The Social Security Administration (SSA) Open Data Portal is a free, publicly accessible federal repository. The portal was developed to comply with federal open-data requirements and provides access to the administration’s publicly releasable data assets. Its collections include disability claims data, retirement and survivor beneficiary statistics, Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program data, disability hearing information, and the popular baby names database, which draws on Social Security card applications dating back to 1880 for national data and to 1910 for state-level data.
The portal can help reporters write about:
- Benefits.
- Disability claims.
- SSI.
- Demographic and geographic data in communities where older adults are economically vulnerable.
- Disparities in disability decisions and processing times.
- How Social Security benefits affect local economies.
For journalists covering aging, poverty, disability, retirement security, or the federal safety net, the portal offers a way to localize national statistics and focus on issues at the community level.
How to use this data
The portal provides a searchable inventory of SSA’s data assets, with individual collections linking to downloadable files, APIs or related reports. Reporters looking for an accessible starting point can begin with the disability claims data by state; Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) beneficiary data; SSI recipient tables; or the baby names files.
SSI data covers a different population than OASDI — it’s a needs-based program for people with limited income and resources who are aged 65-plus, blind or disabled, regardless of work history. It’s funded by general tax revenue, not Social Security payroll taxes. Journalists can use OASDI data to cross-check the availability of state or county services such as home meal delivery, accessible transportation or access to hospitals and clinics. They can also check when a dataset was last updated and, when necessary, cross-check it against SSA’s more frequently updated Annual Statistical Supplement.
How KFF Health News used this data
An investigation by KFF Health News and Cox Media Group into Social Security overpayments shows how SSA’s administrative data can help reporters uncover problems that individual cases alone might not reveal. The investigation used SSA benefits and overpayment data to examine the scale of overpayments and the subsequent demands that beneficiaries repay money, including people receiving disability benefits.
Reporters combined program-level data with interviews of affected beneficiaries in five states, demonstrating both the size of the problem and its impact on individuals. The investigation generated congressional attention and additional oversight, illustrating how federal administrative data can provide the evidence needed to turn scattered complaints into a broader accountability story.
Story ideas
- Find where older adults are living in poverty. Use SSA’s state- and county-level SSI data to identify communities with large numbers or concentrations of SSI recipients age 65 and older. Then pair the SSA data with Census poverty and income data to find communities where older adults face particularly high levels of economic insecurity. Follow up with local aging agencies, housing providers, food programs, healthcare organizations and older residents to understand what’s driving the disparities.
- Where are disability applicants most likely to be approved? Compare initial disability claim approval rates across states using SSA’s disability claims dataset. Geographic differences can provide a starting point for reporting on differences in applicant characteristics, how claims were resolved or access to medical documentation.
- How long are people waiting for disability decisions? Examine disability hearing office processing times, workloads, and backlogs to identify local or regional disparities in how long applicants wait for an appeal decision. Pair the data with claimants and disability attorneys to explore the financial and health consequences of lengthy waits.
- How important is Social Security to your local economy? Use OASDI beneficiary data to examine the number of beneficiaries and amount of benefits paid in a state or county. Comparing benefit flows with local population and economic data can help reporters show the importance of Social Security to communities with large older populations or limited economic opportunities.
- Who could be most affected by changes to Social Security? Combine beneficiary data with local demographic information to identify communities with particularly high shares of older residents receiving Social Security. Reporters could then examine how potential changes to benefits or eligibility might affect household budgets, health care spending, housing stability or other aspects of daily life.
- What can baby names tell us about changing communities? SSA’s baby names data offers an accessible, lighter entry point into the portal. Reporters can examine naming trends over decades or compare state-level patterns and connect them to demographic and cultural changes.
Additional resources
- SSA Open Data Portal — the agency’s central gateway to publicly available data.
- SSA Disability Claim Data — disability claims and determination data.
- SSA OASDI Beneficiaries by State and County — state- and county-level Social Security beneficiary information in pdf format.
- SSA SSI Recipients by State and County — useful for examining SSI recipients, including older adults.
- SSA Annual Statistical Supplement — detailed program statistics and historical tables.
