The word “disability” encompasses a wide range of individuals in the U.S. For example, many people may not think of depression as a disability, yet the World Health Organization describes depression as the “leading cause of disability worldwide” in their fact sheet on depression. But “disability” can also have very precise meanings, especially when it comes to federal and state law and government programs. (Here’s the Census Bureau’s definitions, for example.) The following are reliable sources of data, definitions and statistics related to disability:
- The University of New Hampshire Institute on Disability/UCED publishes a lengthy annual Disability Statistics Annual Report that covers overall disability-related national stats and specific information on employment, earnings, poverty, educational attainment, relationships/marriage and insurance coverage. The main page for the report includes the current (2018) and past years’ reports.
- Cornell University similarly hosts a robust site of disability statistics, including advanced search options for reports, research tools and various formal national survey findings.
- The site Disabled World hosts a sort of clearinghouse of statistics culled from a wide variety of sources. It shouldn’t be used as a primary source, and its offerings are uneven, but it’s a helpful stop for keyword searches because they always link to their original sources.
- The US Department of Labor has a fairly navigable site with a wealth of data, including information on the Americans with Disabilities Act, Employee Rights, Laws and Regulations, Workers’ Compensation and Social Security disability benefits.
- The Bureau of Labor Statistics within DOL also has disability data. Here’s one of their more recent (Feb 2019) reports on disability in the labor force. Check out their FAQbefore digging too much to see if it simplifies your search.
- The VA’s National Center for Veterans Analysis and Statistics has disability data specific to veterans, including individual state reports, general topic reports, surveys, costs and the veteran population at large.
- Here’s disability data from the US Census Bureau. Stop here first to know what data the bureau has and how to access/use it.
- This page provides selected data from the Social Security’s Disability Program, and the Social Security Research, Statistics & Policy Analysis site offers statistics on the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) program.
- The CDC runs the Disability and Health Data System. Here’s an overview on what they track that includes links to a Getting Started Guide and Data Guide, among other resources.
- Pew Research periodically publishes data on Americans with disabilities. Here’s a summary of findings from 2017, full of links to other data.