The Social Security Administration (SSA) is an independent agency in the executive branch headed by the commissioner of Social Security. It is responsible for administering Social Security and Supplemental Security Income, which are the nation's primary income support programs for older adults and individuals with disabilities. SSA is also responsible for supporting the administration of a number of non-SSA programs and activities, such as portions of Medicare.
This report provides selected data on SSA's recent and historical staffing levels—including state disability determination services (DDS) staffing levels—across a number of different metrics. The recent and historical periods used in this report are based, in part, on the public availability of data for each metric. For data on SSA's recent and historical staffing levels by state or area, see CRS Report R48911, Social Security Administration (SSA) Staffing Levels by State or Area: Data Brief. For additional data on SSA's staffing levels, see the Office of Personnel Management's (OPM's) Federal Workforce Data website at https://data.opm.gov/.
Figure 1 shows SSA total staff on duty at the end of the month for January 2019-February 2026. SSA's total staffing level at the end of February 2026 was 49,683.
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| Figure 1. SSA Total Staff on Duty at the End of the Month January 2019-February 2026. Figure is interactive in HTML report version. |
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Source: CRS analysis of data from the Office of Personnel Management's (OPM's) Federal Workforce Data site. |
Table 1 shows estimated SSA staff on duty from agency contingency plans, by office, for 2018-2025. Entries for some offices are blank (i.e., "—") because the office did not exist at the time or no longer exists. SSA underwent several reorganizations in 2025 that closed some offices, created new offices, and transferred staff and functions to different offices. As a result, office-level staffing data for 2025 may not be comparable with previous years.
|
Office |
2018 |
2019 |
2020 |
2021 |
2022 |
2023 |
2024 |
2025 |
|
Total |
61,663 |
63,203 |
62,987 |
62,971 |
61,757 |
61,869 |
59,058 |
51,825 |
|
Actuary |
57 |
56 |
50 |
51 |
50 |
50 |
51 |
45 |
|
Analytics, Review, and Oversight |
2,086 |
2,307 |
1,996 |
1,939 |
1,964 |
1,945 |
1,920 |
— |
|
Budget, Finance, and Management/Finance and Management |
931 |
916 |
880 |
884 |
891 |
870 |
859 |
679 |
|
Commissioner |
25 |
31 |
27 |
29 |
27 |
28 |
32 |
11 |
|
Communications |
155 |
146 |
142 |
141 |
148 |
150 |
144 |
32 |
|
Hearings Operations/Disability Adjudication |
9,664 |
9,386 |
8,370 |
8,156 |
7,675 |
8,086 |
7,471 |
7,148 |
|
General Counsel |
723 |
747 |
724 |
741 |
758 |
744 |
722 |
— |
|
Civil Rights and Equal Opportunity (CREO) |
— |
— |
— |
— |
67 |
143 |
148 |
— |
|
Human Resources (HR) |
412 |
413 |
381 |
420 |
416 |
845 |
854 |
286 |
|
HR/CREO—Reasonable Accommodations |
203 |
216 |
212 |
218 |
213 |
213 |
213 |
171 |
|
Inspector General |
493 |
529 |
542 |
523 |
529 |
534 |
515 |
442 |
|
Law and Policy |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
792 |
|
Legislation and Congressional Affairs |
54 |
56 |
58 |
58 |
59 |
60 |
60 |
— |
|
Operations |
43,221 |
44,694 |
45,927 |
46,131 |
45,129 |
44,316 |
42,250 |
37,395 |
|
Risk and Quality |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
1,861 |
|
Retirement and Disability Policy |
533 |
525 |
495 |
489 |
493 |
482 |
504 |
— |
|
Security and Resiliency |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
372 |
|
Systems/Chief Information Officer |
3,106 |
3,181 |
3,183 |
3,191 |
3,338 |
3,403 |
3,303 |
2,591 |
|
Transformation |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
12 |
— |
Source: CRS analysis of data from Social Security Administration (SSA) agency contingency plans for 2018-2025.
Notes: "—" = not applicable. The staff counts are estimated for the end of September or the beginning of October of the year shown using actual staff counts from July or August of that year. The office Operations includes field offices, teleservice centers, regional offices, program service centers, and the Office of Central Operations. The Inspector General data for 2025 were calculated based on the difference between the higher staffing total at the beginning of the 2025 contingency plan and the lower total in the table at the end of the plan.
Table 2 shows full-time equivalent (FTE) employees, by component, for FY2019-FY2026. An FTE is the equivalent of one employee working full-time for one year (2,080 hours), excluding overtime and lump-sum leave. The table separates out SSA's Office of the Inspector General (OIG) from the rest of the agency. It also provides data on state DDSs, which are state agencies that conduct disability determinations and reviews on behalf of, and under agreements with, SSA. State DDS personnel are state employees, and their salaries and related activities are fully funded by SSA, subject to certain conditions. The FY2026 data in the table are estimates from SSA's FY2027 congressional budget justification.
|
Component |
FY2019 |
FY2020 |
FY2021 |
FY2022 |
FY2023 |
FY2024 |
FY2025 |
FY2026 |
|
SSA Total (Excluding OIG) |
60,470 |
59,574 |
59,195 |
57,568 |
58,485 |
57,998 |
54,063 |
51,205 |
|
Field Offices/Field Operations |
27,358 |
27,230 |
27,251 |
26,997 |
27,673 |
26,839 |
26,514 |
24,966 |
|
Teleservice Centers/Digital Services |
4,307 |
4,567 |
4,790 |
4,167 |
4,078 |
3,947 |
3,865 |
5,231 |
|
Regional Offices |
1,348 |
1,309 |
1,281 |
1,347 |
1,221 |
1,396 |
— |
— |
|
Program Service Centers and Office of Central Operations |
9,467 |
9,463 |
9,548 |
9,345 |
9,348 |
9,214 |
8,916 |
7,268 |
|
Office of Hearings Operations/Disability Adjudication |
9,335 |
8,549 |
7,970 |
7,553 |
7,465 |
7,512 |
8,845 |
6,764 |
|
Risk and Quality |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
1,865 |
|
Office of Systems/Chief Information Officer |
3,084 |
3,048 |
3,138 |
3,074 |
3,285 |
3,293 |
3,081 |
2,943 |
|
Office of Analytics, Review, and Oversight |
2,107 |
2,050 |
1,928 |
1,834 |
1,869 |
1,923 |
— |
— |
|
Office of General Counsel |
720 |
691 |
721 |
704 |
698 |
713 |
— |
— |
|
Security and Resiliency |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
92 |
|
Law and Policy |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
1,050 |
879 |
|
Headquarters/Agency-Level Support |
2,744 |
2,667 |
2,567 |
2,547 |
2,848 |
3,161 |
1,792 |
1,196 |
|
State DDS |
13,149 |
12,780 |
13,421 |
13,462 |
13,166 |
13,424 |
12,797 |
12,226 |
|
OIG |
508 |
519 |
499 |
479 |
500 |
508 |
473 |
455 |
Source: CRS analysis of data from SSA, Justification of Estimates for Appropriations Committees for Fiscal Year 2027, and earlier editions.
Notes: OIG = Office of the Inspector General. DDS = Disability Determination Services. Subtotals may not sum to totals due to rounding. The FY2026 data are estimates from SSA's FY2027 congressional budget justification. The SSA FTE data for FY2023-FY2026 include reimbursable work. (The SSA FTE data in the Appendix exclude reimbursable work.)
Figure 2 shows SSA total staff on duty at the end of the fiscal year for FY1964-FY2026. The figure uses data from two different sources: SSA (FY1964-FY1998) and OPM (FY1974-FY2026). The OPM data for FY2026 are through February 2026.
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| Figure 2. SSA Total Staff on Duty at the End of the Fiscal Year, by Data Source FY1964-FY2026 (Selected Years). Figure is interactive in HTML report version. |
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Source: CRS analysis of data from Social Security Advisory Board, How the Social Security Administration Can Improve Its Service to the Public, September 1999; various SSA responses to questions for the record; Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Annual Report, 1967, and earlier editions; OPM's Federal Workforce Data and FedScope systems; and the Internet Archive's Federal Employment Data from the Office of Personnel Management. Notes: The FY2026 data are through February 2026. |
Figure 3 shows SSA total work years for FY1964-FY2026. SSA calculates total work years as the sum of FTE employment and overtime and lump-sum leave (i.e., the number of FTE employees plus the number of overtime and lump-sum leave work years). The figure displays two types of work-year metrics: LAE-only activities (FY1964-FY2026) and all activities (FY1975-FY2026). The metric LAE-only activities includes only those work years that are attributable to SSA's Limitation on Administrative Expenses (LAE) account or equivalent historical account. The LAE account is SSA's primary administrative appropriations account and funds SSA's activities related to Social Security, SSI, and portions of Medicare.1 The metric all activities includes LAE work years in addition to work years that are attributable to reimbursable work,2 SSA's OIG,3 special temporary workloads,4 and, prior to FY1998, certain other programs and activities for which SSA had administrative responsibilities.5 Figure 4 shows state DDS total work years for FY1980-FY2026. The FY2026 data in both figures are estimates from SSA's FY2027 congressional budget justification.
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| Figure 3. SSA Total Work Years, by Type FY1964-FY2026 (Selected Years). Figure is interactive in HTML report version. |
|
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Source: CRS analysis of data from SSA's FY2027 congressional budget justification and earlier editions; SSA, Annual Statistical Supplement, 2024, and earlier editions; SSA, Annual Report to the Congress, 1994, and earlier editions; various SSA responses to questions for the record; and the FY1966 President's budget. Notes: LAE = Limitation on Administrative Expenses. The FY2026 data are estimates from SSA's FY2027 congressional budget justification. |
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| Figure 4. State Disability Determination Services (DDS) Total Work Years FY1980-FY2026, Figure is interactive in HTML report version. |
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Source: CRS analysis of data from SSA's FY2027 congressional budget justification and earlier editions; various SSA responses to questions for the record; and General Accounting Office, Social Security: Increasing Number of Disability Claims and Deteriorating Service, November 1993. Notes: The FY2026 data are estimates from SSA's FY2027 congressional budget justification. |
Table A-1 provides the data underlying the historical staffing figures shown in the body of the report. The table includes additional years of data for SSA total staff on duty (SSA data) and SSA total work years (LAE-only activities), as well as data on SSA full-time permanent staff, SSA and OIG FTEs, and state DDS total staff on duty. Data for some metrics are not available for all years shown below, because CRS was unable to find publicly available data for certain years. In some cases, the entries for certain metrics are blank (i.e., "—") because the particular metric was not captured or produced by SSA at that time or the particular entity did not exist at that time (e.g., SSA's OIG was established in the second half of FY1995).
Table A-1. Historical Social Security Administration (SSA) Staffing Data, by Metric
FY1936-FY2026 (Selected Years)
|
Fiscal Year |
SSA Total Staff on Duty |
SSA Full-Time Permanent Staff on Duty |
SSA Total Work Years |
SSA and OIG FTEs |
State DDS |
|||||
|
SSA Data |
OPM Data |
SSA Data |
OPM Data |
LAE-Only Activities |
All Activities |
SSA (Excluding OIG) |
OIG |
Total Staff on Duty |
Total Work Years |
|
|
1936 |
634 |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
|
1937 |
5,748 |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
|
1938 |
9,612 |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
|
1939 |
9,661 |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
|
1940 |
12,164 |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
|
1941 |
12,682 |
— |
— |
— |
9,037 |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
|
1942 |
13,297 |
— |
— |
— |
9,853 |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
|
1943 |
10,585 |
— |
— |
— |
9,502 |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
|
1944 |
10,045 |
— |
— |
— |
8,268 |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
|
1945 |
10,629 |
— |
— |
— |
8,269 |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
|
1946 |
11,261 |
— |
— |
— |
9,624 |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
|
1947 |
12,830 |
— |
— |
— |
10,616 |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
|
1948 |
12,889 |
— |
— |
— |
11,450 |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
|
1949 |
12,854 |
— |
— |
— |
11,069 |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
|
1950 |
11,899 |
— |
— |
— |
11,137 |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
|
1951 |
14,821 |
— |
— |
— |
13,301 |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
|
1952 |
14,814 |
— |
— |
— |
13,853 |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
|
1953 |
14,623 |
— |
— |
— |
14,402 |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
|
1954 |
14,634 |
— |
— |
— |
13,983 |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
|
1955 |
18,514 |
— |
— |
— |
16,363 |
— |
— |
— |
27 |
— |
|
1956 |
18,591 |
— |
— |
— |
17,729 |
— |
— |
— |
237 |
— |
|
1957 |
22,472 |
— |
— |
— |
21,984 |
— |
— |
— |
491 |
— |
|
1958 |
23,540 |
— |
— |
— |
23,297 |
— |
— |
— |
868 |
— |
|
1959 |
26,322 |
— |
— |
— |
25,207 |
— |
— |
— |
1,142 |
— |
|
1960 |
26,071 |
— |
— |
— |
25,829 |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
|
1961 |
32,100 |
— |
— |
— |
30,063 |
— |
— |
— |
1,497 |
— |
|
1962 |
35,304 |
— |
— |
— |
34,741 |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
|
1963 |
34,796 |
— |
— |
— |
34,959 |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
|
1964 |
35,056 |
— |
— |
— |
35,448 |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
|
1965 |
35,897 |
— |
— |
— |
35,345 |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
|
1966 |
44,774 |
— |
— |
— |
48,473 |
— |
— |
— |
2,114 |
— |
|
1967 |
48,092 |
— |
47,004 |
— |
49,650 |
— |
— |
— |
2,191 |
— |
|
1968 |
53,142 |
— |
52,459 |
— |
54,770 |
— |
— |
— |
2,411 |
— |
|
1969 |
53,543 |
— |
50,488 |
— |
54,405 |
— |
— |
— |
2,710 |
— |
|
1970 |
54,164 |
— |
50,048 |
— |
53,648 |
— |
— |
— |
2,711 |
— |
|
1971 |
56,443 |
— |
52,225 |
— |
55,438 |
— |
— |
— |
3,225 |
— |
|
1972 |
56,260 |
— |
52,485 |
— |
56,443 |
— |
— |
— |
4,400 |
— |
|
1973 |
68,340 |
— |
62,609 |
— |
59,542 |
— |
— |
— |
6,300 |
— |
|
1974 |
76,762 |
77,811 |
71,187 |
68,763 |
77,956 |
— |
— |
— |
10,300 |
— |
|
1975 |
82,791 |
80,024 |
74,993 |
70,306 |
84,037 |
86,168 |
— |
— |
10,100 |
— |
|
1976 |
87,125 |
83,632 |
77,920 |
71,979 |
87,487 |
89,045 |
— |
— |
9,300 |
— |
|
1977 |
88,257 |
85,036 |
80,054 |
77,017 |
89,848 |
90,835 |
— |
— |
9,400 |
— |
|
1978 |
86,563 |
85,948 |
77,684 |
77,428 |
86,449 |
88,088 |
— |
— |
9,600 |
— |
|
1979 |
84,629 |
83,994 |
75,230 |
75,630 |
85,996 |
87,725 |
— |
— |
— |
9,625 |
|
1980 |
84,269 |
82,931 |
74,498 |
74,271 |
84,937 |
86,539 |
— |
— |
— |
9,701 |
|
1981 |
86,948 |
85,802 |
74,330 |
74,863 |
84,262 |
85,958 |
78,842 |
— |
— |
10,794 |
|
1982 |
88,611 |
88,267 |
74,880 |
74,820 |
86,640 |
88,163 |
82,000 |
— |
— |
12,513 |
|
1983 |
86,131 |
86,004 |
74,604 |
74,430 |
88,254 |
89,299 |
82,483 |
— |
— |
12,887 |
|
1984 |
83,980 |
83,398 |
73,944 |
72,047 |
86,185 |
87,864 |
79,951 |
— |
— |
12,924 |
|
1985 |
83,505 |
84,194 |
72,225 |
73,186 |
82,131 |
83,406 |
77,741 |
— |
— |
13,074 |
|
1986 |
77,358 |
81,113 |
68,962 |
71,596 |
78,746 |
79,225 |
75,494 |
— |
— |
13,302 |
|
1987 |
71,024 |
75,730 |
64,529 |
68,726 |
72,721 |
73,408 |
70,784 |
— |
— |
12,502 |
|
1988 |
68,908 |
68,116 |
63,029 |
61,903 |
68,558 |
69,286 |
66,835 |
— |
— |
11,963 |
|
1989 |
66,597 |
65,885 |
61,131 |
60,328 |
66,311 |
66,931 |
64,621 |
— |
— |
11,634 |
|
1990 |
65,978 |
65,161 |
61,067 |
60,281 |
64,155 |
65,025 |
62,836 |
— |
— |
11,177 |
|
1991 |
68,270 |
67,371 |
63,715 |
62,653 |
64,844 |
66,040 |
62,850 |
— |
— |
11,738 |
|
1992 |
67,398 |
66,362 |
62,398 |
61,538 |
66,164 |
68,135 |
64,324 |
— |
— |
13,225 |
|
1993 |
65,906 |
64,925 |
61,640 |
60,818 |
66,202 |
66,623 |
63,771 |
— |
— |
13,298 |
|
1994 |
67,590 |
66,362 |
62,434 |
61,161 |
66,259 |
66,741 |
64,017 |
— |
14,325 |
13,267 |
|
1995 |
67,925 |
66,719 |
62,504 |
61,304 |
66,537 |
67,063 |
64,135 |
109 |
14,591 |
13,478 |
|
1996 |
67,398 |
67,132 |
62,133 |
61,294 |
66,154 |
66,726 |
63,418 |
247 |
14,298 |
12,938 |
|
1997 |
67,750 |
67,328 |
61,224 |
60,386 |
68,710 |
69,378 |
64,574 |
314 |
15,063 |
14,118 |
|
1998 |
65,407 |
65,629 |
59,943 |
59,719 |
66,540 |
67,210 |
63,339 |
388 |
15,563 |
14,330 |
|
1999 |
— |
63,957 |
59,752 |
58,900 |
65,760 |
66,459 |
62,312 |
428 |
15,792 |
14,611 |
|
2000 |
— |
64,521 |
60,434 |
59,322 |
64,771 |
65,521 |
61,698 |
517 |
15,659 |
14,231 |
|
2001 |
— |
65,377 |
61,490 |
60,565 |
64,557 |
65,562 |
61,743 |
559 |
— |
14,397 |
|
2002 |
— |
64,648 |
61,914 |
60,791 |
64,829 |
65,742 |
62,214 |
564 |
— |
14,947 |
|
2003 |
— |
64,903 |
63,569 |
61,410 |
64,515 |
65,343 |
62,264 |
566 |
— |
14,700 |
|
2004 |
— |
65,258 |
63,186 |
61,882 |
64,764 |
66,154 |
62,513 |
594 |
— |
14,772 |
|
2005 |
— |
66,147 |
63,696 |
62,654 |
65,182 |
68,026 |
61,790 |
610 |
— |
15,038 |
|
2006 |
— |
63,647 |
61,692 |
61,394 |
64,604 |
66,878 |
61,468 |
608 |
— |
14,653 |
|
2007 |
— |
62,407 |
60,206 |
60,022 |
63,076 |
63,939 |
60,814 |
597 |
— |
13,916 |
|
2008 |
— |
63,990 |
61,920 |
61,486 |
63,485 |
64,358 |
60,456 |
583 |
15,361 |
13,605 |
|
2009 |
— |
67,632 |
65,203 |
64,696 |
66,302 |
67,170 |
63,187 |
576 |
16,814 |
14,224 |
|
2010 |
— |
69,963 |
67,548 |
66,666 |
69,891 |
70,758 |
66,398 |
583 |
18,268 |
16,021 |
|
2011 |
— |
67,136 |
64,744 |
64,539 |
69,077 |
69,936 |
66,749 |
574 |
17,064 |
16,739 |
|
2012 |
— |
65,113 |
62,943 |
62,599 |
66,333 |
67,208 |
63,760 |
569 |
16,075 |
14,913 |
|
2013 |
— |
62,543 |
59,823 |
59,643 |
63,807 |
64,601 |
61,627 |
558 |
15,279 |
14,081 |
|
2014 |
— |
64,684 |
62,956 |
61,946 |
63,230 |
64,006 |
60,105 |
539 |
16,966 |
14,187 |
|
2015 |
— |
65,717 |
63,466 |
62,813 |
66,247 |
67,004 |
63,170 |
528 |
16,168 |
14,925 |
|
2016 |
— |
64,394 |
62,685 |
62,560 |
65,062 |
65,798 |
62,949 |
522 |
16,797 |
15,152 |
|
2017 |
— |
62,297 |
61,250 |
60,879 |
63,222 |
63,957 |
60,664 |
512 |
15,458 |
14,522 |
|
2018 |
— |
62,519 |
61,011 |
60,726 |
63,360 |
64,095 |
60,160 |
496 |
14,750 |
13,665 |
|
2019 |
— |
61,991 |
60,450 |
60,170 |
63,828 |
64,576 |
60,470 |
508 |
14,906 |
13,429 |
|
2020 |
— |
61,447 |
60,364 |
59,829 |
61,553 |
62,291 |
59,574 |
519 |
14,891 |
13,028 |
|
2021 |
— |
59,808 |
58,952 |
58,582 |
61,112 |
61,830 |
59,195 |
499 |
15,297 |
13,758 |
|
2022 |
— |
57,754 |
56,907 |
56,461 |
59,903 |
60,570 |
57,568 |
479 |
14,571 |
13,825 |
|
2023 |
— |
61,410 |
60,026 |
59,912 |
61,225 |
61,771 |
58,293 |
500 |
15,343 |
13,554 |
|
2024 |
— |
58,409 |
57,148 |
56,931 |
60,127 |
60,817 |
57,820 |
508 |
14,469 |
13,643 |
|
2025 |
— |
52,045 |
— |
51,157 |
55,805 |
56,444 |
53,906 |
473 |
13,700 |
13,017 |
|
2026 |
— |
49,683 |
— |
48,893 |
54,352 |
55,082 |
50,935 |
455 |
— |
12,561 |
Sources: CRS analysis of data from Social Security Advisory Board, How the Social Security Administration Can Improve Its Service to the Public, September 1999; various SSA responses to questions for the record; Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Annual Report, 1970, and earlier editions; Federal Security Agency, Annual Report of the Federal Security Agency, 1952, and earlier editions; Social Security Board, Annual Report of the Social Security Board, 1945, and earlier editions; OPM's Federal Workforce Data and FedScope systems; the Internet Archive's Federal Employment Data from the Office of Personnel Management; SSA, Justification of Estimates for Appropriations Committees for Fiscal Year 2027, and earlier editions; SSA, Annual Statistical Supplement, 2024, and earlier editions; SSA, Annual Report to the Congress, 1994, and earlier editions; Office of Management and Budget, Appendix, Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 1996, and earlier editions; SSA, SSA Weekly Operational Report Meeting, April 25, 2025; SSA, "Total State DDS Employees by State FY2010 to FY2023"; SSA, Office of the Inspector General, The Social Security Administration's Progress in Reducing the Initial Disability Claims Backlog, April 2014; SSA, "FY 2000 State Agency Operations Report," and earlier editions; General Accounting Office (GAO), More Diligent Followup Needed To Weed Out Ineligible SSA Disability Beneficiaries, March 1981; U.S. Congress, House Committee on Ways and Means, Committee Staff Report on the Disability Insurance Program, 93rd Cong., 2nd sess., July 1974; and GAO, Social Security: Increasing Number of Disability Claims and Deteriorating Service, November 1993.
Notes: "—" = not available or not applicable. The data for SSA Total Staff on Duty for FY1936-FY1946 are for the Social Security Board, which was replaced by SSA in July 1946. For the metric SSA Full-Time Permanent Staff on Duty, the SSA data include seasonal employees, while the OPM data exclude seasonal employees. The data for LAE-Only Activities for FY1941-FY1962 are for the Bureau of Old-Age and Survivors Insurance. Prior to FY1979, the President's budget referred to the LAE account as the Limitation on Salaries and Expenses account, the Salaries and Expenses account, or the Salaries account. The data for LAE-Only Activities and SSA FTEs exclude reimbursable work. (The SSA FTE data for FY2023-FY2026 in Table 2 include reimbursable work.) The FY1972-FY1978 and FY2025 data for State DDS Total Staff on Duty are rounded. The FY2026 data for SSA Total Staff on Duty and SSA Full-Time Permanent Staff on Duty are through February 2026. The FY2026 data for SSA Total Work Years, SSA and OIG FTEs, and State DDS Total Work Years are estimates from SSA's FY2027 congressional budget justification.
| 1. |
See CRS Report R47097, Social Security Administration (SSA): Trends in the Annual Limitation on Administrative Expenses (LAE) Appropriation. |
| 2. |
Reimbursable work is work that SSA performs on behalf of another entity under a reimbursable agreement. |
| 3. |
SSA's Office of the Inspector General is funded primarily by a separate administrative appropriations account. |
| 4. |
Examples of special temporary workloads include SSA's work related to Medicare reform and the implementation of Part D in the mid-2000s, its work related to Medicare replacement cards in the mid-to-late 2010s, and its work related to recovery rebates (also known as economic impact payments or stimulus payments) during the COVID-19 pandemic. |
| 5. |
Examples of SSA's past administrative responsibilities include federal credit unions; all of Medicare; Black Lung (Part B); refugee assistance; Aid to Families with Dependent Children; the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program; child support enforcement; and cash assistance for the aged, blind, and disabled in the territories. |