3 . . .
75–79 5.1 20.8 3.3 2.9 . . .
80 or older 8.1 41.3 5.2 3.0 . . .
  Male
Number 3,816,591 399,841 31,110 2,635,019 750,621
Percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Under 5 2.2 . . . . . . . . . 11.4
5–9 5.8 . . . . . . . . . 29.6
10–14 7.5 . . . . . . . . . 38.0
15–17 4.1 . . . . . . . . . 21.1
18–21 5.3 . . . 6.8 7.6 . . .
22–29 9.5 . . . 15.3 13.5 . . .
30–39 10.2 . . . 16.5 14.6 . . .
40–49 8.6 . . . 14.2 12.3 . . .
50–59 15.8 . . . 19.4 22.7 . . .
60–64 9.8 . . . 10.5 14.1 . . .
65–69 7.3 16.7 7.5 7.9 . . .
70–74 5.2 24.5 4.1 3.8 . . .
75–79 3.5 21.3 2.5 1.9 . . .
80 or older 5.0 37.5 3.2 1.6 . . .
  Female
Number 4,143,175 736,321 30,884 3,017,979 357,991
Percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Under 5 1.4 . . . . . . . . . 16.4
5–9 2.4 . . . . . . . . . 27.2
10–14 3.0 . . . . . . . . . 34.9
15–17 1.8 . . . . . . . . . 21.4
18–21 2.8 . . . 5.4 3.7 . . .
22–29 5.8 . . . 12.4 7.9 . . .
30–39 8.2 . . . 14.4 11.1 . . .
40–49 9.4 . . . 12.9 12.7 . . .
50–59 18.3 . . . 18.1 24.9 . . .
60–64 10.9 . . . 10.3 14.9 . . .
65–69 9.9 13.9 9.0 10.1 . . .
70–74 8.7 22.2 5.9 6.5 . . .
75–79 6.5 20.5 4.2 3.9 . . .
80 or older 10.9 43.4 7.3 4.2 . . .
SOURCE: Social Security Administration, Supplemental Security Record, 100 percent data.
NOTES: Totals do not necessarily equal the sum of rounded components.
. . . = not applicable.
CONTACT: (410) 965-0090 or statistics@ssa.gov.
Table 7.E4 Number and percentage distribution of recipients of federally administered payments with and without representative payees, by eligibility category and age, December 2020
Category and age Number Percentage distribution
Total With representative payee Without representative payee Total With representative payee Without representative payee
Total 7,959,766 2,916,898 5,042,868 100.0 36.6 63.4
Category  
Aged 1,136,162 50,788 1,085,374 100.0 4.5 95.5
Blind 67,738 20,615 47,123 100.0 30.4 69.6
Disabled 6,755,866 2,845,495 3,910,371 100.0 42.1 57.9
Age  
Under 18 1,108,612 1,107,977 635 100.0 99.9 0.1
18–64 4,556,131 1,592,480 2,963,651 100.0 35.0 65.0
65 or older a 2,295,023 216,441 2,078,582 100.0 9.4 90.6
SOURCE: Social Security Administration, Supplemental Security Record, 100 percent data.
a. Includes blind persons and disabled persons aged 65 or older.
CONTACT: (410) 965-0090 or statistics@ssa.gov.
Table 7.E5 Number of recipients of federally administered payments, and percentage distribution of recipients by living arrangement: By eligibility category and age, December 2020
Living arrangement a Number Category Age
Aged Blind Disabled Under 18 18–64 65 or older b
Total  
Number 7,959,766 1,136,162 67,738 6,755,866 1,108,612 4,556,131 2,295,023
Percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Own household 94.0 90.8 92.4 94.6 95.3 93.9 93.6
Another's household 4.6 8.2 6.1 4.0 3.6 4.8 4.7
Institutional care covered by Medicaid 1.3 0.9 1.5 1.4 1.1 1.2 1.7
Unknown (L) (L) (L) (L) (L) 0.1 (L)
SOURCE: Social Security Administration, Supplemental Security Record, 100 percent data.
NOTES: Totals do not necessarily equal the sum of rounded components.
(L) = less than 0.05 percent.
a. As defined for determination of federal SSI payment standards.
b. Includes blind persons and disabled persons aged 65 or older.
CONTACT: (410) 965-0090 or statistics@ssa.gov.
Table 7.E6 Number of noncitizens receiving federally administered payments, and noncitizens as a percentage of SSI recipients, by eligibility category, December 1982–2020, selected years
Year All noncitizens Aged Blind and disabled
Number Percentage of total SSI Number Percentage of total SSI Number Percentage of total SSI
1982 127,900 3.3 91,900 5.9 36,000 1.6
1985 210,800 5.1 146,500 9.7 64,300 2.4
1990 435,600 9.0 282,400 19.4 153,200 4.6
1991 519,660 10.2 329,690 22.5 189,970 5.2
1992 601,430 10.8 372,930 25.4 228,500 5.6
1993 683,150 11.4 416,420 28.2 266,730 5.9
1994 738,140 11.7 440,000 30.0 298,140 6.2
1995 785,410 12.1 459,220 31.8 326,190 6.3
1996 724,990 11.0 417,360 29.5 307,630 5.9
1997 650,830 10.0 367,200 27.0 283,630 5.5
1998 669,630 10.2 364,980 27.4 304,650 5.8
1999 684,930 10.4 368,330 28.2 316,600 6.0
2000 692,590 10.5 364,470 28.3 328,120 6.2
2001 695,650 10.4 364,550 28.9 331,100 6.1
2002 703,515 10.4 364,827 29.1 338,688 6.1
2003 696,772 10.1 356,298 28.9 340,474 6.0
2004 676,979 9.7 342,220 28.3 334,759 5.8
2005 680,397 9.6 344,166 28.3 336,231 5.7
2006 674,250 9.3 339,073 28.0 335,177 5.6
2007 663,210 9.0 330,665 27.5 332,545 5.4
2008 655,988 8.7 324,271 26.9 331,717 5.3
2009 644,966 8.4 316,216 26.7 328,750 5.1
2010 627,271 7.9 303,457 25.6 323,814 4.8
2011 604,908 7.5 290,275 24.6 314,633 4.5
2012 582,345 7.0 273,500 23.7 308,845 4.3
2013 562,423 6.7 261,280 22.6 301,143 4.2
2014 540,121 6.5 253,104 22.0 287,017 4.0
2015 525,595 6.3 248,119 21.4 277,476 3.9
2016 507,229 6.1 241,383 20.7 265,846 3.8
2017 492,642 6.0 236,010 20.1 256,632 3.6
2018 463,411 5.7 220,798 18.9 242,613 3.5
2019 430,352 5.3 205,351 17.6 225,001 3.3
2020 397,447 5.0 189,539 16.7 207,908 3.0
SOURCE: Social Security Administration, Supplemental Security Record, 100 percent data.
CONTACT: (410) 965-0090 or statistics@ssa.gov.