2023 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 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).