2020 Annual Disability Statistics Compendium | Annual Disability Statistics Compendium

Section 6: Poverty

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 of people with and without disabilities (poverty gap). 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). 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 6.1 and 6.2: In 2019, of the 20,323,589 individuals with disabilities ages 18-64 years who were living in the community, 5,261,057 individuals lived in poverty—a poverty rate of 25.9 percent. In contrast, of the 177,316,108 individuals without disabilities ages 18-64 years living in the community, 20,200,427 individuals lived in poverty—a poverty rate of 11.4 percent. The poverty rate for people with disabilities was highest in the District of Columbia (35.5 percent) and lowest in Delaware (18.3 percent).

Table 6.3: In 2019, the poverty rate of individuals with disabilities ages 18-64 years living in the community was 11.4 percent, while the poverty rate of individuals without disabilities ages 18-64 years living in the community was 25.9 percent—a difference of 14.5 percentage points. The poverty gap was smallest in Montana (a difference of 6.3 percentage points) and greatest in the District of Columbia (a difference of 20.6 percentage points).

Table 6.4: In 2017, the poverty gap between individuals with and without disabilities ages 18-64 years living in the community was 14.7 percent. In 2019, the poverty gap between individuals with and without disabilities ages 18-64 years living in the community was 14.5 percent—a change of -0.2 percentage points. The largest percentage point decrease in the poverty gap from 2017 to 2018 was in North Dakota, a change of 12.4 percentage points, while the largest increase in the poverty gap was in Delaware, a change of -9.3 percentage points.

State	Total	Poverty		State	Total	Poverty
Table 6.1 Poverty — Civilians with Disabilities Ages 18-64 Years Living in the Community for the United States and States: 2019
State	Total	Count	%	State	Total	Count	%
U.S.	20,323,589	5,261,057	25.9	MO	463,213	129,163	27.9
AL	414,279	123,583	29.8	MT	63,386	12,728	20.1
AK	44,762	10,154	22.7	NE	110,657	25,777	23.3
AZ	449,360	116,348	25.9	NV	176,756	44,133	25.0
AR	272,189	83,750	30.8	NH	86,678	19,808	22.9
CA	1,910,288	435,327	22.8	NJ	411,051	87,410	21.3
CO	298,695	63,728	21.3	NM	166,609	48,489	29.1
CT	202,632	49,516	24.4	NY	1,077,425	316,018	29.3
DE	66,055	12,110	18.3	NC	682,617	178,822	26.2
DC	47,171	16,729	35.5	ND	41,314	12,799	31.0
FL	1,264,308	289,892	22.9	OH	821,099	234,023	28.5
GA	688,280	166,114	24.1	OK	324,268	91,968	28.4
HI	62,548	13,364	21.4	OR	303,883	80,489	26.5
ID	122,286	31,733	25.9	PA	900,776	257,001	28.5
IL	696,823	182,010	26.1	RI	71,988	21,508	29.9
IN	464,976	126,132	27.1	SC	362,442	91,573	25.3
IA	181,062	51,045	28.2	SD	51,664	12,318	23.8
KS	208,624	54,385	26.1	TN	533,630	148,304	27.8
KY	433,163	139,883	32.3	TX	1,658,935	377,920	22.8
LA	374,607	121,883	32.5	UT	146,969	27,607	18.8
ME	112,518	32,207	28.6	VT	45,402	14,767	32.5
MD	324,652	77,770	24.0	VA	491,946	109,487	22.3
MA	374,563	104,105	27.8	WA	478,673	105,615	22.1
MI	725,431	210,691	29.0	WV	178,012	53,172	29.9
MN	296,969	73,556	24.8	WI	340,868	87,942	25.8
MS	257,738	76,432	29.7	WY	39,349	9,769	24.8
Citation: Paul, S., Rafal, M., & Houtenville, A. (2020). Annual Disability Statistics Compendium: 2020 (Table 6.1). Durham, NH: University of New Hampshire, Institute on Disability. Note: Authors’ calculations using the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey, Public Use Microdata Sample, 2019, which is subject to sampling variation.

State	Total	Poverty		State	Total	Poverty
Table 6.2 Poverty — Civilians without Disabilities Ages 18-64 Years Living in the Community for the United States and States: 2019
State	Total	Count	%	State	Total	Count	%
U.S.	177,316,108	20,200,427	11.4	MO	3,176,346	370,393	11.7
AL	2,488,882	348,096	14.0	MT	559,261	77,248	13.8
AK	392,728	37,451	9.5	NE	1,019,051	110,757	10.9
AZ	3,787,523	464,741	12.3	NV	1,683,963	187,752	11.1
AR	1,487,327	218,414	14.7	NH	756,201	68,315	9.0
CA	22,491,756	2,409,351	10.7	NJ	5,000,039	412,708	8.3
CO	3,283,041	307,553	9.4	NM	1,045,595	161,856	15.5
CT	1,976,285	207,498	10.5	NY	10,930,067	1,279,678	11.7
DE	501,761	56,459	11.3	NC	5,603,472	720,397	12.9
DC	436,843	65,243	14.9	ND	413,290	51,673	12.5
FL	11,247,884	1,279,718	11.4	OH	6,155,190	749,003	12.2
GA	5,742,924	695,652	12.1	OK	1,989,851	288,527	14.5
HI	731,582	67,936	9.3	OR	2,253,208	247,457	11.0
ID	911,096	94,783	10.4	PA	6,761,926	788,670	11.7
IL	7,000,742	735,788	10.5	RI	589,182	70,500	12.0
IN	3,553,964	430,222	12.1	SC	2,667,272	350,996	13.2
IA	1,680,623	208,172	12.4	SD	454,011	52,076	11.5
KS	1,485,630	162,811	11.0	TN	3,570,272	432,334	12.1
KY	2,221,272	315,175	14.2	TX	15,824,988	1,858,996	11.7
LA	2,361,451	375,994	15.9	UT	1,745,484	171,132	9.8
ME	691,804	72,904	10.5	VT	337,829	47,693	14.1
MD	3,355,722	279,667	8.3	VA	4,630,884	456,638	9.9
MA	3,962,941	416,759	10.5	WA	4,168,654	372,279	8.9
MI	5,290,475	635,991	12.0	WV	870,742	134,841	15.5
MN	3,091,465	258,250	8.4	WI	3,158,103	302,314	9.6
MS	1,477,113	261,566	17.7	WY	298,393	30,000	10.1
Citation: Paul, S., Rafal, M., & Houtenville, A. (2020). Annual Disability Statistics Compendium: 2020 (Table 6.2). Durham, NH: University of New Hampshire, Institute on Disability. Note: Authors’ calculations using the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey, Public Use Microdata Sample, 2019, which is subject to sampling variation.

State	Poverty Rate (%)		Gap (% pts) [3]	State	Poverty Rate (%)		Gap (% pts) [3]
Table 6.3 Poverty Gap — Civilians with and without Disabilities Ages 18-64 Years Living in the Community for the United States and States, by Disability Status: 2019
State	No Disability [1]	Disability [2]	Gap (% pts) [3]	State	No Disability [1]	Disability [2]	Gap (% pts) [3]
U.S.	11.4	25.9	14.5	MO	11.7	27.9	16.2
AL	14.0	29.8	15.8	MT	13.8	20.1	6.3
AK	9.5	22.7	13.2	NE	10.9	23.3	12.4
AZ	12.3	25.9	13.6	NV	11.1	25.0	13.9
AR	14.7	30.8	16.1	NH	9.0	22.9	13.9
CA	10.7	22.8	12.1	NJ	8.3	21.3	13.0
CO	9.4	21.3	11.9	NM	15.5	29.1	13.6
CT	10.5	24.4	13.9	NY	11.7	29.3	17.6
DE	11.3	18.3	7.0	NC	12.9	26.2	13.3
DC	14.9	35.5	20.6	ND	12.5	31.0	18.5
FL	11.4	22.9	11.5	OH	12.2	28.5	16.3
GA	12.1	24.1	12.0	OK	14.5	28.4	13.9
HI	9.3	21.4	12.1	OR	11.0	26.5	15.5
ID	10.4	25.9	15.5	PA	11.7	28.5	16.8
IL	10.5	26.1	15.6	RI	12.0	29.9	17.9
IN	12.1	27.1	15.0	SC	13.2	25.3	12.1
IA	12.4	28.2	15.8	SD	11.5	23.8	12.3
KS	11.0	26.1	15.1	TN	12.1	27.8	15.7
KY	14.2	32.3	18.1	TX	11.7	22.8	11.1
LA	15.9	32.5	16.6	UT	9.8	18.8	9.0
ME	10.5	28.6	18.1	VT	14.1	32.5	18.4
MD	8.3	24.0	15.7	VA	9.9	22.3	12.4
MA	10.5	27.8	17.3	WA	8.9	22.1	13.2
MI	12.0	29.0	17.0	WV	15.5	29.9	14.4
MN	8.4	24.8	16.4	WI	9.6	25.8	16.2
MS	17.7	29.7	12.0	WY	10.1	24.8	14.7
Citation: Paul, S., Rafal, M., & Houtenville, A. (2020). Annual Disability Statistics Compendium: 2020 (Table 6.3). Durham, NH: University of New Hampshire, Institute on Disability. Note: Authors’ calculations using the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey, Public Use Microdata Sample, 2019, which is subject to sampling variation. [1] Civilians without disabilities ages 18-64 living in poverty as a percent of the total. [2] Civilians with disabilities ages 18-64 living in poverty as a percent of the total. [3] The difference in the percentage points of poverty rates between disability and no disability.

State	2018	2019	Gap Change (% pts) [1]	State	2018	2019	Gap Change (% pts) [1]
Table 6.4 Change in Poverty Gap — Civilians with and without Disabilities Ages 18-64 Years Living in the Community for the United States and States: 2017 and 2018
U.S.	14.7	14.5	-0.2	MO	16.6	16.2	-0.4
AL	13.1	15.8	2.7	MT	15.0	6.3	-8.7
AK	8.1	13.1	5.0	NE	17.9	12.4	-5.5
AZ	12.1	13.6	1.5	NV	14.6	13.8	-0.8
AR	14.5	16.1	1.6	NH	12.6	13.8	1.2
CA	12.9	12.1	-0.8	NJ	14.6	13.0	-1.6
CO	12.8	12.0	-0.8	NM	17.1	13.6	-3.5
CT	16.1	13.9	-2.2	NY	17.7	17.6	-0.1
DE	16.4	7.1	-9.3	NC	13.3	13.3	0.0
DC	23.9	20.5	-3.4	ND	6.1	18.5	12.4
FL	12.0	11.6	-0.4	OH	17.7	16.3	-1.4
GA	11.7	12.0	0.3	OK	12.7	13.9	1.2
HI	8.6	12.1	3.5	OR	17.8	15.5	-2.3
ID	13.2	15.5	2.3	PA	17.5	16.9	-0.6
IL	16.2	15.6	-0.6	RI	18.6	17.9	-0.7
IN	16.0	15.0	-1.0	SC	12.8	12.1	-0.7
IA	14.9	15.8	0.9	SD	12.4	12.4	0.0
KS	17.0	15.1	-1.9	TN	15.7	15.7	0.0
KY	15.5	18.1	2.6	TX	11.6	11.0	-0.6
LA	13.5	16.6	3.1	UT	10.1	9.0	-1.1
ME	24.2	18.1	-6.1	VT	17.5	18.4	0.9
MD	11.1	15.6	4.5	VA	12.8	12.4	-0.4
MA	15.1	17.3	2.2	WA	14.4	13.1	-1.3
MI	16.5	17.0	0.5	WV	16.0	14.4	-1.6
MN	17.0	16.4	-0.6	WI	14.1	16.2	2.1
MS	15.2	11.9	-3.3	WY	10.2	14.8	4.6
Citation: Paul, S., Rafal, M., & Houtenville, A. (2020). Annual Disability Statistics Compendium: 2020 (Table 6.4). Durham, NH: University of New Hampshire, Institute on Disability. Note: Authors’ calculations using the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey, Public Use Microdata Sample, 2019, which is subject to sampling variation. [1] The difference of the difference in percentage points of poverty rates between disability and no disability between 2019 and 2018.