2020 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.