Infographic: Disability and Employment Statistics in the United States

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Disability and Employment in the United States

26% of U.S. adults live with a disability of some kind.

How Disabilities Affect Employment

• 19.1% of people with disabilities are employed
• 63.7% of people without disabilities are employed
• 31.4% of people with disabilities ages 16-64 are employed
• 72.5% of people with disabilities ages 16-64 are employed

People without disabilities are twice as likely as those who are disabled to be employed.

• 29% of people with disabilities are part-time employees
• 16% of people without disabilities are part-time employees

People with disabilities are more likely to be working part-time as a result of hours being cut or an inability to obtain a full-time job, and are less likely to work in management.

Disability and Poverty in 2020

The median annual earnings of full-time employees with disabilities was estimated $8,500 less than their able-bodied counterparts.

• 25% of people with disabilities live below the poverty line
• 11% of people without disabilities live below the poverty line

Disability and Education

Although higher levels of education for both disabled and able-bodied people equated to higher chances of employment, people with disabilities were less likely to have completed a bachelor’s degree.

• In the US in 2016, 15.7% of people with disabilities over the age of 25 obtained a bachelor’s degree, compared to 33.6% of people without disabilities over the age of 25

Disability in DEI strategies/the workplace

• 90% of companies ‘prioritize diversity’ while only 4% explicitly consider disability in those initiatives
• 65% of employees report wanting to work from companies that prioritize total diversity and inclusion

Sources:

CDC ‘Disability Impacts All of Us’ 

Disability Compendium 2021 Social Inequities Experienced by African Americans 

Disability Compendium 2021 Experiences of PwD in Rural America 

ADA PARC % of people with and without disabilities age 25 and above with a bachelor’s degree

Harvard Business Review ‘ Do Your D&I Efforts Include People with Disabilities?’