Overview. Statistics are a powerful tool in research, policymaking, program evaluation, and advocacy. They are used to frame issues, monitor current circumstances and progress, judge the effectiveness of policies and programs, make projections about the future, and predict the costs of potential policy changes.

In the United States, disability statistics – information about the population with disabilities and about the government programs that serve people with disabilities - are often difficult to find. Numerous government agencies generate and publish disability statistics, and as a result, the data are scattered across various federal government documents and websites.

The Annual Disability Statistics State Reports for County-Level Data, one of the five publications included in the Institute on Disability’s Annual Disability Statistics Collection – referred to as “the Collection” – is a summary of statistics about people with disabilities and about the government programs which serve them. The State Reports for County-Level Data provides county-level prevalence, employment, and poverty statistics for each state. 

Additional publications included in the Collection are: 

• The Annual Disability Statistics Compendium, available both in hard copy and online (at www.disabilitycompendium.org), presents key overall statistics on topics including the prevalence of disability, employment among persons with disabilities, rates of participation in disability income and social insurance programs, and other statistics. 
• The Annual Disability Statistics Supplement covers 150 additional tables that analyze the content found in the Compendium by age, gender, and race/ethnicity. 
• The Annual Report on People with Disabilities in America, which graphically represents trends of key statistics from the Compendium.  
• Infographics in the Collection are curated through partnerships with organizations that specialize in the intersectionality of disability with other identities.  
• The Annual Disability Statistics Standard Errors Companion, new to the Collection this year, details the standard errors of percent and standard errors of frequency for applicable tables in the Compendium. 

All publications are available online at https://disabilitycompendium.org. The Annual Report on People with Disabilities in America and the infographics are also available in print format. 

The State Reports for County-Level Data on Prevalence is intended to be an online complement to Section 1: Population and Prevalence of the Annual Disability Statistics Compendium and Annual Disability Statistics Supplement, providing greater detail within each state. This report can be used to compare county-level statistics between counties in any given state or states.

The following report provides county-level statistics for North Carolina. 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.

Specific to North Carolina, the state chosen for this report, sentences providing interpretation and context for prevalence statistics are included in the Interpretation section. A short glossary of terms is also provided at the end of the report explaining the statistics that are illustrated in each sentence.

Notes on the data. The State Reports for County-Level Data on Employment is composed of data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year data. We used the most recent data wherever available.

ACS 5-year includes data from 2021 and data from the four previous years. 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.

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 (see glossary for further details).

Exploring other topics. The UNH Institute on Disability is dedicated to thorough research and has explored topics such as understanding the factors associated with the health disparities experienced by people with intellectual disabilities through the Health Disparities Project (https://iod.unh.edu/health-disparities-project) and career self-management through job crafting for people with physical and mild cognitive disabilities (https://iod.unh.edu/career-self-management-through-job-crafting-people-physical-mild-cognitive-disabilities). 

Additional Resources. A companion Annual Report is available, providing graphical representations of key findings. The Annual Report highlights trend data related to specific tables in the Compendium and Supplement. The statistics presented here, as well as those in the Compendium, Supplement, and Annual Report, can be viewed and downloaded at https://disabilitycompendium.org/.

Help navigating any of the resources described here can be found in the Frequently Asked Questions section at https://disabilitycompendium.org/faq. Assistance interpreting and locating additional statistics is available via our toll-free number, 866-538-9521, or by email at disability.statistics@unh.edu. For more information about our research projects, please visit https://www.researchondisability.org.

Suggested Citation. Paul, S., Rogers, S., Bach, S., & Houtenville, A. (2023). 2023 State Report for North Carolina County-Level Data: Prevalence. Durham, NH: University of New Hampshire, Institute on Disability.

The following statements are designed to help understand the 2021 county-level statistics from North Carolina that are presented:

• For the number of people with and without disabilities:
  • The range of total people across North Carolina counties, also known as the difference between the largest and smallest counts of people across North Carolina counties, was 1,102,660.
    • The county with the greatest number of total people was Wake (1,105,378 people).
    • The county with the least number of total people was Tyrrell (2,718 people).
  • The average number of total people across all counties was 101,683.
  • The median, also known as the middle-most number, of total people across North Carolina counties was 49,324. 

• For the number of people with disabilities:
  • The range of people with disabilities across North Carolina counties, also known as the difference between the largest and smallest counts of people with disabilities across North Carolina counties, was 94,220.
    • The county with the greatest number of people with disabilities was Wake (94,776 people).
    • The county with the least number of people with disabilities was Tyrrell (556 people).
  • The average number of people with disabilities across all counties was 13,446.
  • The median, also known as the middle-most number, of people with disabilities across North Carolina counties was 8,810.
• For the percentage of people with disabilities:
  • For the entire state of North Carolina, the overall percentage of people with disabilities is 13.2%.
    • The county with the highest percentage of people with disabilities was Washington (24.0%).
    • The county with the lowest percentage of people with disabilities was Mecklenburg (8.0%).

• For the number of people without disabilities:
  • The range of people without disabilities across North Carolina counties, also known as the difference between the largest and smallest counts of people without disabilities across North Carolina counties, was 1,008,440.
    • The county with the greatest number of people without disabilities was Wake (1,010,602 people).
    • The county with the least number of people without disabilities was Tyrrell (2,162 people).
  • The average number of people without disabilities across all counties was 88,237.
  • The median, also known as the middle-most number, of people without disabilities across North Carolina counties was 40,787.
• For the percentage of people without disabilities:
  • For the entire state of North Carolina, the overall percentage of people without disabilities is 86.8%.
    • The county with the highest percentage of people without disabilities was Mecklenburg (92.0%).
    • The county with the lowest percentage of people without disabilities was Washington (76.0%).

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.

• Statistics are based on a sample and subject to sample variation

• Statistics based on a sample may not fully represent the total U.S. population

• People responding to the ACS may be different than people not responding

• When people do not respond to all ACS questions their responses are created based on assignment or allocation

Additional links to resources for the ACS:

• Information on the disability questions

• ACS design and methodology

• ACS questionnaire and instructions

American Community Survey (ACS) — The American Community Survey is a large, continuous demographic survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau that will provide accurate and up-to-date profiles of America’s communities every year. Annual and multiyear estimates of population and housing data are generated for small areas, including tracts and population subgroups. This information is collected by mailing questionnaires to a sample of addresses. See the U.S. Census Bureau website for additional details.

The Six Disability Questions in the American Community Survey:

1. Is this person deaf or does he/she have serious difficulty hearing? (yes or no)
2. Is this person blind or does he/she have serious difficulty seeing even when wearing glasses? (yes or no)
3. (If person 5 years old or over) Because of a physical, mental, or emotional condition, does this person have serious difficulty concentrating, remembering, or making decisions? (yes or no)
4. (If person 5 years or old over) Does this person have serious difficulty walking or climbing stairs? (yes or no)
5. (If person 5 years old or over) Does this person have difficulty dressing or bathing? (yes or no)
6. (If person 15 years old or over) Because of a physical, mental, or emotional condition, does this person have difficulty doing errands alone such as visiting a doctor’s office or shopping? (yes or no)

Average — The sum of all of the values in a sample divided by the number of values in the sample.

Civilian — A person not in active-duty military.

Median — The middlemost value of a sample that separates the upper half of the values from the lower half of the values. 

Non-Institutionalized Population — Describes individuals who are residing in the community and who are not living in institutions such as jails, prisons, nursing homes, hospitals, etc.

Population — The total number of inhabitants in a defined geographic area including all races, classes, and groups.

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.

Prevalence Rate — The prevalence of a particular status or condition estimated over a specific period of time.

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. 

Sampling Variability — The variation of a statistic when estimated from repeated samples.

United States Census Bureau — An agency within the United States Federal Statistical System tasked with producing data about the American people and economy. Their primary task is to conduct the United States Census every ten years.

About the Center

Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Disability Statistics and Demographics (StatsRRTC)

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 90RTGE0001, from 2018–2023.

Contact Information
University of New Hampshire, Institute on Disability
10 West Edge Drive, Suite 101
Durham, NH 03824
Toll-Free Telephone/TTY: 866-538-9521
E-mail: Disability.Statistics@unh.edu
https://www.researchondisability.org