2023 Annual Disability Statistics Compendium

Earnings

Section 5: Earnings

This section presents statistics on earnings in the United States by disability status. The statistics describe the earnings of full-time, full-year workers with and without disabilities in the past 12 months, as well as the difference (earnings gap) between these two populations.  A person is considered a full-time, full-year worker if they worked 35 hours or more per week for 50 to 52 weeks in the past 12 months. Individuals who did not work in the last 12 months or who worked less than full-time, full-year are not included in these statistics. The principal source of these data is the U.S. Census Bureau, specifically the American Community Survey. 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 more details). In addition, in the American Community Survey people are asked about their total income for the past 12 months. This information is used to calculate earnings. When presenting earnings data, the median earnings (or middle value) is used rather than mean (average) earnings because income tends to be heavily skewed. Because outlier cases with extremely high incomes do not impact the median the way that they impact the mean, the median is generally the preferred statistic for summarizing income.

Tables

Table 5.1: In 2021, for full-time, full-year workers with disabilities ages 18-64 years living in the community, median earnings were $43,228. In contrast, among full-time, full-year workers without disabilities ages 18-64 years living in the community, median earnings were $51,413—an earnings gap of $8,185. This earnings gap is smallest (meaning the difference in earnings of people with disabilities and the earnings of people without disabilities is the lowest) in Hawaii ($-2,639) and largest (meaning the difference in earnings of people with disabilities and the earnings of people without disabilities is the highest) in the District of Columbia ($20,792).

Table 5.1 Earnings — Annual Median Earnings of Full-time, Full-year Civilian Workers Ages 18-64 Years for the United States and States, by Disability Status (in 2021 inflation-adjusted dollars): 2021
State Total ($) [1] No Disability ($) Disability ($) Gap ($) [2]   State Total ($) [1] No Disability ($) Disability ($) Gap ($) [2]
U.S. 51,400 51,413 43,228  8,185 MO 48,395 49,389 39,992  9,397
AL 44,212 44,278 40,266  4,012 MT 46,320 46,335 42,765  3,570
AK 58,319 59,291 53,857  5,434 NE 51,085 51,406 40,738 10,668
AZ 51,055 51,404 43,242  8,162 NV 47,175 47,196 45,918  1,278
AR 41,172 41,192 33,688  7,504 NH 58,304 58,855 48,283 10,572
CA 60,861 60,970 51,427  9,543 NJ 66,429 66,605 56,529 10,076
CO 58,806 59,536 51,375  8,161 NM 46,345 48,296 35,680 12,616
CT 64,532 66,025 50,735 15,290 NY 61,383 61,510 51,260 10,250
DE 55,026 55,678 50,861  4,817 NC 49,119 49,300 42,178  7,122
DC 91,860 92,266 71,474 20,792 ND 51,419 51,437 39,432 12,005
FL 45,390 46,246 41,173  5,073 OH 51,421 51,440 41,168 10,272
GA 49,389 49,414 43,228  6,186 OK 43,192 43,532 35,977  7,555
HI 54,532 54,365 57,004 -2,639 OR 53,635 55,082 46,245  8,837
ID 46,058 46,161 37,055  9,106 PA 54,156 55,255 46,210  9,045
IL 55,935 56,247 46,194 10,053 RI 56,965 58,689 46,087 12,602
IN 49,431 51,394 41,174 10,220 SC 46,090 46,157 41,180  4,977
IA 50,922 51,397 43,195  8,202 SD 46,314 46,325 40,922  5,403
KS 49,395 50,164 44,820  5,344 TN 45,277 46,253 40,684  5,569
KY 46,289 46,318 40,689  5,629 TX 51,394 51,408 41,455  9,953
LA 46,270 46,296 38,100  8,196 UT 51,449 51,470 41,205 10,265
ME 51,400 51,413 41,097 10,316 VT 51,439 51,458 44,980  6,478
MD 65,910 66,191 54,761 11,430 VA 59,216 60,089 51,432  8,657
MA 71,055 71,213 57,045 14,168 WA 65,409 66,212 51,487 14,725
MI 51,467 51,478 44,068  7,410 WV 44,198 45,225 35,947  9,278
MN 57,174 58,202 47,294 10,908 WI 51,470 51,479 46,170  5,309
MS 40,890 40,912 37,591  3,321 WY 50,196 51,076 33,307 17,769

Citation: Paul, S., Rogers, S., Bach, S., & Houtenville, A. (2023). Annual Disability Statistics Compendium: 2023 (Table 5.1). 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, 2021, which is subject to sampling variation.
[1] A person is considered a full-time, full-year worker if they worked 35 hours or more per week for 50 to 52 weeks in the past 12 months.
[2] The difference in median earnings between no disability and disability.