2015 State Report for County-Level Data: Employment

Acknowledgements

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, Karen Volle, and Anna Brennan-Curry.

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 90RTGE0001-01-00; and the Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Employment Policy and Measurement (EPM-RRTC), also funded by NIDILRR, grant number 90RT5037-03-00. 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.

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2015 Iowa Report for County-Level Data: Employment

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on

Disability Statistics and Demographics

A NIDILRR-Funded Center

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Introduction

The State Reports for County-Level Data on Employment are designed to provide the users of disability statistics with the employed count and employment rate for civilians with disabilities, ages 18 to 64 years and living in the community, for any given state and county in the United States (U.S.). This report is intended to be an online complement to Section 2: Employment 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 Employment can be used to compare county-level statistics between counties in any given state or states. The following report provides county-level statistics for Iowa.

The proportion of the civilian non-institutionalized population with disabilities who are employed, sometimes called the employment rate or employment-to-population ratio, 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 the employment of people with disabilities. In this report, the employment of people with disabilities is presented as the number of employed civilians with disabilities, ages 18 to 64 years and living in the community, in a given state and county per total state and county populations, respectively. Counts and percentages (the employment rate) are provided in tables and maps.

The data for this report come 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 (see glossary for further details). 

 

 

 

In the ACS, people are also asked a series of questions designed to identify their employment status. Based on the answers, individuals were classified into one of five groups:

  • People who worked at any time during the reference week;
  • People on temporary layoff who were available for work;
  • People who did not work during the reference week but who had jobs or businesses from which they were temporarily absent (excluding layoff);
  • People who did not work during the reference week, but who were looking for work during the last four weeks and were available for work during the reference week; and
  • People not in the labor force. 

In the ACS, people are identified as being employed if they responded as having worked during the past week. 

Specific to Iowa, the state chosen for this report, sentences providing interpretation and context for employment statistics are included on the following page. A short glossary of terms is also provided at the end of the report explaining the statistics that are illustrated in each sentence.

Additional Resources. The Annual Disability Statistics Compendium and its complement, the Annual Disability Statistics Supplement, are summaries of statistics about people with disabilities, available both in hard copy and online at https://www.disabilitycompendium.org

Help navigating any of the resources described here can be found in the Frequently Asked Questions section at https://www.disabilitycompendium.org/faq. Assistance interpreting and locating additional statistics is available via our toll-free number, 866.538.9521, or by email, disability.statistics@unh.edu. For more information about our research projects, please visit https://www.researchondisability.org.

Suggested Citation. Boege, S.L., Lauer, E.A., & Houtenville, A.J., 2019. 2015 State Report for Iowa County-Level Data: Employment. Durham, NH: University of New Hampshire, Institute on Disability.

Interpretation

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

 

  • For people with disabilities:
    • The employment rate for people with disabilities in Iowa was 44.2%.
    • The range, also known as the difference between largest and smallest values, of employment rates for people with disabilities across Iowa counties was 38.0%.
      • The county with the greatest employment rate for people with disabilities was O'Brien (64.3%).
      • The county with the smallest employment rate for people with disabilities was Davis (26.3%).
    • The median, also known as the middle-most, employment rate for people with disabilities across all counties in Iowa was 44.5%.

 

  • For people without disabilities:
    • The employment rate for people without disabilities in Iowa was 81.8%.
    • The range, also known as the difference between largest and smallest values, of employment rates for people without disabilities across Iowa counties was 23.9%.
      • The county with the greatest employment rate for people without disabilities was Shelby (88.7%).
      • The county with the smallest employment rate for people without disabilities was Jefferson (64.8%).
    • The median, also known as the middle-most, employment rate for people without disabilities across all counties in Iowa was 82.9%.
Employment of Civilians with and without Disabilities Ages 18 to 64 Years Living in the Community for Iowa, by County: 2015
County Disability No Disability   County Disability No Disability
Total Employed % [1] Total Employed % [2] Total Employed % [1] Total Employed % [2]
    Iowa      175,227 77,522 44.2 1,693,426 1,384,680 81.8     Davis         460    121 26.3     4,220     3,233 76.6
    Adair         464    200 43.1     3,678     3,227 87.7    Decatur        814    284 34.9     4,138     3,038 73.4
    Adams         253    153 60.5     1,944     1,667 85.8   Delaware        999    529 53.0     9,184     7,955 86.6
  Allamakee       555    231 41.6     7,308     6,014 82.3  Des Moines     2,794  1,088 38.9    20,539    16,160 78.7
  Appanoose       946    450 47.6     6,211     4,862 78.3   Dickinson     1,192    676 56.7     8,444     7,304 86.5
   Audubon        290    122 42.1     2,925     2,489 85.1    Dubuque      4,891  2,341 47.9    53,152    44,230 83.2
   Benton       1,309    522 39.9    13,786    11,571 83.9     Emmet         553    228 41.2     5,268     4,326 82.1
 Black Hawk     8,299  3,100 37.4    75,865    60,377 79.6    Fayette      1,242    478 38.5    10,693     8,620 80.6
    Boone       1,830    769 42.0    14,085    11,628 82.6     Floyd         998    543 54.4     8,018     6,662 83.1
   Bremer       1,076    580 53.9    13,640    11,307 82.9   Franklin        550    240 43.6     5,440     4,372 80.4
  Buchanan        912    474 52.0    11,033     9,195 83.3    Fremont        456    154 33.8     3,580     2,975 83.1
 Buena Vista      889    442 49.7    11,392     9,450 83.0    Greene         545    176 32.3     4,522     3,794 83.9
   Butler         564    224 39.7     7,729     6,552 84.8    Grundy         534    271 50.7     6,442     5,454 84.7
   Calhoun        557    260 46.7     4,725     3,973 84.1    Guthrie        577    243 42.1     5,458     4,500 82.4
   Carroll        920    523 56.8    10,750     9,303 86.5   Hamilton        869    341 39.2     7,888     6,497 82.4
    Cass        1,002    509 50.8     6,541     5,560 85.0    Hancock        440    182 41.4     5,886     5,002 85.0
    Cedar         945    526 55.7     9,737     8,327 85.5    Hardin         844    280 33.2     8,991     7,352 81.8
 Cerro Gordo    2,918  1,426 48.9    22,988    19,331 84.1   Harrison        936    357 38.1     7,501     6,375 85.0
  Cherokee        695    356 51.2     5,948     5,133 86.3     Henry         940    344 36.6    10,198     8,001 78.5
  Chickasaw       737    352 47.8     6,219     5,311 85.4    Howard         485    247 50.9     4,691     3,926 83.7
   Clarke         582    369 63.4     4,731     3,754 79.3   Humboldt        481    164 34.1     4,925     4,105 83.4
    Clay          990    464 46.9     8,534     7,432 87.1      Ida          294    166 56.5     3,608     3,061 84.8
   Clayton        926    363 39.2     9,199     7,832 85.1     Iowa          668    316 47.3     8,945     7,838 87.6
   Clinton      2,699    867 32.1    25,800    20,894 81.0    Jackson      1,065    496 46.6    10,240     8,412 82.1
  Crawford      1,184    470 39.7     8,570     7,025 82.0    Jasper       2,854  1,096 38.4    17,864    14,664 82.1
   Dallas       2,582  1,255 48.6    42,625    36,445 85.5   Jefferson       808    312 38.6    10,274     6,653 64.8
Employment of Civilians with and without Disabilities Ages 18 to 64 Years Living in the Community for Iowa, by County: 2015
County Disability No Disability   County Disability No Disability
Total Employed % [1] Total Employed % [2] Total Employed % [1] Total Employed % [2]
   Johnson      5,656  2,881 50.9    91,322    72,048 78.9 Pottawattamie   7,487  3,147 42.0    48,772    40,088 82.2
    Jones       1,007    443 44.0    10,138     8,594 84.8   Poweshiek     1,120    579 51.7    10,093     8,233 81.6
   Keokuk         685    268 39.1     5,141     4,124 80.2   Ringgold        331    152 45.9     2,259     1,810 80.1
   Kossuth        694    382 55.0     7,771     6,676 85.9      Sac          515    229 44.5     5,053     4,366 86.4
     Lee        3,026  1,185 39.2    17,970    14,037 78.1     Scott       8,896  3,231 36.3    95,418    75,067 78.7
    Linn       11,094  4,806 43.3   122,617   102,218 83.4    Shelby         719    321 44.6     5,854     5,192 88.7
   Louisa         621    251 40.4     6,058     4,931 81.4     Sioux       1,139    726 63.7    19,009    16,410 86.3
    Lucas         552    221 40.0     4,253     3,434 80.7     Story       3,347  1,830 54.7    64,167    46,725 72.8
    Lyon          538    327 60.8     5,876     5,151 87.7     Tama          939    397 42.3     8,927     7,140 80.0
   Madison        908    392 43.2     8,148     6,855 84.1    Taylor         402    224 55.7     3,025     2,505 82.8
   Mahaska      1,378    615 44.6    11,863     9,289 78.3     Union         989    466 47.1     6,245     5,364 85.9
   Marion       1,918    801 41.8    17,786    14,964 84.1   Van Buren       454    186 41.0     3,713     2,778 74.8
  Marshall      2,392    982 41.1    21,125    17,091 80.9    Wapello      2,737    863 31.5    18,639    14,299 76.7
    Mills       1,493    634 42.5     7,463     5,855 78.5    Warren       2,758  1,593 57.8    25,750    21,743 84.4
  Mitchell        472    257 54.4     5,305     4,485 84.5  Washington     1,372    648 47.2    11,172     9,578 85.7
   Monona         599    201 33.6     4,437     3,582 80.7     Wayne         414    197 47.6     2,969     2,303 77.6
   Monroe         451    133 29.5     4,060     3,211 79.1    Webster      2,792    962 34.5    18,793    14,535 77.3
 Montgomery       943    317 33.6     4,981     3,890 78.1   Winnebago       633    294 46.4     5,538     4,493 81.1
  Muscatine     2,177  1,055 48.5    23,261    18,668 80.3  Winneshiek       799    379 47.4    12,342    10,770 87.3
   O'Brien        812    522 64.3     7,064     5,943 84.1   Woodbury      6,578  2,635 40.1    54,729    45,369 82.9
   Osceola        400    223 55.8     3,103     2,738 88.2     Worth         526    289 54.9     3,899     3,195 81.9
    Page        1,238    447 36.1     7,276     5,868 80.6    Wright         627    278 44.3     6,587     5,316 80.7
  Palo Alto       702    410 58.4     4,506     3,867 85.8                                                           
  Plymouth        928    451 48.6    13,243    11,398 86.1                                                           
 Pocahontas       374    188 50.3     3,549     2,923 82.4                                                           
    Polk       27,182 12,824 47.2   256,085   212,393 82.9                                                           
Count of Employed Civilians with Disabilities Ages 18 to 64 Years Living in the Community for Iowa, by County: 2015

Employment Rate for Civilians with Disabilities Ages 18 to 64 Years Living in the Community for Iowa, 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.

Additional links to resources for the ACS:

Glossary

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.

Employed – Individuals were asked a series of questions designed to identify their employment status. Based on the answers, individuals were classified into one of five groups: (1) people who worked at any time during the reference week; (2) people on temporary layoff who were available for work; (3) people who did not work during the reference week but who had jobs or businesses from which they were temporarily absent (excluding layoff); (4) people who did not work during the reference week, but who were looking for work during the last four weeks and were available for work during the reference week; and (5) people not in the labor force. People who responded as having worked during the past week were considered "employed".

Employment Rate — The number of individuals that are employed as a percent of the civilian non-institutional population.

Living in the Community – A person lives in the community, if the person is not living in an institution, such as jail, prison, nursing home, and hospital. A college dormitory is not considered an institution.

Median — The middle-most 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.

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 90RTGE00010100, from 2018–2023.

Employment Policy and Measurement Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (EPM-RRTC)

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.

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