2017 Annual Disability Statistics Compendium | Annual Disability Statistics Compendium

Section 4: Earnings

This section presents statistics on earnings in the United States. The statistics describe the earnings of individuals with and without disabilities in the past 12 months, as well as the difference in percentage earned (earnings gap) between these two populations. The principal source of these data is the U.S. Census Bureau, specifically the American Community Survey. 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 more details). In addition, in the American Community Survey people are asked about their total income for the past 12 months. This information is used to calculate earnings. When presenting earnings data, the median earnings (or middlemost) value is used rather than the average earnings because people’s incomes are heavily skewed—the higher the salary, the fewer people who earn that respective salary—the average does not represent the population as well as the median.

Tables

Table 4.1: In 2016, for the individuals with disabilities ages 16 years and over living in the community that had earnings from work, median earnings were $22,047. In contrast, among individuals without disabilities ages 16 years and over living in the community that had earnings from work, median earnings were $32,479—an earnings gap of $10,432. This earnings gap is smallest (meaning the earnings of people with disabilities are closest to the earnings of people without disabilities) in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ($1,652) and largest (meaning the earnings of people with disabilities are furthest from the earnings of people without disabilities) in the District of Columbia ($23,144).

State	Total ($)	Disability ($)	No Disability ($)	Gap ($) [1]	State	Total ($)	Disability ($)	No Disability ($)	Gap ($) [1]
Table 4.1 Earnings—Median Earnings of Civilians Ages 16 Years and Over in the Past 12 Months for the United States and States, by Disability Status (in 2016 inflation-adjusted dollars): 2016
U.S.	32,048	22,047	32,479	10,432	MT	27,232	18,779	28,429	9,650
AL	29,257	20,942	30,206	9,264	NE	31,478	21,936	31,898	9,962
AK	36,408	30,559	36,840	6,281	NV	31,187	25,854	31,435	5,581
AZ	30,778	21,917	31,111	9,194	NH	36,174	21,993	36,802	14,809
AR	27,821	21,105	28,912	7,807	NJ	40,968	27,352	41,395	14,043
CA	32,754	23,728	33,966	10,238	NM	26,968	20,039	27,531	7,492
CO	35,348	24,008	35,861	11,853	NY	36,311	22,894	36,847	13,953
CT	40,485	25,707	41,054	15,347	NC	30,558	21,298	30,944	9,646
DE	35,423	25,711	35,853	10,142	ND	35,207	25,220	35,831	10,611
DC	50,484	28,158	51,302	23,144	OH	31,363	20,164	31,931	11,767
FL	29,572	21,179	30,146	8,967	OK	30,340	22,303	30,843	8,540
GA	31,109	23,874	31,404	7,530	OR	30,959	21,074	31,493	10,419
HI	35,482	26,834	35,892	9,058	PA	32,704	21,012	34,682	13,670
ID	27,063	22,189	27,431	5,242	RI	35,313	23,037	35,888	12,851
IL	34,995	22,089	35,506	13,417	SC	29,875	21,633	30,305	8,672
IN	31,001	20,964	31,530	10,566	SD	31,172	20,180	31,690	11,510
IA	31,770	20,505	32,265	11,760	TN	30,190	22,164	30,586	8,422
KS	31,182	20,937	31,698	10,761	TX	31,357	23,093	31,733	8,640
KY	30,173	20,100	30,797	10,697	UT	30,232	20,893	30,619	9,726
LA	30,321	21,486	30,736	9,250	VT	32,069	20,653	33,027	12,374
ME	30,615	19,175	31,324	12,149	VA	36,342	25,734	36,798	11,064
MD	41,291	30,213	41,726	11,513	WA	36,503	25,183	37,192	12,009
MA	40,596	23,858	41,187	17,329	WV	27,796	17,480	29,966	12,486
MI	30,547	19,161	31,097	11,936	WI	32,112	19,435	32,843	13,408
MN	36,315	19,767	37,142	17,375	WY	31,713	22,735	32,452	9,717
MS	27,475	20,986	28,368	7,382	PR	16,898	15,386	17,038	1,652
MO	30,901	20,589	31,478	10,889
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2016 American Community Survey, 1-Year Estimate, American FactFinder, Table 18140; factfinder.census.gov [1] The difference in median earnings between no disability and disability.