I've Got Stats For You

Social Security has released a report with the catchy title of "Earnings and Employment Data for Workers Covered Under Social Security and Medicare, by State and County, 2005." I will not pretend that it is all that interesting, but you can compare the county you live in to other counties in your state and elsewhere. Here are what Social Security considers to be the highlights:

Social Security

• In 2005, 159.1 million workers had earnings taxable under the Social Security program. About 141.9 million had only wages, 9.6 million had only self-employment income, and 6.8 million had both.
• Social Security taxable earnings totaled $4.768 trillion, which includes earnings up to the taxable maximum of $90,000.
• Social Security taxes totaled about $591 billion.

Medicare

• In 2005, 162.9 million workers had earnings taxable under the Medicare program. About 145.6 million had only wages, 9.5 million had only self-employment income, and 7.8 million had both.
• Medicare taxable earnings totaled $5.886 trillion.
• Medicare taxes totaled about $171 billion.

Social Security has also issued the "SSI Annual Statistical Report, 2007." The highlights:

Size and Scope of the Supplemental Security Income Program

• About 7.4 million people received federally administered payments in December 2007.
• The average monthly payment in December 2007 was $468.
• Total payments for the year were more than $41 billion, including about $4 billion in federally administered state supplementation.

Profile of Recipients

• The majority were female (56 percent).
• Fifteen percent were under age 18, 57 percent were aged 18 to 64, and 27 percent were aged 65 or older.
• Most (83 percent) were eligible on the basis of a disability.
• Almost 5 out of 10 recipients under the age of 65 were diagnosed with a mentaldisorder.
• More than half (56 percent) had no income other than their SSI payment.
• Thirty-five percent of SSI recipients also received Social Security benefits.
• Of the people receiving SSI benefits, about 2 percent were residing in a Title XIX institution where Medicaid was paying more than half of the cost.
• Despite their disabilities, about 357,000 recipients (5.7 percent) were working in December 2007.