2017 Annual Disability Statistics Compendium

This section presents statistics on poverty in the United States. The statistics describe the number and percentage of people with and without disabilities who experience poverty as well as the difference between the poverty rates (poverty gap) of people with and without disabilities. The principal source of these data is the American Community Survey. For these tables, statistics for people with disabilities (disability status) are based on having responded ‘yes’ to a series of questions within the American Community Survey (see the glossary for details). Annual time trends were produced by the authors using data from the Current Population Survey—Annual Social and Economic Supplement. Similar to the American Community Survey, statistics for people with disabilities (disability status) are based on having responded ‘yes’ to a series of questions within the Current Population Survey. Poverty is defined by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget and set as a dollar threshold by the U.S. Census Bureau (see the glossary for details).

Tables

Tables 3.1 and 3.2: In 2016, of the 20,637,289 individuals with disabilities ages 18 to 64 years who were living in the community, 5,500,125 individuals lived in poverty—a poverty rate of 26.7 percent. In contrast, of the 173,476,170 individuals without disabilities ages 18 to 64 years living in the community, 20,207,984 individuals lived in poverty—a poverty rate of 11.6 percent. The poverty rate for people with disabilities was highest in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (49.8 percent) and lowest in Delaware (17.8 percent).

Table 3.3: In 2016, the poverty rate of individuals with disabilities ages 18 to 64 years living in the community was 26.7 percent, while the poverty rate of individuals without disabilities ages 18 to 64 years living in the community was 11.6 percent—a difference of 15.1 percentage points. The poverty gap was smallest in Delaware (a difference of 7.5 percentage points) and greatest in the District of Columbia (a difference of 24.9 percentage points).

Table 3.4: In 2014, the poverty gap between individuals with and without disabilities ages 18 to 64 years living in the community was 14.8 percent. In 2016, the poverty gap between individuals with and without disabilities ages 18 to 64 years living in the community was 15.1 percent—a change of 2.3 percentage points. The largest percentage point increase in the poverty gap from 2014 to 2015 was in Vermont, a change of 8.8 percentage points, while the largest decrease in the poverty gap was in Iowa, a change of -9.0 percentage points.

Table 3.5: In 2016, the poverty rate among non-institutionalized civilians ages 16 to 64 was 29.9  percent for people with a work limitation and 10.9 percent for people without a work limitation. The poverty rate was 28.4 percent for people with a broad disability as compared to 11.3 percent for people without a broad disability. The poverty rate was 27.1 percent for people with a work limitation and/ or broad disability as compared to 10.6 percent for people without a work limitation and/or broad disability.