How many noncitizens received Social Security benefits in 2023 or 2024?

1. What the data in circulation actually measures: SSNs issued, not benefits paid

The figures widely quoted in media and political presentations refer to the count of noncitizens who were issued Social Security numbers through EBE, a process that assigns numbers to lawfully admitted noncitizens, not to a tally of people who are receiving monthly Social Security payouts; numerous outlets report the EBE jump from about 964,000 in FY2023 to more than 2 million in FY2024 ^{[1] [2] [3]}, and fact-checkers emphasize that the chart demonstrates issuance of SSNs rather than benefit receipt ^{[4] [5]}.

2. Why that distinction matters: eligibility rules versus benefit receipt

Issuance of an SSN is a prerequisite for wage reporting and many federal interactions, but eligibility to collect Social Security retirement, disability or survivors benefits depends on work credits, legal status, and other program rules; Congressional analyses note that noncitizens authorized to work can obtain SSNs and must pay payroll taxes and meet work requirements to qualify for benefits, meaning having a number does not equal receiving benefits ^{[6] [7]}.

3. Limits of the public reporting on benefit recipients for 2023–2024

The Social Security Administration’s public releases and the news items provided here—including the SSA Fast Facts and congressional summaries—do not present a line-item count of how many noncitizens were paid Social Security benefits in 2023 or 2024, so the exact number of noncitizen benefit recipients in those years cannot be determined from the reporting supplied ^{[8] [6] [7]}.

4. Context and official accuracy: processing and audit findings

Even as the number of SSNs issued via EBE surged, a 2023 government audit cited in reporting found that the SSA correctly processed cases for noncitizens to be issued SSNs 99.8% of the time, which supports the administrative accuracy of issuance records even if issuance is not synonymous with benefit payment ^[3].

5. How the numbers have been used politically and why that can obscure the facts

Prominent political actors displayed the EBE chart as evidence of a new or nefarious expansion of Social Security payouts to “noncitizens,” framing SSN issuance as equivalent to benefit receipt; multiple outlets and fact-checkers pushed back, noting that the presentation conflated issuance with entitlement and that the EBE population largely reflects lawfully admitted immigrants being assigned numbers upon entry ^{[2] [4] [5]}. These differing framings reveal implicit agendas: political actors use the EBE counts to raise alarm about immigration and entitlement programs while fact-checkers and policy analysts stress legal and administrative context.

6. Bottom line and what would be needed to answer the question definitively

From the sources provided, the only clear, attributable numbers are counts of Social Security numbers issued to noncitizens (about 964,000 in FY2023 and roughly 2.0–2.1 million in FY2024) rather than counts of noncitizens receiving Social Security benefits; the reporting does not include an authoritative statistic for how many noncitizens were beneficiaries of Social Security in calendar years 2023 or 2024, and obtaining that figure would require SSA benefit-roll data broken down by citizenship status or a specific SSA report on noncitizen benefit recipients ^{[1] [2] [3] [8] [6]}.