2021 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 2020, of the 21,523,050 individuals with disabilities ages 18-64 years living in the community, 7,975,590 individuals were employed—37.0 percent. In contrast, of the 178,475,229 individuals without disabilities ages 18-64 years living in the community, 133,949,072 individuals were employed—75.0 percent. The percentage of people with disabilities employed was highest in North Dakota (52.1 percent) and lowest in West Virginia (27.6 percent).
Table 3.3: In 2020, of the 3,892,160 individuals with hearing disabilities ages 18-64 years living in the community, 2,041,592 individuals were employed—52.4 percent. The percentage of people with hearing disabilities employed was highest in North Dakota (74.4 percent) and lowest in the District of Columbia (32.9 percent).
Table 3.4: In 2020, of the 4,001,765 individuals with vision disabilities ages 18-64 years living in the community, 1,823,152 individuals were employed—45.5 percent. The percentage of people with vision disabilities employed was highest in New Hampshire (75.4 percent) and lowest in Vermont (33.3 percent).
Table 3.5: In 2020, of the 9,849,570 individuals with cognitive disabilities ages 18-64 years living in the community, 2,875,776 individuals were employed—29.1 percent. The percentage of people with cognitive disabilities employed was highest in South Dakota (42.9 percent) and lowest in Arkansas (19.9 percent).
Table 3.6: In 2020, of the 9,304,426 individuals with ambulatory disabilities ages 18-64 years living in the community, 2,231,962 individuals were employed—23.9 percent. The percentage of people with ambulatory disabilities employed was highest in North Dakota (40.3 percent) and lowest in West Virginia (15.6 percent).
Table 3.7: In 2020, of the 3,533,797 individuals with self-care disabilities ages 18-64 years living in the community, 497,108 individuals were employed—14.0 percent. The percentage of people with self-care disabilities employed was highest in South Dakota (27.2 percent) and lowest in Oregon (8.9 percent).
Table 3.8: In 2020, of the 7,794,788 individuals with independent living disabilities ages 18-64 years living in the community, 1,381,112 individuals were employed—17.7 percent. The percentage of people with independent living disabilities employed was highest in Utah (27.9 percent) and lowest in Arkansas (7.9 percent).
Table 3.9: In 2020, 37.0 percent of people with disabilities ages 18-64 years living in the community were employed, while 75.0 percent of people without disabilities ages 18-64 years living in the community were employed—a difference of 37.9 percentage points. The difference was greatest in Vermont (47.8 percentage points) and smallest in North Dakota (30.7 percentage points).