Number of …
Beneficiaries by broad groups
Retired workers & dependents
Survivors
Disabled workers & dependents

The table below provides unedited data from our Master Beneficiary Record. See the links at left for more detailed data.

The data can also be see in a graph.
Number of beneficiaries receiving benefits on December 31, 1970-2023
Year Total Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Disability Insurance
Total Retired workers and dependents Survivors Disabled workers and dependents
1970 25,700,924 23,035,295 16,566,674 6,468,621 2,665,629
1971 26,817,466 23,887,566 17,188,035 6,699,531 2,929,900
1972 28,075,659 24,804,173 17,870,175 6,933,998 3,271,486
1973 29,513,677 25,952,971 18,793,039 7,159,932 3,560,706
1974 30,575,739 26,663,788 19,409,560 7,254,228 3,911,951
1975 31,861,668 27,509,170 20,140,731 7,368,439 4,352,498
1976 32,835,497 28,211,670 20,715,021 7,496,649 4,623,827
1977 33,923,098 29,068,892 21,476,517 7,592,375 4,854,206
1978 34,453,027 29,584,451 22,006,468 7,577,983 4,868,576
1979 35,012,958 30,235,740 22,617,898 7,617,842 4,777,218
1980 35,526,086 30,843,914 23,243,078 7,600,836 4,682,172
1981 35,930,048 31,473,774 23,859,047 7,614,727 4,456,274
1982 35,777,795 31,804,330 24,362,481 7,441,849 3,973,465
1983 36,033,976 32,221,046 24,971,472 7,249,574 3,812,930
1984 36,438,574 32,616,770 25,435,753 7,181,017 3,821,804
1985 37,026,698 33,119,529 25,958,585 7,160,944 3,907,169
1986 37,683,434 33,690,155 26,524,806 7,165,349 3,993,279
1987 38,171,185 34,126,461 26,970,080 7,156,381 4,044,724
1988 38,612,903 34,538,603 27,375,814 7,162,789 4,074,300
1989 39,141,080 35,012,253 27,842,330 7,169,923 4,128,827
1990 39,824,692 35,558,711 28,361,385 7,197,326 4,265,981
1991 40,586,874 36,073,834 28,818,483 7,255,351 4,513,040
1992 41,503,506 36,613,810 29,301,178 7,312,632 4,889,696
1993 42,243,262 36,989,696 29,635,117 7,354,579 5,253,566
1994 42,881,850 37,298,331 29,914,265 7,384,066 5,583,519
1995 43,386,232 37,528,576 30,140,418 7,388,158 5,857,656
1996 43,736,183 37,664,149 30,310,865 7,353,284 6,072,034
1997 43,970,692 37,817,653 30,637,863 7,179,790 6,153,039
1998 44,245,506 37,910,936 30,813,491 7,097,445 6,334,570
1999 44,595,481 38,071,751 31,027,701 7,044,050 6,523,730
2000 45,414,705 38,741,343 31,756,099 6,985,244 6,673,362
2001 45,877,465 38,964,222 32,045,800 6,918,422 6,913,243
2002 46,444,296 39,223,028 32,347,974 6,875,054 7,221,268
2003 47,038,475 39,443,023 32,633,335 6,809,688 7,595,452
2004 47,687,713 39,738,441 33,004,844 6,733,597 7,949,272
2005 48,434,436 40,120,122 33,467,225 6,652,897 8,314,314
2006 49,122,826 40,503,441 33,937,576 6,565,865 8,619,385
2007 49,864,978 40,944,607 34,450,034 6,494,573 8,920,371
2008 50,898,396 41,624,557 35,168,515 6,456,042 9,273,839
2009 52,522,819 42,826,421 36,416,781 6,409,640 9,696,398
2010 54,032,097 43,846,211 37,487,862 6,358,349 10,185,886
2011 55,404,480 44,790,082 38,484,666 6,305,416 10,614,398
2012 56,758,185 45,867,289 39,611,707 6,255,582 10,890,896
2013 57,978,610 46,990,341 40,801,365 6,188,976 10,988,269
2014 59,007,158 48,076,066 41,947,747 6,128,319 10,931,092
2015 59,963,425 49,156,959 43,073,398 6,083,561 10,806,466
2016 60,907,307 50,297,237 44,266,144 6,031,093 10,610,070
2017 61,903,360 51,492,108 45,497,828 5,994,280 10,411,252
2018 62,906,222 52,743,734 46,803,244 5,940,490 10,162,488
2019 64,064,496 54,139,028 48,227,020 5,912,008 9,925,468
2020 64,850,867 55,232,480 49,357,832 5,874,648 9,618,387
2021 65,228,238 56,010,158 50,146,111 5,864,047 9,218,080
2022 65,994,457 57,153,724 51,293,070 5,860,654 8,840,733
2023 67,076,966 58,563,242 52,729,819 5,833,423 8,513,724
Numbers above exclude transitionally uninsured beneficiaries. Benefits to such beneficiares are initially paid from the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund and are subsequently reimbursed from the general fund of the Treasury.
Monthly benefit data are available on those beneficiaries who are currently paid, grouped by benefit type as in the table above, or family type. The term "family" has a special meaning based on the concept of insured status. Data are also available on benefits awarded.