Americans with Disabilities Statistics and Facts

Americans with Disabilities Statistics and Facts

• People with disabilities constitute the nation’s largest minority group, and the only group any of us can become a member of at any time.
• Between 1990 and 2000, the number of Americans with disabilities increased 25 percent, outpacing any other subgroup of the U.S. population.
• There are 133 million people in the United States living with a chronic health condition. That number is expected to increase by more than one percent a year to 150 million by 2030. 75 percent of people with chronic health conditions are younger than 65
• People with disabilities represent the single largest minority group seeking employment in today’s marketplace.
• Of the 69.6 million families in the United States, more than 20 million have at least one family member with a disability.
• According to the U.S. Department of Education, workers with disabilities are rated consistently as average or above average in performance, quality and quantity of work, flexibility, and attendance.
• Globally, people with disabilities represent an emerging market on par with the size of China
• Over 65 percent of working-age adults with disabilities are unemployed. Of these working adults, nearly one third earn an income below the poverty level.
• Approximately 54 million Americans have at least one disability, making them the largest minority group in the nation. As our baby boomer population ages and more veterans return from war, this number will double in the next 20 years.
• People with disabilities are nearly twice as likely as people without disabilities to have an annual household income of $15,000 or less.
• 1 billion people globally report having a disability, and people with disabilities in the U.S. control aggregate annual income of > $1 trillion

• Disability rates vary geographically (source: U.S. Census 2000):
  • Nearly 40 percent of persons reporting a disability live in the South – twice the 20 percent of each of the other three geographic areas. Persons living in Alaska, Utah and Minnesota each reported the lowest rates of disability, about 15 percent. Persons living in West Virginia reported the highest rate of disability, at 24.4 percent, followed by Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky and Mississippi, each over 23 percent.
• Of the 49.7 million non-institutionalized individuals aged five and older who reported having a disability in the U.S. 2000 Census (source: U.S. Census 2000)
  • 9.3 million reported having a sensory disability involving sight or hearing.
  • 21.2 million reported having a disability that limits their ability to engage in basic physical activity such as walking, climbing stairs, reaching, lifting or carrying.
  • 12.4 million reported having a physical, mental or emotional condition that makes it difficult to learn, remember or concentrate.
  • 6.8 million reported a physical, mental or emotional condition that makes it difficult to dress, bathe or get around inside the home.
  • 18.2 million reported their disability makes it difficult to venture outside the home.

From the Disability Funders Network