Quarterly Benefit Statistics

U.S. Railroad Retirement Board Published by Public Affairs

844 North Rush Street and the Bureau of the Actuary and Research

Chicago, Illinois 60611-1275

www.rrb.gov

Railroad Retirement and 

Unemployment Insurance Programs

List of Tables: Table 1 - Retirement and Survivor Programs, Benefit Statistics

Table 2 - Retirement and Survivor Programs, Financial Statistics

Table 3 - Unemployment and Sickness Programs, Benefit Statistics

Table 4 - Benefits and Beneficiaries

May 5, 2023 

Employees

51.2% Spouses

28.5%

Survivors

20.3%

Selected Current Statistics for October - December 2022

NOTE.--Some 5,500 employees also received spouse annuities 

and approximately 2,000 employees also received survivor 

annuities.

Railroad Retirement and 

Survivor Beneficiaries 

on the Rolls, by Type,

December 2022

(476,000 beneficiaries)
Table 1: Retirement and Survivor Programs, Benefit Statistics 

October - December 2022

 Employee annuities

 Total1 

 Period Monthly Monthly Supple- 

 benefits beneficiaries Disability mental3 a

Number in current-payment status at end of periodDecember 2022 589,025 475,749 178,799 47,967 16,569 104,281 November 2022 589,324 475,832 178,758 47,846 16,756 104,495 October 2022 590,437 476,568 179,034 47,804 16,970 104,856 Average amount in current-payment status at end of periodDecember 2022 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $3,432.38 $3,040.26 $3,328.21 $41.49 November 2022 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,214.92 2,834.34 3,102.39 41.49 October 2022 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,212.95 2,832.88 3,097.17 41.49 Number awarded during periodDecember 2022 1,284 1,249 341 . . . . . . . . 81 35 November 2022 1,495 1,447 388 . . . . . . . . 83 48 October 2022 1,578 1,521 433 . . . . . . . . 106 57 10/22 - 12/22 4,357 4,217 1,162 . . . . . . . . 270 140 10/21 - 12/21 5,614 5,314 1,450 . . . . . . . . 381 300 Average amount awarded during period4

December 2022 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $3,217.21 . . . . . . . . $3,575.59 $40.71 November 2022 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,413.69 . . . . . . . . 3,795.78 39.26 October 2022 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,266.83 . . . . . . . . 3,387.00 38.72 Benefit payments during period (thousands)5December 2022 $1,119,399 . . . . . . . . $575,925 $136,298 $55,096 $4,371 November 2022 1,122,296 . . . . . . . . 576,693 136,058 56,927 4,387 October 2022 1,124,230 . . . . . . . . 577,126 135,783 58,028 4,403 10/22 - 12/22 3,365,925 . . . . . . . . 1,729,744 408,139 170,051 13,161 10/21 - 12/21 3,275,172 . . . . . . . . 1,671,930 392,315 175,030 13,727 

Age

Awarded age 

annuity

Disability 

converted to 

age annuity2

1Includes dependent parents' annuities. Except for benefit payment data, excludes insurance lump-sum and residual payment figures. Total benefit payments also include hospit

Canada. 2A disability annuity ends when the retiree attains full retirement age, at which time the annuity converts to an age and service annuity. Consequently, these annuitants 

annuities. Full retirement age gradually increases, from age 65 to 67, for those born between 1937 and 1960. It is age 67 for those born after 1959 and age 65 for those born be

payments to spouses and divorced spouses where the employee is deceased. Averages are after court-ordered partitions. 4Regular employee and spouse annuity averages are 

in July 2019, data is from the Monthly Treasury Statement. Prior to July 2019, data was provided by the Bureau of Fiscal Operations.NOTE.--MONTHLY BENEFITS in CURRENT-PAYMENT STATUS at the end of month include all benefits awarded to date and payable for the month. BENEFITS AWARDED co

time on either a partial or final basis. BENEFIT PAYMENTS for a month, shown in both the benefit and financial statistics, consist of recurrent monthly checks dated the first of th

sum payments made during the month, less returned checks (excluding those not yet distributed by Account), refunds of benefits paid previously, etc. 
Table 1: Retirement and Survivor Programs, Benefit Statistics

October - December 2022 -- Continued

Annuities

Period

Aged

widows and

widowers

Disabled

widows and

widowers6

Widowed

mothers and

fathers

Remarried

widows and

widowers

Divorced

widows and

widowers Children

Insurance

lump sums

Number in current-payment status at end of periodDecember 2022 74,749 2,865 599 2,293 9,778 7,321 . . . . . . . November 2022 74,783 2,874 588 2,299 9,751 7,321 . . . . . . . October 2022 74,849 2,878 589 2,305 9,749 7,311 . . . . . . . Average amount in current-payment status at end of periodDecember 2022 $2,057.75 $1,627.79 $2,191.39 $1,428.34 $1,455.85 $1,443.99 . . . . . . . November 2022 1,996.77 1,536.24 2,141.56 1,310.28 1,338.59 1,337.04 . . . . . . . October 2022 1,991.47 1,535.18 2,135.45 1,311.66 1,337.12 1,335.07 . . . . . . . Number awarded during periodDecember 2022 326 (8) 10 (8) 53 21 94 

November 2022 409 (8) (8) 10 49 30 114 October 2022 356 (8) 8 6 54 36 112 

10/22 - 12/22 1,091 8 22 19 156 87 320 

10/21 - 12/21 1,311 9 49 13 168 153 381 

Average amount awarded during period4

December 2022 $2,604.22 $1,852.26 $2,051.65 $2,293.33 $1,437.83 $1,921.98 $912 November 2022 2,653.46 1,966.59 2,209.48 1,519.70 1,555.66 1,446.38 952 October 2022 2,572.85 2,296.88 1,637.60 909.17 1,343.46 1,872.16 942 Benefit payments during period (thousands)5December 2022 $149,107 $4,497 $1,440 $3,021 $13,189 $10,162 $87 November 2022 149,126 4,482 1,297 3,025 13,138 10,136 109 October 2022 148,978 4,610 1,314 3,036 13,093 10,183 114 10/22 - 12/22 447,211 13,589 4,051 9,082 39,420 30,481 310 10/21 - 12/21 441,792 13,677 3,927 8,763 36,695 29,064 340 

Survivor benefits

6Number and average in current-payment status, and benefit payments during period, includes annuities to disabled widow(er)s age 60 and over now payable as aged widow(er)s' annuitie

spouses and divorced spouses where the employee is deceased or not otherwise entitled to an annuity. Partition payments from employees on the rolls are included with the employees' 

than zero but less than five. NOTE.--(Continued from previous page.)FOR WIDOWS and WIDOWERS aged 60 and over and WIDOWED MOTHERS and FATHERS, the number of benefits being paid and benefit payments include benefits temporarily being pending award of survivor annuities.INSURANCE LUMP SUMS and RESIDUAL PAYMENTS are each counted only once with respect to an employee's death even though divided among 2 or more persons. Award data for benefits, i.e., those payable a year after the employee's death.Data on benefit payments are for CALENDAR MONTHS; all other data are for ACCOUNTING MONTHS ending on approximately the 29th of each month.
Table 2: Retirement and Survivor Programs, Financial Statistics

October - December 2022 (In thousands)

Cash Basis

Item December

2022

November

2022

October

2022

October 2022 -

December 2022

October 2021 -

December 2021

SOCIAL SECURITY EQUIVALENT BENEFIT ACCOUNT

Income

 Payroll taxes1 $405,524 $296,414 $251,019 $952,957 $743,664 

 General Revenue transfers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

 Income tax transfers2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99,000 99,000 98,000 

 Financial interchange advances3 456,426 357,022 448,254 1,261,702 1,191,367 

 RRB-SSA financial interchange transfer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

 Interest on investments4 3,318 3,175 2,348 8,841 4,963 

Outgo

 Benefit payments $650,702 $652,989 $653,976 $1,957,668 $1,873,560 

 Repayment of financial interchange advances3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

 RRB-CMS financial interchange transfer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

 Transfer to Railroad Retirement Account5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

 Administrative expenses 1,582 1,587 1,640 4,810 5,792 

 Funding for Office of Inspector General 161 162 167 491 582 

RAILROAD RETIREMENT ACCOUNT

Income

 Payroll taxes1 $261,072 $225,294 $201,702 $688,067 $702,938 

 Income tax transfers2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105,000 105,000 106,000 

 Reimbursements for payment of SSA benefits 184,358 186,975 186,616 557,949 514,929 

 Transfers from National RR Investment Trust5 273,000 88,000 . . . . . . . . 361,000 255,000 

 Transfer from SSEB Account5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

 Loan Repayments from RUIA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

 Interest on investments4 1,236 1,755 1,061 4,052 3,803 

Outgo

 Benefit payments $468,039 $468,639 $469,570 $1,406,248 $1,399,113 

 Payments of SSA benefits 184,477 186,291 186,053 556,822 514,815 

 Loans to Railroad Unemployment Insurance Account (RUIA) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

 Administrative expenses 7,128 7,154 7,392 21,674 19,139 

 Funding for Office of Inspector General 727 730 754 2,211 1,922 

Cash and investment balance at end of period6 $23,937,173 $24,646,646 $23,721,916 $23,937,173 $29,354,507 

DUAL BENEFITS PAYMENTS ACCOUNT 7

Vested dual benefit payments $658 $668 $683 $2,008 $2,499 

NATIONAL RAILROAD RETIREMENT INVESTMENT TRUST

1Net of U.S. Treasury adjustments for payroll tax refunds to certain carriers and their employees for prior periods. 2Amounts include U.S. Treasury adjustments for prior period income tax 

reconciliations. 3Includes interest. 4Net of adjustments for payroll tax refunds (see note 1). 5Under the Railroad Retirement and Survivors' Improvement Act of 2001, as amended, the portion of 

the RR Account not needed to pay current administrative expenses is to be transferred to the National Railroad Retirement Investment Trust (Trust). The Trust may transfer funds back to the RR 

Account for payment of benefits. The balance of the SSEB Account not needed to pay current benefits and administrative expenses is to be transferred to the Trust or to the RR Account. 6Source: National Railroad Retirement Investment Trust. 7Total vested dual benefits paid during a fiscal year are limited to the amount appropriated to the Dual Benefits Payments Account for 

that year. Any amounts not spent are returned to the U.S. Treasury. The benefit appropriation, including income tax transfers, for fiscal years 2022 and 2023 was $11.0 and $9.0 million, 

respectively. 

NOTE.--This Table has been revised to only include information from the Monthly Treasury Statements and other resources within the Railroad Retirement Board's Bureau of the 

Actuary and Research.
Table 3: Unemployment and Sickness Programs, Benefit Statistics

October - December 2022

Normal benefit accounts Beneficiaries

Period

Applications

received Opened Exhausted Total

Normal

benefits

Unemployment

December 2022 487 259 28 1,144 1,123 November 2022 422 188 24 1,008 999 October 2022 368 179 10 976 964 7/22 - 12/22 3,359 1,802 108 2,149 2,010 7/21 - 12/21 8,044 4,139 292 5,014 4,832 

Sickness

December 2022 1,154 817 66 4,294 4,241 November 2022 828 715 58 4,122 4,098 October 2022 952 817 39 4,248 4,187 7/22 - 12/22 10,727 7,758 381 8,459 8,269 7/21 - 12/21 16,516 9,764 438 13,024 12,820 

Number of payments Averages1

Period Total

Normal

benefits

Extended

benefits

Benefit

days

Benefit

per week2

Unemployment

December 2022 2,242 2,176 66 9.3 $422.10 November 2022 1,819 1,784 35 9.2 415.65 October 2022 1,770 1,723 47 9.2 413.70 7/22 - 12/22 11,320 10,555 765 9.1 417.20 7/21 - 12/21 28,653 27,054 1,599 9.1 403.40 

Sickness

December 2022 8,949 8,723 226 9.2 $419.90 November 2022 7,642 7,499 143 9.2 418.10 October 2022 7,792 7,572 220 9.1 411.15 7/22 - 12/22 48,573 45,007 3,566 9.1 417.55 7/21 - 12/21 69,331 66,032 3,299 8.5 405.85 

NORMAL BENEFIT ACCOUNTS are opened when the first payment is made.PAYMENTS generally cover 14-day registration periods. Benefits are payable for days over 7 during an employee's first 14-day registration period. -- Sickness benefits are paid for days of sickness after the 4th consecutive day of sickness in the first claim in each period of continuing sickness; for subsequent registration p in the same period of continuing sickness, payments are made for all days of sickness over 4 whether or not consecutive. -- Unemployment benefits are paid for days of unemployment over 4. However, in the case of unemployment benefits due to a legal authorized strike, unemployment benefits  until after a 14-day waiting period. Non-strikers unemployed due to an illegal strike must also serve a 14-day waiting period.

1 Benefit days--average benefit days per registration period. Benefit per week--equal to 5 times average daily benefit2 In accordance with the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985, as amended, amounts reflect a reduction of 6.2% under sequestration for days of unemp

 after September 30, 2018, 5.9% for days after September 30, 2019, and 5.7% for days after September 30, 2020, and before January 3, 2021. Beginning January 3, 2021, th to Rail Workers Act (CARWA) of 2020 temporarily suspended sequestration until 30 days after a Presidential declaration of an end to the national emergency concerning the 

GENERAL NOTES.--An unemployment claimant files only one APPLICATION for a benefit year. A sickness claimant files an APPLICATION at the beginning of each period o

The number of BENEFICIARIES is the count of persons receiving unemployment or sickness benefits in the period. Those receiving both normal and extended benefits for uneare counted only once in the total for each type.NOTE.--Additional unemployment and sickness benefits were also paid under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act of 2020 (CARES Act). CARWA and the Act of 2021 (ARPA) reduced the enhanced benefit payments from $1,200 to $600 per registration period while extending all benefits through registration periods beginning Sep
Table 4: Benefits and Beneficiaries -- December 2022

RETIREMENT - SURVIVOR

Total benefit payments - cash basis (unaudited)1 $1,119,399,000

 Regular and Supplemental benefits 1,118,741,000

 Vested dual benefits 658,000

Number Average

Total benefits being paid at end of month 589,000 . . . . . . .

 Retired employees':

 Regular 243,000 $3,348

 Supplemental 104,000 41

 Spouses' and divorced spouses' 141,000 1,232

 Aged widows' and widowers' 75,000 2,058

 Other benefits 26,000 1,370

Total beneficiaries being paid at end of month 476,000 . . . . . . .

UNEMPLOYMENT - SICKNESS

Unemployment Sickness

Gross benefit payments1 $1,988,000 $7,695,000

Beneficiaries 1,100 4,300

Average payment per week1 $422 $420

1 In accordance with the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985, as amended, amounts reflect a reduction of 5.7% 

under sequestration for days of unemployment and sickness after September 30, 2020, and before January 3, 2021. Beginning January 

3, 2021, the Continued Assistance to Rail Workers Act of 2020 (CARWA) temporarily suspended sequestration until 30 days after a 

Presidential declaration of an end to the national emergency concerning the COVID-19 pandemic.