2023 Annual Disability Statistics Compendium

Employment

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 2021, of the 21,375,164 individuals with disabilities ages 18-64 years living in the community, 8,705,513 individuals were employed—40.7 percent. In contrast, of the 177,527,241 individuals without disabilities ages 18-64 years living in the community, 135,973,591 individuals were employed—76.6 percent. The percentage of people with disabilities employed was highest in North Dakota (58.1 percent) and lowest in West Virginia (29.7 percent).

Table 3.3: In 2021, of the 3,986,839 individuals with hearing disabilities ages 18-64 years living in the community, 2,199,414 individuals were employed—55.1 percent. The percentage of people with hearing disabilities employed was highest in North Dakota (77.2 percent) and lowest in Louisiana (38.4 percent).

Table 3.4: In 2021, of the 4,198,571 individuals with vision disabilities ages 18-64 years living in the community, 2,013,445 individuals were employed—47.9 percent. The percentage of people with vision disabilities employed was highest in North Dakota (67.8 percent) and lowest in West Virginia (28.8 percent).

Table 3.5: In 2021, of the 9,753,745 individuals with cognitive disabilities ages 18-64 years living in the community, 3,282,104 individuals were employed—33.6 percent. The percentage of people with cognitive disabilities employed was highest in North Dakota (52.6 percent) and lowest in Mississippi (22.2 percent).

Table 3.6: In 2021, of the 8,931,748 individuals with ambulatory disabilities ages 18-64 years living in the community, 2,358,780 individuals were employed—26.4 percent. The percentage of people with ambulatory disabilities employed was highest in Utah (41.0 percent) and lowest in West Virginia (18.2 percent).

Table 3.7: In 2021, of the 3,348,374 individuals with self-care disabilities ages 18-64 years living in the community, 528,149 individuals were employed—15.7 percent. The percentage of people with self-care disabilities employed was highest in North Dakota (30.6 percent) and lowest in Vermont (7.6 percent).

Table 3.8: In 2021, of the 7,550,579 individuals with independent living disabilities ages 18-64 years living in the community, 1,526,857 individuals were employed—20.2 percent. The percentage of people with independent living disabilities employed was highest in Nebraska (34.3 percent) and lowest in Mississippi (12.9 percent).

Table 3.9: In 2021, 40.7 percent of people with disabilities ages 18-64 years living in the community were employed, while 76.6 percent of people without disabilities ages 18-64 years living in the community were employed—a difference of 35.9 percentage points. The difference was greatest in Maine (44.3 percentage points) and smallest in North Dakota (25.0 percentage points).

Table 3.1 Employment — Civilians with Disabilities Ages 18-64 Years Living in the Community for the United States and States: 2021
State Total Employed   State Total Employed
Count % [1] Count % [1]
U.S. 21,375,164 8,705,513 40.7 MO    455,483   188,557 41.4
AL    427,044   138,077 32.3 MT     75,444    32,744 43.4
AK     57,446    26,466 46.1 NE    127,695    67,109 52.6
AZ    462,266   203,672 44.1 NV    203,594    86,496 42.5
AR    270,410    95,322 35.3 NH     86,205    40,316 46.8
CA  2,094,680   825,876 39.4 NJ    442,236   177,976 40.2
CO    334,153   166,776 49.9 NM    172,088    60,122 34.9
CT    210,733    93,481 44.4 NY  1,137,516   419,234 36.9
DE     63,108    29,787 47.2 NC    721,213   277,731 38.5
DC     45,567    18,345 40.3 ND     47,057    27,321 58.1
FL  1,294,357   508,919 39.3 OH    844,365   333,629 39.5
GA    718,796   279,071 38.8 OK    355,773   146,090 41.1
HI     70,655    28,568 40.4 OR    337,722   143,668 42.5
ID    129,963    65,530 50.4 PA    862,692   340,244 39.4
IL    738,699   307,531 41.6 RI     79,542    33,737 42.4
IN    475,999   193,235 40.6 SC    371,131   132,959 35.8
IA    200,714    94,631 47.1 SD     54,749    28,037 51.2
KS    201,587    87,877 43.6 TN    536,506   191,440 35.7
KY    425,527   143,193 33.7 TX  1,812,286   832,902 46.0
LA    382,524   130,691 34.2 UT    194,928   105,165 54.0
ME    111,109    39,764 35.8 VT     44,065    16,705 37.9
MD    347,449   158,268 45.6 VA    525,816   233,508 44.4
MA    390,447   162,885 41.7 WA    515,893   216,240 41.9
MI    717,556   267,500 37.3 WV    171,095    50,814 29.7
MN    346,254   176,096 50.9 WI    361,742   167,399 46.3
MS    283,513    94,106 33.2 WY     37,772    19,703 52.2
Table 3.2 Employment — Civilians without Disabilities Ages 18-64 Years Living in the Community for the United States and States: 2021
State Total Employed   State Total Employed
Count % [1] Count % [1]
U.S. 177,527,241 135,973,591 76.6 MO   3,177,937   2,522,505 79.4
AL   2,547,331   1,899,619 74.6 MT     564,962     444,601 78.7
AK     370,838     277,926 74.9 NE   1,014,311     860,434 84.8
AZ   3,777,370   2,870,362 76.0 NV   1,690,271   1,241,872 73.5
AR   1,491,911   1,145,914 76.8 NH     770,904     629,599 81.7
CA  22,007,153  16,185,950 73.5 NJ   5,176,776   3,962,777 76.5
CO   3,274,242   2,616,988 79.9 NM   1,047,810     745,883 71.2
CT   1,991,370   1,560,234 78.3 NY  10,983,027   8,106,176 73.8
DE     520,770     397,392 76.3 NC   5,562,607   4,250,394 76.4
DC     404,964     315,232 77.8 ND     408,160     339,211 83.1
FL  11,356,405   8,662,175 76.3 OH   6,129,834   4,822,544 78.7
GA   5,805,086   4,413,612 76.0 OK   1,962,381   1,497,352 76.3
HI     729,300     547,871 75.1 OR   2,232,682   1,709,490 76.6
ID     971,484     772,549 79.5 PA   6,848,016   5,338,737 78.0
IL   6,917,512   5,322,567 76.9 RI     600,499     468,122 78.0
IN   3,564,936   2,805,974 78.7 SC   2,671,976   2,011,413 75.3
IA   1,668,525   1,384,786 83.0 SD     453,506     379,204 83.6
KS   1,507,357   1,219,446 80.9 TN   3,641,442   2,804,589 77.0
KY   2,242,246   1,704,911 76.0 TX  15,981,386  12,052,171 75.4
LA   2,309,022   1,666,937 72.2 UT   1,789,229   1,435,856 80.2
ME     709,211     567,913 80.1 VT     348,202     276,147 79.3
MD   3,371,887   2,663,784 79.0 VA   4,629,055   3,648,494 78.8
MA   3,981,891   3,138,799 78.8 WA   4,199,025   3,236,407 77.1
MI   5,301,641   3,997,617 75.4 WV     863,113     615,831 71.3
MN   3,065,749   2,558,927 83.5 WI   3,165,531   2,594,584 82.0
MS   1,426,633   1,040,372 72.9 WY     299,765     241,341 80.5
Table 3.3 Employment — Civilians with Hearing Disabilities Ages 18-64 Years Living in the Community for the United States and States: 2021
State Total Employed   State Total Employed
Count % [1] Count % [1]
U.S. 3,986,839 2,199,414 55.1 MO    83,902    46,457 55.3
AL    77,652    40,599 52.2 MT    17,665     9,887 55.9
AK    16,161     8,489 52.5 NE    30,618    21,815 71.2
AZ    92,617    50,667 54.7 NV    39,244    22,507 57.3
AR    47,909    25,269 52.7 NH    17,348    11,082 63.8
CA   365,481   190,961 52.2 NJ    69,444    40,683 58.5
CO    77,248    47,477 61.4 NM    35,694    16,234 45.4
CT    38,726    22,650 58.4 NY   180,387    94,758 52.5
DE    11,573     6,524 56.3 NC   135,362    72,110 53.2
DC     6,590     3,116 47.2 ND    13,864    10,710 77.2
FL   229,910   123,990 53.9 OH   150,061    78,985 52.6
GA   122,542    65,074 53.1 OK    75,961    42,724 56.2
HI    14,285     8,127 56.8 OR    65,423    38,946 59.5
ID    30,151    19,328 64.1 PA   147,567    79,274 53.7
IL   130,549    74,605 57.1 RI    11,732     7,165 61.0
IN    94,795    52,903 55.8 SC    63,240    32,945 52.0
IA    42,307    24,611 58.1 SD    13,941     9,541 68.4
KS    45,597    27,547 60.4 TN   109,517    53,002 48.3
KY    85,492    39,949 46.7 TX   361,517   212,980 58.9
LA    73,199    28,165 38.4 UT    40,281    28,734 71.3
ME    18,610     8,710 46.8 VT     8,133     4,582 56.3
MD    58,476    36,976 63.2 VA   107,319    61,469 57.2
MA    62,778    35,503 56.5 WA   102,560    59,645 58.1
MI   129,355    68,819 53.2 WV    33,291    15,453 46.4
MN    67,374    44,220 65.6 WI    73,772    42,424 57.5
MS    50,519    25,044 49.5 WY     9,100     5,979 65.7
Table 3.4 Employment — Civilians with Vision Disabilities Ages 18-64 Years Living in the Community for the United States and States: 2021
State Total Employed   State Total Employed
Count % [1] Count % [1]
U.S. 4,198,571 2,013,445 47.9 MO    89,950    42,477 47.2
AL    85,135    31,203 36.6 MT    13,291     4,540 34.1
AK     9,079     5,296 58.3 NE    26,430    14,622 55.3
AZ    91,441    52,208 57.0 NV    45,283    21,174 46.7
AR    55,297    21,805 39.4 NH    14,175     6,791 47.9
CA   440,277   211,178 47.9 NJ    93,308    48,559 52.0
CO    66,208    35,577 53.7 NM    32,792    14,988 45.7
CT    40,603    21,894 53.9 NY   206,577    94,198 45.5
DE    13,099     6,066 46.3 NC   143,324    65,782 45.8
DC     9,703     4,536 46.7 ND    11,957     8,115 67.8
FL   259,705   126,129 48.5 OH   151,355    65,583 43.3
GA   149,327    69,295 46.4 OK    86,238    40,769 47.2
HI    12,019     6,019 50.0 OR    55,212    26,142 47.3
ID    28,388    18,652 65.7 PA   160,422    67,533 42.0
IL   136,998    69,125 50.4 RI    14,398     8,369 58.1
IN    88,865    43,279 48.7 SC    70,780    33,796 47.7
IA    33,909    18,131 53.4 SD     9,761     5,222 53.4
KS    34,818    18,283 52.5 TN   116,871    51,900 44.4
KY    89,154    34,688 38.9 TX   419,128   223,337 53.2
LA    96,632    41,732 43.1 UT    33,735    19,816 58.7
ME    14,298     4,757 33.2 VT     5,703     2,147 37.6
MD    63,400    33,869 53.4 VA    99,562    52,004 52.2
MA    64,727    32,962 50.9 WA    85,945    42,099 48.9
MI   113,662    48,583 42.7 WV    30,818     8,895 28.8
MN    46,518    23,434 50.3 WI    59,657    31,240 52.3
MS    70,633    30,111 42.6 WY     8,004     4,535 56.6
Table 3.5 Employment — Civilians with Cognitive Disabilities Ages 18-64 Years Living in the Community for the United States and States: 2021
State Total Employed   State Total Employed
Count % [1] Count % [1]
U.S. 9,753,745 3,282,104 33.6 MO   211,107    78,737 37.2
AL   183,141    48,762 26.6 MT    37,919    13,857 36.5
AK    25,998    12,130 46.6 NE    53,833    23,877 44.3
AZ   205,949    75,494 36.6 NV    83,410    28,355 33.9
AR   122,218    32,258 26.3 NH    42,323    17,348 40.9
CA   955,091   304,499 31.8 NJ   185,139    54,147 29.2
CO   160,011    66,927 41.8 NM    78,495    23,076 29.3
CT    98,619    34,627 35.1 NY   517,427   156,912 30.3
DE    27,107    10,465 38.6 NC   325,959   105,132 32.2
DC    20,023     7,462 37.2 ND    17,972     9,465 52.6
FL   571,601   179,537 31.4 OH   406,879   140,473 34.5
GA   317,397   104,957 33.0 OK   156,751    51,656 32.9
HI    34,386     9,810 28.5 OR   174,169    58,178 33.4
ID    61,658    26,176 42.4 PA   421,866   139,990 33.1
IL   320,585   109,265 34.0 RI    37,602    14,106 37.5
IN   210,353    74,394 35.3 SC   153,828    48,209 31.3
IA    95,770    38,546 40.2 SD    24,550    10,093 41.1
KS    99,028    37,415 37.7 TN   240,740    66,213 27.5
KY   188,277    46,338 24.6 TX   777,206   286,503 36.8
LA   172,153    45,150 26.2 UT   103,270    49,683 48.1
ME    58,996    17,561 29.7 VT    22,565     5,907 26.1
MD   152,155    57,890 38.0 VA   228,934    81,293 35.5
MA   190,553    67,661 35.5 WA   262,075    89,370 34.1
MI   340,394   108,610 31.9 WV    77,253    18,155 23.5
MN   184,745    87,731 47.4 WI   176,760    73,044 41.3
MS   123,035    27,426 22.2 WY    16,470     7,234 43.9
Table 3.6 Employment — Civilians with Ambulatory Disabilities Ages 18-64 Years Living in the Community for the United States and States: 2021
State Total Employed   State Total Employed
Count % [1] Count % [1]
U.S. 8,931,748 2,358,780 26.4 MO   194,670    46,137 23.7
AL   209,788    40,062 19.0 MT    27,961     9,639 34.4
AK    19,632     6,285 32.0 NE    48,455    16,969 35.0
AZ   184,450    55,124 29.8 NV    89,480    27,843 31.1
AR   128,378    31,628 24.6 NH    28,796     9,255 32.1
CA   820,251   205,229 25.0 NJ   182,319    47,191 25.8
CO   111,403    36,214 32.5 NM    75,291    16,803 22.3
CT    82,289    22,383 27.2 NY   492,523   122,257 24.8
DE    28,267     9,976 35.2 NC   326,500    79,225 24.2
DC    20,748     6,328 30.4 ND    14,815     5,409 36.5
FL   583,227   152,070 26.0 OH   355,265    89,733 25.2
GA   317,098    78,986 24.9 OK   155,889    41,564 26.6
HI    28,670     8,300 28.9 OR   121,349    33,753 27.8
ID    46,777    15,598 33.3 PA   356,698    88,614 24.8
IL   316,618    85,829 27.1 RI    29,001     6,805 23.4
IN   207,877    55,673 26.7 SC   174,347    41,485 23.7
IA    80,060    23,003 28.7 SD    20,601     5,886 28.5
KS    75,632    21,723 28.7 TN   253,557    58,214 22.9
KY   199,797    41,069 20.5 TX   755,709   243,067 32.1
LA   169,940    37,982 22.3 UT    64,731    26,577 41.0
ME    45,789     9,117 19.9 VT    14,670     3,073 20.9
MD   144,896    45,947 31.7 VA   224,836    68,451 30.4
MA   140,064    35,667 25.4 WA   186,399    49,053 26.3
MI   302,686    71,152 23.5 WV    82,894    15,111 18.2
MN   105,314    38,044 36.1 WI   131,401    39,633 30.1
MS   139,273    28,739 20.6 WY    14,667     4,905 33.4
Table 3.7 Employment — Civilians with Self-Care Disabilities Ages 18-64 Years Living in the Community for the United States and States: 2021
State Total Employed   State Total Employed
Count % [1] Count % [1]
U.S. 3,348,374 528,149 15.7 MO    71,063  11,868 16.7
AL    61,183   6,951 11.3 MT    10,839   2,508 23.1
AK     7,973   2,198 27.5 NE    16,548   3,922 23.7
AZ    61,460  11,065 18.0 NV    30,717   4,771 15.5
AR    45,521   6,104 13.4 NH    12,970   3,434 26.4
CA   365,270  48,555 13.2 NJ    78,150  12,395 15.8
CO    41,729   7,764 18.6 NM    32,061   5,919 18.4
CT    34,724   7,212 20.7 NY   198,077  25,429 12.8
DE    11,875   2,777 23.3 NC   110,804  18,478 16.6
DC     6,452   1,077 16.6 ND     3,847   1,178 30.6
FL   212,067  37,072 17.4 OH   121,345  19,009 15.6
GA   109,603  18,763 17.1 OK    46,235   7,237 15.6
HI    11,346   1,785 15.7 OR    50,336   8,799 17.4
ID    18,078   3,136 17.3 PA   134,141  21,735 16.2
IL   122,424  19,660 16.0 RI    12,436   1,450 11.6
IN    74,327  12,268 16.5 SC    61,556   8,645 14.0
IA    28,822   5,886 20.4 SD     7,314     793 10.8
KS    29,915   3,922 13.1 TN    83,397  12,136 14.5
KY    72,281   9,185 12.7 TX   276,165  46,771 16.9
LA    65,208   9,199 14.1 UT    23,217   6,219 26.7
ME    16,038   1,339  8.3 VT     6,185     471  7.6
MD    47,933   8,675 18.0 VA    82,485  15,319 18.5
MA    58,197   9,260 15.9 WA    72,493  10,437 14.3
MI   117,444  14,862 12.6 WV    31,477   2,647  8.4
MN    46,786  12,773 27.3 WI    57,350   8,973 15.6
MS    45,760   5,101 11.1 WY     4,750   1,017 21.4
Table 3.8 Employment — Civilians with Independent Living Disabilities Ages 18-64 Years Living in the Community for the United States and States: 2021
State Total Employed   State Total Employed
Count % [1] Count % [1]
U.S. 7,550,579 1,526,857 20.2 MO   157,561    34,367 21.8
AL   150,441    20,900 13.8 MT    25,317     6,560 25.9
AK    19,396     4,180 21.5 NE    36,130    12,425 34.3
AZ   154,822    36,283 23.4 NV    64,174    13,130 20.4
AR   102,928    15,298 14.8 NH    31,444     9,339 29.7
CA   783,774   150,309 19.1 NJ   164,983    28,919 17.5
CO   109,735    30,503 27.7 NM    65,059    13,126 20.1
CT    75,964    15,758 20.7 NY   436,592    69,615 15.9
DE    23,182     6,444 27.7 NC   255,865    44,637 17.4
DC    11,291     2,294 20.3 ND     9,697     2,306 23.7
FL   447,811    85,645 19.1 OH   286,282    62,336 21.7
GA   250,740    42,353 16.8 OK   119,785    23,373 19.5
HI    26,466     7,553 28.5 OR   124,720    30,028 24.0
ID    39,248     8,616 21.9 PA   315,910    62,660 19.8
IL   268,220    56,873 21.2 RI    30,055     5,898 19.6
IN   169,871    38,130 22.4 SC   125,691    25,228 20.0
IA    70,035    19,569 27.9 SD    15,299     3,942 25.7
KS    75,403    17,792 23.5 TN   191,409    30,466 15.9
KY   153,865    21,914 14.2 TX   589,083   130,871 22.2
LA   131,666    21,904 16.6 UT    67,291    19,382 28.8
ME    48,499    11,042 22.7 VT    16,157     3,145 19.4
MD   106,398    23,872 22.4 VA   176,496    38,111 21.5
MA   140,821    32,051 22.7 WA   181,137    38,126 21.0
MI   273,744    48,070 17.5 WV    62,089     8,324 13.4
MN   125,635    42,706 33.9 WI   131,964    34,281 25.9
MS    99,032    12,835 12.9 WY    11,402     3,368 29.5
Table 3.9 Employment Gap — Civilians Ages 18-64 Years Living in the Community for the United States and States, by Disability Status: 2021
State Disability [1] No Disability [2] Gap (% pts) [3]   State Disability [1] No Disability [2] Gap (% pts) [3]
U.S. 40.7 76.6 35.9 MO 41.4 79.4 38.0
AL 32.3 74.6 42.3 MT 43.4 78.7 35.3
AK 46.1 74.9 28.8 NE 52.6 84.8 32.2
AZ 44.1 76.0 31.9 NV 42.5 73.5 31.0
AR 35.3 76.8 41.5 NH 46.8 81.7 34.9
CA 39.4 73.5 34.1 NJ 40.2 76.5 36.3
CO 49.9 79.9 30.0 NM 34.9 71.2 36.3
CT 44.4 78.3 33.9 NY 36.9 73.8 36.9
DE 47.2 76.3 29.1 NC 38.5 76.4 37.9
DC 40.3 77.8 37.5 ND 58.1 83.1 25.0
FL 39.3 76.3 37.0 OH 39.5 78.7 39.2
GA 38.8 76.0 37.2 OK 41.1 76.3 35.2
HI 40.4 75.1 34.7 OR 42.5 76.6 34.1
ID 50.4 79.5 29.1 PA 39.4 78.0 38.6
IL 41.6 76.9 35.3 RI 42.4 78.0 35.6
IN 40.6 78.7 38.1 SC 35.8 75.3 39.5
IA 47.1 83.0 35.9 SD 51.2 83.6 32.4
KS 43.6 80.9 37.3 TN 35.7 77.0 41.3
KY 33.7 76.0 42.3 TX 46.0 75.4 29.4
LA 34.2 72.2 38.0 UT 54.0 80.2 26.2
ME 35.8 80.1 44.3 VT 37.9 79.3 41.4
MD 45.6 79.0 33.4 VA 44.4 78.8 34.4
MA 41.7 78.8 37.1 WA 41.9 77.1 35.2
MI 37.3 75.4 38.1 WV 29.7 71.3 41.6
MN 50.9 83.5 32.6 WI 46.3 82.0 35.7
MS 33.2 72.9 39.7 WY 52.2 80.5 28.3