2020 Annual Disability Statistics Compendium

Section 3: Employment
This section presents statistics on employment in the United States. Data are presented for people with disabilities, people without disabilities, and the difference in percentage employed (employment gap) between these two populations.
The source of these data is the American Community Survey (U.S. Census Bureau). For these tables, statistics for people with disabilities (disability status or disability type) are based on having responded ‘yes’ to a series of questions within the American Community Survey. The definition for employment status in the American Community Survey can be found in the glossary.
Tables
Tables 3.1 and 3.2: In 2019, of the 20,323,589 individuals with disabilities ages 18-64 years living in the community, 7,896,135 individuals were employed—38.8 percent. In contrast, of the 177,316,108 individuals without disabilities ages 18-64 years living in the community, 139,393,681 individuals were employed—78.6 percent. The percentage of people with disabilities employed was highest in North Dakota (57.2 percent) and lowest in West Virginia (31.1 percent).
Table 3.3: In 2019, of the 3,883,988 individuals with hearing disabilities ages 18-64 years living in the community, 2,130,174 individuals were employed—54.8 percent. The percentage of people with hearing disabilities employed was highest in North Dakota (71.8 percent) and lowest in New Mexico (41.3 percent).
Table 3.4: In 2019, of the 3,785,293 individuals with vision disabilities ages 18-64 years living in the community, 1,743,383 individuals were employed—46.0 percent. The percentage of people with vision disabilities employed was highest in North Dakota (69.7 percent) and lowest in West Virginia (34.6 percent).
Table 3.5: In 2019, of the 9,116,074 individuals with cognitive disabilities ages 18-64 years living in the community, 2,779,697 individuals were employed—30.4 percent. The percentage of people with cognitive disabilities employed was highest in Wyoming (48.0 percent) and lowest in Mississippi (21.9 percent).
Table 3.6: In 2019, of the 9,260,465 individuals with ambulatory disabilities ages 18-64 years living in the community, 2,426,636 individuals were employed—26.2 percent. The percentage of people with ambulatory disabilities employed was highest in Montana (36.2 percent) and lowest in Alabama (20.1 percent).
Table 3.7: In 2019, of the 3,483,577 individuals with self-care disabilities ages 18-64 years living in the community, 572,704 individuals were employed—16.4 percent. The percentage of people with self-care disabilities employed was highest in Montana (32.0 percent) and lowest in New Hampshire (7.8 percent).
Table 3.8: In 2019, of the 7,439,051 individuals with independent living disabilities ages 18-64 years living in the community, 1,429,321 individuals were employed—19.2 percent. The percentage of people with independent living disabilities employed was highest in Wyoming (34.6 percent) and lowest in Alabama and Arkansas (12.3 percent).
Table 3.9: In 2019, 38.8 percent of people with disabilities ages 18-64 years living in the community were employed, while 78.6 percent of people without disabilities ages 18-64 years living in the community were employed—a difference of 39.7 percentage points. The difference was greatest in the District of Columbia (47.7 percentage points) and smallest in Wyoming (26.3 percentage points).
Table 3.10: In 2018, the difference in the percentage of people employed with and without disabilities ages 18-64 years living in the community was 42.0 percentage points. In 2019, the difference in the percentage of people employed with and without disabilities ages 18-64 years living in the community was 39.8 percentage points. The gap change in percentage points of people employed with and without disabilities between 2018 and 2019 was -2.0 percentage points.