County Report for Disability Prevalence

Acknowledgement

Special thanks to the following individuals who have contributed to the success of this effort: Deb Brucker, Erin Dame, Adam Lavoie, Rachel Coleman, Kate Filanoski, and Karen Volle. 

Funding for this publication is made possible by:

The Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Disability Statistics and Demographics (StatsRRTC), funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Community Living National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR), grant number 90RT5022-02-01; and the Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Employment Policy and Measurement (EPM-RRTC), also funded by NIDILRR, grant number 90RT5037-01-00. The information developed by the StatsRRTC and EPM-RRTC does not necessarily represent the policies of the Department of Health and Human Services, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government (Edgar, 75.620 (b)).

The StatsRRTC and EPM-RRTC are part of the Institute on Disability at the University of New Hampshire. The Institute on Disability/UCED (IOD) was established in 1987 to provide a university-based focus for the improvement of knowledge, policies, and practices related to the lives of people with disabilities and their families and is New Hampshire’s University Center for Excellence in Disability (UCED). Located within the University of New Hampshire, the IOD is a federally designated center authorized by the Developmental Disabilities Act. Through innovative and interdisciplinary research, academic, service, and dissemination initiatives, the IOD builds local, state, and national capacities to respond to the needs of individuals with disabilities and their families.

 

 

 
 
 
 

Institute on Disability / UCED
10 West Edge Drive, Suite 101
Durham, NH 03284
603.862.4320 | relay: 711 | contact.iod@unh.edu
www.iod.unh.edu

2015 West Virginia Report for County-level Data: Prevalence

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on
Disability Statistics and Demographics
A NIDILRR-Funded Center

   NIDILIRR.jpg

 

Introduction

The State Reports for County-Level Data on Prevalence are designed to provide the users of disability statistics with the number of people with disabilities for any given state and county in the United States (U.S.). This report is intended to be an online compliment to Section 1: Population and Prevalence of the Annual Disability Statistics Compendium and Annual Disability Statistics Supplement, providing greater detail within each state. The State Reports for County-Level Data on Prevalence can be used to compare county-level statistics between counties in any given state or states. The following report provides county-level statistics for West Virginia.

The proportions of people with disabilities, sometimes called prevalence, presented in the State Reports for County-Level Data is a useful tool for advocates, researchers, and policy-makers to plan and provide services and supports for people with disabilities. In this report, the prevalence of people with disabilities is presented as the number of people with disabilities in a given state and county per total state and county populations, respectively. Counts and percentages are provided in tables and maps.

The data for this report comes from the American Community Survey 5-year data. The American Community Survey (ACS) is a national survey developed by the U.S. Census Bureau to provide information on a number of topics about social, economic, and demographic characteristics of the U.S. population. ACS 5-year data is collected over a longer period of time than 1-year data, providing larger sample sizes and increased reliability for less populated areas and small population subgroups. All of the statistics in this report use the ACS 5-year data which includes data from 2015, the year of the report, and data from the four previous years.

In the ACS, people are identified as having a disability based on responses to a series of six questions asking about having difficulties with vision, hearing, ambulation, cognition, self-care, and independent living. These questions are:

  • Are you blind or do you have serious difficulty seeing, even when wearing glasses?

  • Are you deaf or do you have serious difficulty hearing?

  • Do you have serious difficulty walking or climbing stairs?

 

  • Because of a physical, mental, or emotional condition, do you have serious difficulty concentrating, remembering, or making decisions?

  • Do you have difficulty dressing or bathing?

  • Because of a physical, mental, or emotional condition, do you have difficulty doing errands alone such as visiting a doctor's office or shopping?

A response of ‘yes’ to any one of these six questions identifies an individual as having a disability in the ACS. Specific to West Virginia, the state chosen for this report, sentences providing interpretation and context for prevalence statistics are included below. A short glossary of terms is also provided at the end of the report explaining the statistics that are illustrated in each sentence.

Interpretation

The following statements are designed to help understand the 2015 county-level statistics from West Virginia that are presented:

  • For people with and without disabilities: 

    • The range of total people across West Virginia counties, also known as the difference between the largest and smallest counts of people across West Virginia counties, was 183,200.

      • The county with the greatest number of total people was Kanawha (189,041 people).

      • The county with the least number of total people was Wirt (5,841 people).

    • The average number of total people across all counties was 33,135.

    • The median, also known as the middle-most number, of total people across West Virginia counties was 23,473.

 

  • For people with disabilities: 

    • The range of people with disabilities across West Virginia counties, also known as the difference between the largest and smallest counts of people with disabilities across West Virginia counties, was 35,648.

      • The county with the greatest number of people with disabilities was Kanawha (36,895 people).

      • The county with the least number of people with disabilities was Wirt (1,247 people).

    • The average number of people with disabilities across all counties was 6,430.

    • The median, also known as the middle-most number, of people with disabilities across West Virginia counties was 5,233.

  • For people without disabilities: 

    • The range of people without disabilities across West Virginia counties, also known as the difference between the largest and smallest counts of people without disabilities across West Virginia counties, was 147,552.

      • The county with the greatest number of people without disabilities was Kanawha (152,146 people).

      • The county with the leastnumber of people without disabilities was Wirt (4,594 people).

    • The average number of people without disabilities across all counties was 26,705.

    • The median, also known as the middle-most number, of people without disabilities across West Virginia counties was 17,563.

 

Prevalence of People with and without Disabilities for West Virginia, by County: 2015

County Total Disability No Disability   County Total Disability No Disability
Count % Count % Count % Count %
West Virginia 1,822,400 353,649 19.4 1,468,751 80.6 Mason            26,500   5,728 21.6    20,772 78.4
Barbour          16,574   3,406 20.6    13,168 79.4 McDowell         19,600   6,316 32.2    13,284 67.8
Berkeley        108,065  15,172 14.0    92,893 86.0 Mercer           61,459  15,639 25.4    45,820 74.6
Boone            23,884   7,053 29.5    16,831 70.5 Mineral          27,549   5,895 21.4    21,654 78.6
Braxton          14,109   2,883 20.4    11,226 79.6 Mingo            25,847   7,665 29.7    18,182 70.3
Brooke           23,473   3,698 15.8    19,775 84.2 Monongalia      100,051  10,824 10.8    89,227 89.2
Cabell           95,396  19,128 20.1    76,268 79.9 Monroe           13,407   3,473 25.9     9,934 74.1
Calhoun           7,534   1,672 22.2     5,862 77.8 Morgan           17,309   3,044 17.6    14,265 82.4
Clay              9,082   2,106 23.2     6,976 76.8 Nicholas         25,786   5,378 20.9    20,408 79.1
Doddridge         7,616   1,292 17.0     6,324 83.0 Ohio             43,077   6,648 15.4    36,429 84.6
Fayette          44,209  11,586 26.2    32,623 73.8 Pendleton         7,229   1,486 20.6     5,743 79.4
Gilmer            7,064   1,321 18.7     5,743 81.3 Pleasants         7,016   1,342 19.1     5,674 80.9
Grant            11,705   1,933 16.5     9,772 83.5 Pocahontas        8,392   1,921 22.9     6,471 77.1
Greenbrier       35,035   6,700 19.1    28,335 80.9 Preston          31,484   6,220 19.8    25,264 80.2
Hampshire        23,011   5,448 23.7    17,563 76.3 Putnam           56,261   6,980 12.4    49,281 87.6
Hancock          29,973   5,794 19.3    24,179 80.7 Raleigh          75,498  16,481 21.8    59,017 78.2
Hardy            13,878   2,465 17.8    11,413 82.2 Randolph         27,548   5,233 19.0    22,315 81.0
Harrison         68,409  12,669 18.5    55,740 81.5 Ritchie          10,073   1,966 19.5     8,107 80.5
Jackson          29,080   5,100 17.5    23,980 82.5 Roane            14,542   3,108 21.4    11,434 78.6
Jefferson        54,948   6,987 12.7    47,961 87.3 Summers          12,443   3,413 27.4     9,030 72.6
Kanawha         189,041  36,895 19.5   152,146 80.5 Taylor           16,532   3,249 19.7    13,283 80.3
Lewis            16,348   3,314 20.3    13,034 79.7 Tucker            6,800   1,338 19.7     5,462 80.3
Lincoln          21,500   6,332 29.5    15,168 70.5 Tyler             8,959   1,731 19.3     7,228 80.7
Logan            35,188  10,192 29.0    24,996 71.0 Upshur           24,403   4,043 16.6    20,360 83.4
Marion           56,423   8,299 14.7    48,124 85.3 Wayne            41,381   9,297 22.5    32,084 77.5
Marshall         32,081   4,702 14.7    27,379 85.3 Webster           8,869   2,051 23.1     6,818 76.9

Source: Calculations based on U.S. Census Bureau, 2015 American Community Survey, Public Use Microdata Sample. Data represents the civilian, noninstitutional population. Based on a sample and subject to sampling variability.
County Total Disability No Disability   County Total Disability No Disability
Count % Count % Count % Count %
Wetzel           16,059   2,715 16.9    13,344 83.1                                                    
Wirt              5,841   1,247 21.3     4,594 78.7                                                    
Wood             86,071  15,481 18.0    70,590 82.0                                                    
Wyoming          22,788   7,590 33.3    15,198 66.7                                                    
                                                                                                       
                                                                                                       
                                                                                                       
                                                                                                       
                                                                                                       
                                                                                                       
                                                                                                       
                                                                                                       
                                                                                                       
                                                                                                       
                                                                                                       
                                                                                                       
                                                                                                       
                                                                                                       
                                                                                                       
                                                                                                       
                                                                                                       
                                                                                                       
                                                                                                       
                                                                                                       
                                                                                                       
                                                                                                       

Source: Calculations based on U.S. Census Bureau, 2015 American Community Survey, Public Use Microdata Sample. Data represents the civilian, noninstitutional population. Based on a sample and subject to sampling variability.

Count of People with Disabilities for West Virginia, by County: 2015

Percentage of People with Disabilities for West Virginia, by County: 2015

Discussion

There are a number of concepts and factors which complicate the interpretation of the estimates presented in this report. These concerns affect all statistics from population-based surveys. The estimates included in this document should be interpreted the following limitations in mind and generalized with caution. In each point, a link to the U.S. Census Bureau website describing the limitation or concept in greater detail in the ACS has been provided (www.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/).

  • Statistics are based on a sample and subject to sample variation (a discussion of this topic can be found here).

  • Statistics based on a sample may not fully represent the total U.S. population (a discussion of this topic can be found here).

  • People responding to the ACS may be different than people not responding (a discussion of this topic can be found here).

  • When people do not respond to all ACS questions their responses are created based on assignment or allocation (a discussion of this topic can be found here).

Additional resources for the ACS:

  • Information on the disability questions can be found here.

  • The ACS design and methodology can be found here.

  • The ACS questionnaire and instructions can be found here.

Definitions

Average—The sum of all of the values in a sample divided by the number of values in the sample.
Median—The middlemost value of a sample that separates the upper half of the values from the lower half of the values.
Prevalence—The proportion of the population with a particular status or condition. Prevalence is usually expressed as a percentage or a number of people per unit of the population.
Population—The total number of inhabitants in a defined geographic area including all races, classes, and groups.
Range—The difference between the largest and smallest values in a sample. In a sample, when the smallest value is subtracted from the largest value the resulting value is called the range.

Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Disability Statistics and Demographics

Policymakers, program administrators, service providers, researchers, advocates for people with disabilities, and people with disabilities and their families need accessible, valid data/statistics to support their decisions related to policy improvements, program administration, service delivery, protection of civil rights, and major life activities. The StatsRRTC supports decision making through a variety of integrated research and outreach activities by (a) improving knowledge about and access to existing data, (b) generating the knowledge needed to improve future disability data collection, and (c) strengthening connections between the data from and regarding respondents, researchers, and decision makers. In this way, the Stats RRTC supports the improvement of service systems that advance the quality of life for people with disabilities.

Led by the University of New Hampshire, the StatsRRTC is a collaborative effort involving the following partners: American Association of People with Disabilities, Center for Essential Management Services, Council of State Administrators of Vocational Rehabilitation, Kessler Foundation, Mathematica Policy Research, and Public Health Institute. The StatsRRTC is funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Community Living, National Institute on Disability, Independent Living and Rehabilitation Research under grant number 90RT502201, from 2013–2018.

Employment Policy and Measurement Rehabilitation Research and Training Center

The EPM-RRTC generates and translates new information about disability employment policy and ways to measure the labor market experiences of people with disabilities. By improving the quality of available information about program interactions, policy options, and employment outcomes, the EPM-RRTC increases evidence-based advocacy and policymaking.

Led by the University of New Hampshire, the EPM-RRTC is a collaborative effort involving the following partners: Association of University Centers on Disability, Hunter College, Kessler Foundation, Mathematica Policy Research, and the University of Chicago. The EPM-RRTC is funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Community Living, National Institute on Disability, Independent Living and Rehabilitation Research under grant number 90RT503701, from 2015–2020.