Census 2000 counted

49.7 million people with

some type of long lasting condition or disability.1 They represented

19.3 percent of the

257.2 million people

who were aged 5 and

older in the civilian noninstitutionalized population — or nearly one

person in five (see 

Table 1).2 Within this

population, Census

2000 found: 

• 9.3 million (3.6 percent) with a sensory

disability involving

sight or hearing.

• 21.2 million 

(8.2 percent) with a

condition limiting

basic physical activities, such as walking,

climbing stairs,

reaching, lifting, or

carrying. 

• 12.4 million (4.8 percent) with a physical, mental, or 

emotional condition causing difficulty

in learning, remembering, or concentrating. 

• 6.8 million (2.6 percent) with a physical, mental, or emotional condition

causing difficulty in dressing, bathing,

or getting around inside the home.

• 18.2 million of those aged 16 and

older with a condition that made it

difficult to go outside the home to

shop or visit a doctor (8.6 percent of

U S C E N S U S B U R E A U

Helping You Make Informed Decisions

U.S.Department of Commerce

Economics and Statistics Administration

U.S. CENSUS BUREAU

Issued March 2003

C2KBR-17

Disability Status: 2000

Census 2000 Brief

By 

Judith Waldrop 

and 

Sharon M. Stern

Does this person have any of the following

long-lasting conditions:

a. Blindness, deafness, or a severe

vision or hearing impairment?

b. A condition that substantially limits

one or more basic physical activities

such as walking, climbing stairs,

reaching, lifting, or carrying?

Yes No

Because of a physical, mental, or emotional

condition lasting 6 months or more, does

this person have any difficulty in doing any of

the following activities:

a. Learning, remembering, or

concentrating?

Yes No

b. Dressing, bathing, or getting around

inside the home?

c. (Answer if this person is 16 YEARS OLD

OR OVER.) Going outside the home

alone to shop or visit a doctor’s office?

d. (Answer if this person is 16 YEARS OLD

OR OVER.) Working at a job or business?

Figure 1.

Reproduction of the Questions on 

Disability From Census 2000

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 questionnaire.

16

17

1 The estimates in this report are based on

responses from a sample of the population. As with

all surveys, estimates may vary from the actual values because of sampling variation or other factors.

All statements made in this report have undergone

statistical testing and are significant at the 90-percent confidence level, unless otherwise noted. 2 In this report, the population universe for people with disabilities excludes people in the military

and people who are in institutions. 
2 U.S. Census Bureau

the 212.0 million people this

age).

• 21.3 million of those aged 16 to

64 with a condition that affected

their ability to work at a job or

business (11.9 percent of the

178.7 million people this age). 

This report is part of a series that

presents population and housing

data collected by Census 2000. It

presents data on the disability status of people aged 5 and older in

the civilian noninstitutionalized

population, and describes the geographic distribution of people with

disabilities for the United States,3

including regions, states, counties,

and places with populations of

100,000 or more. 

Information on disability was first

collected in the 1830 census and

the questions have evolved over the

decades. Census 2000 asked two

questions (see Figure 1) about longlasting conditions among the population aged 5 and older. The first

question, with two subparts,

focused on long-lasting impairments involving vision or hearing

(sensory disability) and certain

physical limitations, such as difficulty walking or climbing stairs (physical disability). The second question,

with four subparts, concentrated on

difficulty performing certain activities due to a physical, mental, or

emotional condition. People aged 5

and older were asked if they experienced difficulty with cognitive tasks

such as learning, remembering, and

concentrating (mental disability).

They were also asked about difficulty in taking care of personal needs

like dressing and bathing (self-care

disability). People aged 16 and

older were asked if they experienced difficulty going outside the

home to shop or visit the doctor.

Additionally, people in this group

were asked if a physical, mental, or

emotional condition caused them

difficulty working at a job or business (employment disability).

This report uses a disability status

indicator to present estimates of

the number and percentage of people with disabilities. People were

defined as having a disability if

3 The text of this report discusses data

for the United States, including the 50 states

and the District of Columbia. Data for the

Commonwealth of Puerto Rico are shown in

Table 3 and Figure 5. 

Table 1.

Characteristics of the Civilian Noninstitutionalized Population by Age, Disability Status,

and Type of Disability: 2000

(For information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, and definitions, see

www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/doc/sf3.pdf)

Characteristic

Total Male Female

Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent

Population 5 and older ................... 257,167,527 100.0 124,636,825 100.0 132,530,702 100.0

With any disability ......................... 49,746,248 19.3 24,439,531 19.6 25,306,717 19.1

Population 5 to 15........................ 45,133,667 100.0 23,125,324 100.0 22,008,343 100.0

With any disability ......................... 2,614,919 5.8 1,666,230 7.2 948,689 4.3

Sensory ................................ 442,894 1.0 242,706 1.0 200,188 0.9

Physical................................ 455,461 1.0 251,852 1.1 203,609 0.9

Mental . . . .............................. 2,078,502 4.6 1,387,393 6.0 691,109 3.1

Self-care . . ............................. 419,018 0.9 244,824 1.1 174,194 0.8

Population 16 to 64....................... 178,687,234 100.0 87,570,583 100.0 91,116,651 100.0

With any disability ......................... 33,153,211 18.6 17,139,019 19.6 16,014,192 17.6

Sensory ................................ 4,123,902 2.3 2,388,121 2.7 1,735,781 1.9

Physical................................ 11,150,365 6.2 5,279,731 6.0 5,870,634 6.4

Mental . . . .............................. 6,764,439 3.8 3,434,631 3.9 3,329,808 3.7

Self-care . . ............................. 3,149,875 1.8 1,463,184 1.7 1,686,691 1.9

Difficulty going outside the home .......... 11,414,508 6.4 5,569,362 6.4 5,845,146 6.4

Employment disability .................... 21,287,570 11.9 11,373,786 13.0 9,913,784 10.9

Population 65 and older .................. 33,346,626 100.0 13,940,918 100.0 19,405,708 100.0

With any disability ......................... 13,978,118 41.9 5,634,282 40.4 8,343,836 43.0

Sensory ................................ 4,738,479 14.2 2,177,216 15.6 2,561,263 13.2

Physical................................ 9,545,680 28.6 3,590,139 25.8 5,955,541 30.7

Mental . . . .............................. 3,592,912 10.8 1,380,060 9.9 2,212,852 11.4

Self-care . . ............................. 3,183,840 9.5 1,044,910 7.5 2,138,930 11.0

Difficulty going outside the home .......... 6,795,517 20.4 2,339,128 16.8 4,456,389 23.0

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 Summary File 3.
one or more of the following conditions were true:

• They were aged 5 or older and

responded “yes” to a sensory,

physical, mental, or self-care

disability.

• They were aged 16 years or

older and responded “yes” to a

disability affecting going outside

the home. 

• They were between the ages of

16 and 64 and responded “yes”

to an employment disability.

When referring to people with disabilities, this report does not distinguish between people who

responded positively to only one

of the subparts and those who

responded positively to more than

one. As a result, the terms “with a

disability,” “with any disability,”

and “with one or more disabilities”

are used interchangeably throughout the report.

Census 2000 asked for disability

information from all people aged 5

and older, except those responding

to special military or shipboard

questionnaires. This report considers only the civilian noninstitutionalized population. 

As a result of extensive discussions

with the disability and policy

research communities, the Census

2000 questions on disability were

substantially different from the

1990 questions on this topic. While

Census 2000 gathered data from

the population aged 5 and older,

data collected in 1990 came only

from the population aged 15 and

older. The 1990 questions focused

on conditions limiting work, going

outside the home, and self-care, but

did not specify sensory impairments or conditions restricting

walking, climbing stairs, reaching,

lifting, or carrying. Because of the

major differences between the disability questions in 1990 and 2000,

comparisons between the two censuses are not recommended.

Census 2000 showed disability

rising with age.

Disability rates rose with age for

both sexes, but significant differences existed between men and

women, as illustrated in Figure 2.

For people under 65 years old, the

prevalence of disability among

men and boys was higher than

among women and girls. In contrast, disability rates were higher

for women than men aged 65 and

older. 

Specifically, in 2000, the disability

rate was 7.2 percent for boys 5 to

15 years old and 4.3 percent for

girls the same age. Nearly twothirds of all children with disabilities were boys. Census 2000 found

1.7 million boys this age with one

or more disabilities, compared with

949,000 girls this age. 

Among people aged 16 to 64 in the

civilian noninstitutionalized population, 19.6 percent of men and 

17.6 percent of women reported

one or more disabilities. Among

people 65 and older, the disability

rate was 43.0 percent for women

and 40.4 percent for men. In this

age group, 59.7 percent of people

with disabilities were women.

However, 58.2 percent of all people

aged 65 and older were women.

In the civilian noninstitutionalized

population, people 65 and older

were much more likely than people

of working age (16 to 64) to report

a sensory, physical, mental, or selfcare disability, or a disability causing difficulty going outside the

home (see Figure 3). While only 

6.4 percent of working-age adults

experienced difficulty going

outside the home alone to shop or

visit the doctor, 20.4 percent of

older adults reported these problems. Physical disabilities affected

6.2 percent of the working-age

population and 28.6 percent of

older adults. About 3.8 percent of

working-age adults reported difficulties in learning, remembering,

or concentrating (a mental disability), compared with 10.8 percent of

older adults. The prevalence of a

self-care disability was more than

5 times greater among older adults

U.S. Census Bureau 3

Figure 2.

Percentage of the Civilian Noninstitutionalized 

Population With Any Disability by Age and Sex: 2000

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 Summary File 3.

(For more information on confidentiality protection, 

sampling error, nonsampling error, and definitions, see 

www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/doc/sf3.pdf)

Male

Female

43.0

7.2

4.3

19.6

17.6

40.4

65 and older

16 to 64

5 to 15
(9.5 percent) than among people of

working age (1.8 percent). Also,

the occurrence of sensory disabilities was more than 6 times greater

among older adults than workingage people, 14.2 percent compared

with 2.3 percent. 

Disability rates varied among

the major racial and ethnic

groups. 

Census 2000 allowed respondents

to choose more than one race.

With the exception of the Two or

more races group, all race groups

discussed in this report refer to

people who indicated only one

racial identity among the six major

categories: White, Black or African

American, American Indian and

Alaska Native, Asian, Native

Hawaiian and Other Pacific

Islander, and Some other race.4

The use of the single-race population in this report does not imply

that it is the preferred method of

presenting or analyzing data. The

Census Bureau uses a variety of

approaches.5

Interestingly, people who indicated

that they were White (and no other

race) and were not of Hispanic or

Latino origin had a low overall

disability rate despite the fact that

their median age was higher than

for other racial and ethnic groups 

examined in this brief.6 In Census

2000, they reported a disability

rate of 18.3 percent, compared

with 19.3 percent for all noninstitutionalized civilians aged 5 and

older, as shown in Table 2.7

Among the racial and ethnic

groups examined in this report,

the highest overall estimated

disability rate, 24.3 percent, was

shared by two groups — people

who reported Black and people

who reported American Indian and

Alaska Native. The disability rates

for these two groups were higher

than the rates for non-Hispanic

Whites in each of the broad age

groups investigated in this report

(see Table 2). Among children 5 to

15 years old, the disability rate

was 5.7 percent for non-Hispanic

Whites, but 7.0 percent for Black

children and 7.7 percent for

American Indian and Alaska Native

children. Although the disability

rate was 16.2 percent for nonHispanic Whites of working age (16

to 64), it was 26.4 percent for

Blacks and 27.0 percent for

American Indians and Alaska

Natives. Among people 65 and

older, the rates were 40.4, 52.8,

and 57.6 percent, respectively.

Asians who reported only one race

had the lowest overall disability

4 U.S. Census Bureau

Figure 3.

Percentage of the Civilian Noninstitutionalized 

Population With a Disability by Age 

and Type of Disability: 2000

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 Summary File 3.

(For more information on confidentiality protection, 

sampling error, nonsampling error, and definitions, see 

www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/doc/sf3.pdf)

16 to 64

65 and older

Physical

disability

Difficulty

going outside

Sensory

disability

Mental

disability

Self-care

disability

1.8

28.6

6.2

20.4

6.4

14.2

2.3

10.8

3.8

9.5

4 For further information on each of the 6

major race groups and the Two or more

races population, see reports from the

Census 2000 Brief series (C2KBR/01), available on the Census 2000 Web site at

www.census.gov/population/www/cen2000/

briefs.html. 5 This report draws heavily on Summary

File 3, a Census 2000 product that can be

accessed through American FactFinder, available from the Census Bureau’s Web site,

www.census.gov. Information on people who

reported more than one race, such as “White

and American Indian and Alaska Native” or

“Asian and Black or African American,” is

forthcoming in Summary File 4, which will

also be available through American FactFinder

in 2003. About 2.6 percent of people reported more than one race.

6 For information on median age, see

Age: 2000 (C2KBR/01-12). 7 Hereafter this report uses the term Black

to refer to people who are Black or African

American, the term Pacific Islander to refer to

people who are Native Hawaiian and Other

Pacific Islander, and the term Hispanic to refer

to people who are Hispanic or Latino. 

Because Hispanics may be of any race,

data in this report for Hispanics overlap with

data for racial groups. Based on Census 2000

sample data, the proportion Hispanic was 8.0

percent for Whites, 1.9 percent for Blacks,

14.6 percent for American Indians and Alaska

Natives, 1.0 percent for Asians, 9.5 percent

for Pacific Islanders, 97.1 percent for those

reporting Some other race, and 31.1 percent

for those reporting Two or more races.
U.S. Census Bureau 5

rate of any of the racial and ethnic

groups examined in this report:

16.6 percent. Their child disability

rate, 2.9 percent, was also the

lowest. The disability rate for

working-age Asians (16.9 percent)

was slightly higher than the rate

for working-age non-Hispanic

Whites, whereas the rates for

those 65 and older were not significantly different.

The overall disability rate for singlerace Pacific Islanders (19.0 percent)

and their child disability rate 

(5.1 percent) were both slightly

higher than the corresponding rates

for Asians, but not statistically different from the rates for nonHispanic Whites. However, the rates

for Pacific Islander working-age

adults (21.0 percent) and older

adults (48.5 percent) were higher

than the rates for Asians and nonHispanic Whites in these same age

groups.

Even though people reporting two

or more races had the lowest

median age among the racial or

ethnic groups examined in this

report, their disability rates were

among the highest in 2000 — 

21.7 percent overall. Among those

reporting two or more races, 

7.1 percent of children, 25.1 percent of working-age adults, and

51.8 percent of older adults reported at least one disability.

The overall disability rate was

higher for Hispanics (20.9 percent)

than for non-Hispanic Whites 

(18.3 percent). However, their child

disability rate was lower — 

(5.4 percent compared with 

5.7 percent). Still, the disability

rates for Hispanics of working-age

(24.0 percent) and older (48.5 percent) exceeded the rates for nonHispanic Whites.

GEOGRAPHIC

DISTRIBUTION OF PEOPLE

WITH DISABILITIES

The following discussion on the

geographic distribution of people

with disabilities is based on the

civilian noninstitutionalized population aged 5 and older.

Almost two out of every five

people with a disability lived

in the South, while about one

in five lived in each of the

other three regions of the

United States.8

Even though 35.5 percent of the

civilian noninstitutionalized population 5 and older lived in the

South in 2000, this region was

home to 38.3 percent of people

with disabilities, as shown in

Figure 4. The 20.9-percent disability rate in the South was higher

than the rate in any other region.

This high rate, coupled with the

Table 2.

Percentage of the Civilian Noninstitutionalized Population With Any Disability by Age

and Selected Race and Hispanic Origin Groups: 2000

(For information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, and definitions, see

www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/doc/sf3.pdf)

Race and Hispanic or Latino origin

Total

population

aged 5

and older

Percent with a disability

5 and older 5 to 15 16 to 64 65 and older

Total . . . ................................... 257,167,527 19.3 5.8 18.6 41.9

White alone .................................... 195,100,538 18.5 5.6 16.8 40.6

Black or African American alone .................. 30,297,703 24.3 7.0 26.4 52.8

American Indian and Alaska Native alone ......... 2,187,507 24.3 7.7 27.0 57.6

Asian alone .................................... 9,455,058 16.6 2.9 16.9 40.8

Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone . . 337,996 19.0 5.1 21.0 48.5

Some other race alone .......................... 13,581,921 19.9 5.2 23.5 50.4

Two or more races.............................. 6,206,804 21.7 7.1 25.1 51.8

Hispanic or Latino (of any race) .................. 31,041,269 20.9 5.4 24.0 48.5

White alone, not Hispanic or Latino ............... 180,151,084 18.3 5.7 16.2 40.4

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 Summary File 3.

8 The Northeast region includes the states

of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New

Hampshire, New Jersey, New York,

Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont. The

Midwest region includes the states of Illinois,

Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota,

Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio,

South Dakota, and Wisconsin. The South

region includes the states of Alabama,

Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia,

Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi,

North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina,

Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, and

the District of Columbia, a state equivalent.

The West region includes the states of Alaska,

Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho,

Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah,

Washington, and Wyoming.
fact that the South contained the

largest total population among the

four regions, accounted for the

fact that the South recorded the

largest disabled population in

2000 — 19.1 million people.

The West and the Midwest had the

second and third largest disabled

populations — 10.8 million and

10.5 million, respectively.

However, the percentage of people

with disabilities was low in both

these regions — 18.7 percent in

the West and 17.7 percent in the

Midwest. Among the four regions,

the Northeast had the fewest people with disabilities — 9.5 million

or 19.2 percent of its total population — but it also had the smallest

total population. 

Among the states, the

disability rate was highest in

West Virginia.

Among the 50 states and the

District of Columbia, the highest

disability rates were in the South,

as shown in Table 3. West Virginia,

the state with the highest median

age in the United States, also

recorded the highest disability

rate, 24.4 percent. It was followed

closely by four other southern

states: Kentucky (23.7 percent),

Arkansas (23.6 percent),

Mississippi (23.6 percent), and

Alabama (23.2 percent).9 Not all

states in the South had high disability rates. In fact, Delaware,

Maryland, and Virginia had disability rates that were significantly

below the national rate.

Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky,

Mississippi, and West Virginia —

the states with highest overall disability rates — also registered high

rates for each of the individual

measures. For example, in

Mississippi 4.8 percent of people

reported a sensory disability, 

11.3 percent reported a physical

disability, and 6.4 percent reported

a mental disability. These rates

exceeded the national rates of 

3.6 percent, 8.2 percent, and 

4.8 percent, respectively.10

The states with the lowest disability rates were in the West and

Midwest. Alaska (14.9 percent),

Utah (14.9 percent), and Minnesota

(15.0 percent) topped the list of

states with the lowest disability

rates.11 Wisconsin and Nebraska,

both of which had an estimated

disability rate of 16.0 percent, followed.12

Minnesota and Utah registered low

rates by every measure. Even so,

low disability rates by one measure

did not guarantee low rates by

every measure. For example,

Nevada had one of the lowest

percentages of the civilian noninstitutionalized population with difficulty learning, remembering, or concentrating (mental disability), 3.8

percent compared with 4.8 percent

nationwide. However, among the

civilian noninstitutionalized population 16 to 64 years old, the percentage of Nevadans who reported difficulty working at a job or business

was high, 14.5 percent compared

with 11.9 percent, nationally. 

In 2000, counties with very

high disability rates were

clustered in the coal mining

areas of Kentucky, West

Virginia, and Virginia.13

Included in this group of counties

were Bell, Breathitt, Clay, Harlan,

Leslie, Martin, and Owsley counties

in Kentucky; Buchanan County,

Virginia; and McDowell County,

6 U.S. Census Bureau

Figure 4.

Percent Distribution of All Noninstitutionalized 

Civilians Aged 5 and Older and All People With 

Disabilities by Region: 2000

Note: Numbers may not add to 100 percent due to rounding.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 Summary File 3.

(For information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling 

error, and definitions, www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/doc/sf3.pdf)

Percentage of people

with disabilities

Percentage of total

Northeast West Midwest South

19.0 21.0 38.3 21.6

19.2 22.9 35.5 22.4

9 The disability rate for Kentucky was not

significantly different than the rates for

Arkansas or Mississippi, and the rate for

Arkansas is not significantly different than

the rate for Mississippi.

10 The rate of sensory disability in

Mississippi and the rate of mental disability

in the United States are not significantly different. 11 The disability rates in Alaska, Utah, and

Minnesota were not significantly different

from one another. 12 The disability rate in Nebraska was not

significantly different from the rate for

Colorado (16.3 percent).

13 Although the point estimate for the disability rate in Kalawao county, Hawaii, 

(60 percent) was the highest, it was not statistically different from high disability rates

in other counties. Kalawao County registered

a high disability rate in Census 2000 in part

because of its charter. According to Hawaii

state law (§324-34(b)), it is “under the jurisdiction and control of the [state] department

of health and is governed by the laws and

rules relating to the department and the care

and treatment of persons affected with

Hansen’s disease.” Hansen’s disease is also

called leprosy.
U.S. Census Bureau 7

Table 3.

Disability Status of the Civilian Noninstitutionalized Population of the United States,

Regions, States, and for Puerto Rico: 2000

(For information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, and definitions, www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/doc/sf3.pdf)

Area

Population 5 and older Population 16 and older Population 16 to 64

Number

Percentage with selected disabilities

Number

Percentage

with difficulty

going outside

the home Number

Percentage

with

employment

disability

Any

disability

Sensory

disability

Physical

disability

Mental

disability

Self-care

disability

United States . . 257,167,527 19.3 3.6 8.2 4.8 2.6 212,033,860 8.6 178,687,234 11.9

Region

Northeast.......... 49,386,446 19.2 3.3 7.7 4.6 2.6 41,161,934 8.8 34,177,140 11.9

Midwest ........... 59,017,677 17.7 3.5 7.8 4.6 2.4 48,620,454 7.4 40,836,120 10.3

South............. 91,179,367 20.9 4.0 9.2 5.2 2.9 75,292,633 9.3 63,405,874 13.0

West . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57,584,037 18.7 3.5 7.5 4.6 2.4 46,958,839 8.5 40,268,100 11.9

State

Alabama .......... 4,071,185 23.2 4.7 11.0 6.2 3.6 3,370,738 10.6 2,815,333 13.7

Alaska ............ 557,705 14.9 3.8 6.6 4.4 1.9 436,142 5.3 401,841 8.3

Arizona ........... 4,667,187 19.3 3.8 8.2 4.6 2.4 3,822,951 8.0 3,169,173 12.2

Arkansas .......... 2,440,964 23.6 5.1 11.8 6.5 3.7 2,021,501 9.9 1,666,895 13.8

California .......... 30,853,063 19.2 3.2 7.2 4.6 2.5 25,039,958 9.7 21,570,148 12.8

Colorado .......... 3,926,325 16.3 3.3 6.7 4.2 1.9 3,246,486 6.1 2,847,842 9.9

Connecticut ........ 3,120,953 17.5 3.1 6.9 4.2 2.3 2,589,549 7.6 2,149,614 11.0

Delaware .......... 716,691 18.4 3.2 8.0 4.6 2.3 594,673 7.2 497,601 11.2

District of Columbia . . 528,933 21.9 3.2 8.0 4.9 3.0 458,424 11.0 391,946 13.5

Florida ............ 14,730,208 22.2 4.1 9.6 5.1 2.9 12,435,261 9.8 9,715,134 14.2

Georgia ........... 7,402,293 19.7 3.4 8.2 4.8 2.6 6,061,272 9.2 5,306,618 12.6

Hawaii ............ 1,087,490 18.4 3.5 7.2 4.6 2.3 903,314 8.9 745,317 11.4

Idaho ............. 1,174,093 17.1 4.2 7.9 4.9 2.1 947,715 6.0 807,071 9.4

Illinois ............ 11,350,345 17.6 3.1 7.2 4.1 2.4 9,336,005 8.3 7,919,587 10.8

Indiana............ 5,563,619 19.0 3.8 8.3 4.8 2.5 4,591,434 7.5 3,884,065 11.3

Iowa.............. 2,686,760 16.6 3.5 7.5 4.2 2.1 2,230,430 6.2 1,826,699 9.3

Kansas ........... 2,440,373 17.6 3.7 8.0 4.3 2.3 1,999,749 6.9 1,669,088 10.2

Kentucky .......... 3,695,005 23.7 5.1 12.2 6.9 3.6 3,081,517 9.7 2,604,977 13.9

Louisiana .......... 4,045,963 21.8 4.3 9.8 5.9 3.3 3,288,622 9.5 2,799,048 12.9

Maine............. 1,187,124 20.0 4.4 9.5 5.8 2.5 993,421 6.5 818,423 11.7

Maryland .......... 4,843,046 17.6 3.0 7.0 4.3 2.2 3,985,174 7.9 3,412,197 10.8

Massachusetts...... 5,860,845 18.5 3.2 7.1 4.7 2.4 4,918,464 7.9 4,111,458 11.8

Michigan .......... 9,138,340 18.7 3.5 8.3 5.2 2.7 7,503,217 8.0 6,332,137 10.7

Minnesota ......... 4,526,211 15.0 3.0 6.4 4.1 1.9 3,717,854 5.8 3,163,716 8.6

Mississippi ......... 2,575,139 23.6 4.8 11.3 6.4 3.8 2,093,773 11.1 1,767,972 14.4

Missouri ........... 5,120,568 19.0 3.9 9.1 5.2 2.7 4,227,906 7.9 3,516,489 10.8

Montana .......... 831,694 17.5 4.4 8.6 4.9 2.1 685,843 5.7 571,484 9.3

Nebraska .......... 1,561,301 16.0 3.4 7.0 3.8 2.0 1,283,164 6.3 1,066,390 9.4

Nevada ........... 1,823,351 20.6 3.5 7.9 3.8 2.2 1,508,632 8.3 1,294,567 14.5

New Hampshire..... 1,145,557 16.9 3.4 7.2 4.6 2.0 946,154 5.6 807,076 10.1

New Jersey ........ 7,735,218 18.0 2.9 6.9 4.0 2.4 6,426,224 8.8 5,362,242 11.6

NewMexico ........ 1,659,502 20.4 4.5 9.0 5.4 2.7 1,339,155 8.6 1,133,564 12.3

New York . . . . . . . . . . 17,464,264 20.6 3.2 8.0 4.7 2.8 14,526,599 10.5 12,193,044 13.2

NorthCarolina ...... 7,316,733 21.1 3.9 9.3 5.1 2.9 6,096,197 9.2 5,172,069 13.3

North Dakota ....... 586,289 16.7 3.7 7.1 4.2 1.9 485,666 6.4 398,305 9.3

Ohio.............. 10,417,902 18.3 3.6 8.5 5.0 2.6 8,608,703 7.6 7,186,632 10.3

Oklahoma ......... 3,124,998 21.6 5.0 10.7 5.7 3.1 2,577,036 8.6 2,147,470 12.5

Oregon ........... 3,158,684 18.8 4.1 8.7 5.5 2.5 2,634,072 6.8 2,210,613 10.6

Pennsylvania ....... 11,336,483 18.6 3.7 8.4 4.8 2.7 9,478,129 7.9 7,668,809 10.6

Rhode Island ....... 967,557 20.2 3.5 7.8 5.1 2.4 810,601 8.6 667,036 12.7

South Carolina...... 3,652,809 22.2 4.1 9.6 5.6 3.2 3,019,142 9.9 2,553,295 14.3

South Dakota....... 686,094 16.7 3.8 7.6 3.9 1.9 560,279 6.2 459,778 9.4

Tennessee ......... 5,214,986 22.0 4.5 10.6 6.2 3.3 4,346,553 9.4 3,678,482 13.2

Texas............. 18,761,475 19.2 3.5 7.6 4.4 2.6 15,142,480 9.0 13,176,208 12.5

Utah.............. 1,998,373 14.9 3.1 5.9 4.2 1.7 1,575,354 5.8 1,391,541 8.9

Vermont ........... 568,445 17.1 3.8 7.7 5.1 2.1 472,793 5.5 399,438 9.7

Virginia ........... 6,377,588 18.1 3.3 7.8 4.7 2.4 5,290,221 7.7 4,536,339 10.9

Washington ........ 5,395,395 18.2 4.1 8.1 5.1 2.4 4,448,728 6.9 3,809,080 10.6

West Virginia ....... 1,681,351 24.4 5.8 13.5 7.7 4.1 1,430,049 10.1 1,164,290 13.2

Wisconsin ......... 4,939,875 16.0 3.1 6.9 4.2 2.1 4,076,047 6.4 3,413,234 9.1

Wyoming .......... 451,175 17.1 4.2 7.7 4.4 1.8 370,489 5.3 315,859 9.8

Puerto Rico ........ 3,482,047 26.8 7.1 11.2 7.8 4.6 2,810,111 17.3 2,392,893 15.0

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 Summary File 3.
8 U.S. Census Bureau 32.7 (Puerto Rico) 19.3 to 24.4 17.0 to 19.2 14.9 to 16.9 Disability Status: 2000 Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 Summary File 3. American Factfinder at factfinder.census.gov provides census data and mapping tools. Percent of people aged 5 and older in the civilian noninstitutionalized population with any disability by state 28.5 and higher 24.0 to 28.4 19.3 to 23.9 16.5 to 19.2 8.0 to 16.4 U.S. percent 19.3 U.S. percent 19.3 (For information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, and definitions, see www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/doc/sf3.pdf) Figure 5. 0 100 Miles 0 100 Miles 0 100 Miles 0 100 Miles Percent of people aged 5 and older in the civilian noninstitutionalized population with any disability by county
West Virginia, as shown in Figure 5.

Counties with high disability rates

covered most of the South, with the

exception of the Atlanta metropolitan area and a few counties scattered around the region. 

The West, especially Colorado, contained many of the counties with

the lowest disability rates. The

disability rate was about 10 percent or less in Yakutat City and

Borough in Alaska; Douglas,

Gunnison, Routt, and San Miguel

counties in Colorado; Madison

County, Idaho, Summit County,

Utah, and Teton County, Wyoming. 

Counties with disability rates

below the national rate distinguished the upper Midwest, especially the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area. Grant County,

Nebraska, had a disability rate of

about 10 percent. In fact, only a

handful of counties in either the

Midwest or the Northeast exhibited

extremely high rates of disability.

Many counties with low rates were

found in the high-density area that

stretched from New York City to

Richmond, Virginia.

More than one person in four

reported a disability in each

of the ten places with the

highest disability rates.

Among places with populations of

100,000 or more,14 Paterson, New

Jersey; Miami, Florida; and Newark,

New Jersey, registered the highest

proportions of people with disabilities, as shown in Table 4.15 At least

one person in four experienced

some type of disability in each of

the ten places with the highest

point estimates for disability. Most

of these places were older industrial cities. High concentrations of

Blacks, Hispanics, and other

populations exhibiting high disability rates were also common in

these areas.

In 2000, many of the places with

the lowest disability rates were

fast growing areas on the outskirts

of metropolitan areas — places

with high concentrations of families with children (see Table 5).

Naperville, Illinois, was the place

with the lowest percentage of people with disabilities, 7.9 percent.

One of the reasons why some

places had low disability rates may

be that only a small proportion of

residents were aged 65 and older.

Provo, Utah; Gilbert, Arizona;

Plano, Texas; and Carrollton,

Texas, were among the ten places

with the lowest disability rates and

the lowest percentage of older residents.16 

ADDITIONAL FINDINGS ON

PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

How many people had more

than one disability in 2000?

Disability measures from Census

2000 were not mutually exclusive

and 46.3 percent of people with

any disability reported more than

one. A person with a single condition might report both a physical

disability and an employment disability. For example, a person with

severe asthma may have also

experienced difficulty climbing

stairs and difficulty working at a

job or business. The people who

responded positively to more than

one of the Census 2000 disability

questions demonstrated the degree

to which a long-lasting physical,

mental, or emotional condition

could affect more than one aspect

of a person’s life. 

Of the people who reported an

employment disability, 56.4 percent

also reported at least one other

type of condition. (See Figure 6.)

Additionally, 63.7 percent of people

U.S. Census Bureau 9

Table 4.

Ten Places of 100,000 or More With the Highest

Percentage of People Aged 5 and Older With Disabilities

in the Civilian Noninstitutionalized Population: 2000

(For information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, and definitions, see www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/sf3.pdf)

Place Number with disabilities Percent Margin of error*

Paterson, NJ............... 40,068 29.8 0.4

Miami, FL ................. 97,782 29.4 0.2

Newark, NJ ................ 71,291 29.0 0.3

Detroit, MI . ................ 244,893 28.3 0.1

Birmingham, AL ............ 61,421 27.6 0.3

Springfield, MA............. 38,264 27.6 0.4

Hartford, CT . .............. 29,669 27.2 0.4

Baltimore, MD ............. 162,044 27.2 0.2

Gary, IN . . ................. 25,182 26.9 0.4

Buffalo, NY . ............... 69,927 26.2 0.3

* When the margin of error is added to or subtracted from the estimate, it produces a 90-percent

confidence interval.

Note: Because of sampling error, the estimates in this table may not be significantly different from

one another or from other places not listed in this table.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 Summary File 3.

14 Census 2000 shows 245 places in the

United States with 100,000 or more population. They include 238 incorporated places

(including 4 city-county consolidations) and

7 census designated places that are not

legally incorporated. For a list of these

places by state, see www.census.gov/

population/www/cen2000/phc-t6.html. 15 The disability rates in Paterson, Miami,

and Newark were not significantly different

from one another. The percentage in Newark

was not significantly different than Detroit.

16 The disability rates in Provo, Gilbert, and

Plano were not significantly different from one

another. For more information on the population aged 65 and over, see The 65 Years and

Over Population: 2000 (C2KBR/01-10).
with a sensory disability, 67.6 percent of people with a physical disability, and 70.9 percent of people

with a mental disability reported

more than one condition. Among

people with difficulty going outside

the home, 81.5 percent indicated at

least one other measure of disability. The disability most likely to be

linked to multiple conditions was

the self-care measure — 97.0 percent of people who marked this

type of condition also reported one

or more of the other measures of

disability.

Were people with disabilities

less likely to be employed

than others?

Census 2000 showed that people

between the ages of 16 and 64

were less likely to be employed if

they were disabled (see Figure 7).

While 79.9 percent of working-age

men without a disability were

employed, only 60.1 percent of

those with a disability worked.

Among women of working age, the

respective employment rates were

67.3 percent and 51.4 percent.

Altogether, 10.4 million men and

8.2 million women with disabilities

were employed.

How many people with

disabilities lived in poverty 

in 2000?17

In 2000, 8.7 million people with disabilities were poor — a substantially

higher proportion (17.6 percent)

than was found among people aged

5 and older without disabilities

(10.6 percent). However, the pattern

of poverty by age was similar for

both groups, with the highest

poverty rates found among children

aged 5 to 15 (see Figure 8). The

poverty rate for young people with

disabilities was 25.0 percent, compared with 15.7 percent for those

without disabilities. The next highest poverty rates for both groups

were found among people 16 to 64

years old — 18.8 percent for those

with disabilities, nearly double the

rate for those without (9.6 percent).

Among people 65 years old and

over, the respective proportions

were 13.2 percent and 7.4 percent. 

10 U.S. Census Bureau

Table 5.

Ten Places of 100,000 or More With the Lowest Percentage

of People Aged 5 and Older With Disabilities in the

Civilian Noninstitutionalized Population: 2000

(For information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, and definitions, see www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/sf3.pdf)

Place Number with disabilities Percent Margin of error*

Naperville, IL .............. 9,261 7.9 0.2

Provo, UT ................. 9,823 10.3 0.3

Gilbert, AZ................. 10,598 10.8 0.3

Plano, TX ................. 22,233 10.9 0.2

Irvine, CA ................. 14,985 11.1 0.3

Ann Arbor, MI .............. 12,062 11.2 0.3

Fort Collins, CO............ 12,727 11.5 0.3

Overland Park, KS ......... 16,252 11.9 0.3

Carrollton, TX.............. 12,338 12.3 0.3

Santa Clarita, CA. . . ........ 18,242 13.1 0.3

* When the margin of error is added to or subtracted from the estimate, it produces a 90-percent

confidence interval.

Note: Because of sampling error, the estimates in this table may not be significantly different from

one another or from other places not listed in this table.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 Summary File 3.

Figure 6.

Percent Distribution of People With Disabilities in 

the Noninstitutionalized Civilian Population by 

Type and Number of Disabilities: 2000

Note: The statistics for difficulty going outside the home are only for people aged 16 

and older. The statistics on employment disability are only for people 16 to 64. 

All other disability estimates include people 5 and older.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 Summary File 3.

(For more information on confidentiality protection, 

sampling error, nonsampling error, and definitions, see 

www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/doc/sf3.pdf)

One disability only

Two or more disabilities

Self-care disability

Difficulty going outside

Mental disability

Physical disability

Sensory disability

Employment disability 43.6

36.3

32.4

29.1

18.5

3.0

56.4

63.7

67.6

70.9

81.5

97.0

17 Poverty status was determined for all

noninstitutionalized civilians, except those in

military group quarters and dormitories, and

unrelated individuals under age 15. For

more information on poverty, see 

www.census.gov/hhes/www/poverty.html.
ABOUT CENSUS 2000

Why Census 2000 Asked

About Disability

Information on disability is used by

a number of federal agencies to

distribute funds and develop programs for people with disabilities

and the elderly. Among these are

the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and

Applied Technology Training Act,

the School Dropout Demonstration

Assistance Act, and State Literacy

Initiatives. Data about the number,

distribution, and needs of people

with disabilities are essential under

the Rehabilitation Act, which guarantees benefits to qualified people

with disabilities. Data about difficulties going outside the home and

work disabilities are important to

ensure comparable public transportation services for all segments

of the population, according to the

goals of the Americans With

Disabilities Act. Disability data also

are used to allocate funds for

employment and job training programs for veterans under the

Disabled Veterans Outreach

Program. Under the Older

Americans Act, federal grants are

awarded based on the number of

elderly people with physical and

mental disabilities. Medicare and

medicaid programs and federal education programs also use data on

people with disabilities.

Accuracy of the Estimates

The data contained in this report

are based on the sample of households who responded to the

Census 2000 long form.

Nationally, approximately one out

of every six housing units was

included in this sample. As a

result, the sample estimates may

differ somewhat from the100-percent figures that would have been

obtained if all housing units, people within those housing units, and

people living in group quarters had

been enumerated using the same

questionnaires, instructions, enumerators, and so forth. The sample estimates also differ from the

values that would have been

obtained from different samples of

housing units, people within those

housing units, and people living in

group quarters. The deviation of a

sample estimate from the average

of all possible samples is called the

sampling error. 

In addition to the variability that

arises from the sampling procedures, both sample data and 

100-percent data are subject to

nonsampling error. Nonsampling

error may be introduced during

any of the various complex operations used to collect and process

data. Such errors may include:

not enumerating every household

or every person in the population,

failing to obtain all required

U.S. Census Bureau 11

Figure 7.

Employed Men and Women Aged 16 to 64 as a 

Percentage of the Civilian Noninstitutionalized 

Population by Disability Status: 2000

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 Summary File 3.

(For more information on confidentiality protection, 

sampling error, nonsampling error, and definitions, see 

www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/doc/sf3.pdf)

With a disability

Without a disability

51.4

60.1

67.3

79.9

Men

Women

Figure 8.

Poverty Rates for People With and Without 

Disabilities in the Civilian Noninstitutionalized 

Population by Age: 2000

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 Summary File 3.

13.2

(For more information on confidentiality protection, 

sampling error, nonsampling error, and definitions, see 

www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/doc/sf3.pdf)

With a disability

Without a disability

7.4

25.0

15.7

18.8

9.6

65 and older

16 to 64

5 to 15
information from the respondents,

obtaining incorrect or inconsistent

information, and recording information incorrectly. In addition,

errors can occur during the field

review of the enumerators’ work,

during clerical handling of the census questionnaires, or during the

electronic processing of the questionnaires.

Nonsampling error may affect the

data in two ways: (1) errors that

are introduced randomly will

increase the variability of the data

and, therefore, should be reflected

in the standard errors; and (2)

errors that tend to be consistent in

one direction will bias both sample

and 100-percent data in that direction. For example, if respondents

consistently tend to underreport

their incomes, then the resulting

estimates of households or families by income category will tend

to be understated for the higher

income categories and overstated

for the lower income categories.

Such biases are not reflected in the

standard errors.

While it is impossible to completely

eliminate error from an operation

as large and complex as the decennial census, the Census Bureau

attempts to control the sources of

such error during the data collection and processing operations.

The primary sources of error and

the programs instituted to control

error in Census 2000 are described

in detail in Summary File 3

Technical Documentation under

Chapter 8, “Accuracy of the Data,”

located at www.census.gov/prod/

cen2000/doc/sf3.pdf. 

All statements in this Census 2000

Brief have undergone statistical

testing and all comparisons are

significant at the 90-percent confidence level, unless otherwise

noted. Further information on the

accuracy of the data is located at

www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/

doc/sf3.pdf. For further information on the computation and use of

standard errors, contact the

Decennial Statistical Studies

Division at 301-763-4242.

For More Information

For more information on people

with disabilities in the United

States, visit the U.S. Census

Bureau’s Internet site on disability

at www.census.gov/hhes/www/

disability.html. Data on people with

disabilities from Census 2000

Summary File 3 were released on a

state-by-state basis during the

summer of 2002. The Census 2000

Summary File 3 data are available

on the Internet via 

factfinder.census.gov and for purchase on CD-ROM and on DVD. 

For information on confidentiality

protection, nonsampling error,

sampling error, and definitions,

also see www.census.gov/prod/

cen2000/doc/sf3.pdf or contact

our Customer Services Center at

301-763-INFO (4636).

Information on other population

and housing topics is presented in

the Census 2000 Brief series, located on the U.S. Census Bureau’s Web

site at www.census.gov/population/

www/cen2000/briefs.html. This

series presents information on

race, Hispanic origin, age, sex,

household type, housing tenure,

and other social, economic, and

housing characteristics.

For more information about

Census 2000, including data products, call our Customer Services

Center at 301-763-INFO (4636), or

e-mail webmaster@census.gov.

U.S. Department of Commerce

Economics and Statistics Administration

U.S. CENSUS BUREAU

Washington, DC 20233

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