USA Social Security Death Master File (SSDMF) – 105M records / 8.4GB of data

Overview of the SSDMF

The SSDMF includes records of deaths reported to the SSA from 1962 to the present. It encompasses data for individuals who died before 1962 if their Social Security accounts were still active at that time. As of 2018, the SSDMF contained information on approximately 111 million deaths. 

Key Data Elements

The SSDMF includes critical information such as:

• Name: Full name including middle initial (since the 1990s).
• Date of Birth: Complete birth date.
• Date of Death: Full date of death since 2000; otherwise, it may only include the month and year.
• Social Security Number (SSN): Unique identifier for each individual.
• Verification Status: Indicates whether a death has been verified or if a death certificate has been observed

  
  
  

Usage and Importance

The SSDMF is utilized by various stakeholders:

• Genealogists: It is a valuable resource for tracing family histories and conducting genealogical research.
• Financial Institutions: Banks and credit agencies use the data to prevent identity fraud and verify deceased individuals’ status.
• Government Agencies: Various federal agencies rely on this data for program integrity and to prevent improper payments

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The Social Security Death Master File (SSDMF) is not available for free download.

Instead, the Social Security Administration (SSA) provides access to a limited version of the DMF through the National Technical Information Service (NTIS), which charges significant fees. For example, obtaining the “Limited Access” DMF costs approximately $2,300 plus an annual fee of $3,400. Additionally, there is a more comprehensive version referred to as the “open access” DMF, which SSA has estimated would cost around $5,200 to obtain, although this version is not currently available for free either.

The SSDMF is primarily sold to organizations such as banks and credit companies for purposes like fraud prevention and identity verification. Access to the data is restricted, particularly for records of individuals who died within the last three years due to privacy concerns.

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