SSA Summary Earnings Record (SER) CPS Extract

The Summary Earnings Record (SER) summarizes all earnings information found in the SSA Master Earnings File (MEF) for each year from 1951 to the present. The extracts contain Protected Identification Keys (PIK) that link these records to the respondents in the internal Current Population Survey (CPS) microdata files.

A SER record summarizes all earnings information found in the MEF for each year from 1951 to the present. All amounts reported on W-2s for jobs subject to FICA tax are added together, by year, and then capped at the FICA taxable maximum. Thus, the SER would contain the same value for total FICA earnings if a worker earned $30,000 from a single job in one year, or $30,000 from three separate $10,000 jobs in one year. Any amount earned beyond the FICA taxable maximum is not recorded.