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State information > US Disability Statistics Table From 2004 American Community Survey

US Disability Data Table From the 2004 American Community Survey

Estimates for 2004

An estimated 39,395,000 people in the United States have a disability, or 14.8% of the population age 5 and over. An estimated 7,000 people, or 2.7% of the population 5 and over, have difficulty performing self-care activities, also known as Activities of Daily Living, such as dressing, bathing, or getting around inside the home.

Read more about these data.

Subject Population (Thousands) With a disability (Thousands) With a disability (Percent) With a self-care difficulty (Thousands) With a self-care difficulty (Percent)
Total in US
(ages 5 and over)
265,672 39,395 14.8% 7 2.7%
Disability Type          
Sensory   10,920   2 20.5%
Mobility   23,853   6 26.7%
Cognitive   13,875   3 27.5%
Self-care   7,092   7  
Leaving the home   10,849   5 48.2%
Work disability   21,853   5 27.2%
Gender          
Male 129,586 18,303 14.1% 2 2.2%
Female 136,086 21,092 15.5% 4 3.1%
Age          
Children (5-17) 52,876 3,370 6.4% 407 0.8%
    5-15 44,851 2,821 6.3% 354 0.8%
    16-17 8,025 549 6.8% 52 0.7%
Working Ages (18-64) 178,587 21,011 11.8% 3 2.0%
    18-44 108,519 8,400 7.7% 1 1.1%
    45-64 70,068 12,610 18.0% 2 3.3%
Elderly (65+) 34,209 15,013 43.9% 3 9.3%
    65-74 17,985 5,867 32.6% 977 5.4%
    75-84 12,366 6,293 50.9% 1 10.5%
    85+ 3,858 2,854 74.0% 899 23.3%
Race          
White 206,161 31,146 15.1% 5 2.6%
African American 33,271 5,579 16.8% 1 3.5%
Asian/Pacific Islander 12,900 1,066 8.3% 203 1.6%
American Indian/Alaska Native 3,701 895 24.2% 163 4.4%
Ethnicity          
Hispanic 36,098 3,764 10.4% 671 1.9%
Non-Hispanic 229,574 35,630 15.5% 6 2.8%
Family Income          
In poverty 33,440 8,010 24.0% 1 4.8%
Above poverty 231,443 31,296 13.5% 5 2.4%
Benefit Recipiency          
Social Security (OASDI) 39,528 18,207 46.1% 3 10.1%
Supplemental Security Income 4,742 4,532 95.6% 1 25.5%
Employment (Ages 18-64)          
Employed 127,574 7,856 6.2% 615 0.5%
Unemployed (in labor force) 9,555 1,352 14.2% 115 1.2%
Not in labor force 40,740 11,777 28.9% 2 6.8%
Living Arrangement          
Lives alone 30,360 9,053 29.8% 1 5.4%
Lives with others 235,312 30,341 12.9% 5 2.3%

Source: Tabulations by the Center for PAS from the 2004 American Community Survey (ACS).

About the US 2004 ACS Disability Data

The Center for Personal Assistance Services has compiled state and national data on the prevalence of overall disability and of self-care difficulty, by gender, age, race and ethnicity, type of disability, family income, benefit recipiency, employment status, and living arrangement. These statistics are based on our tabulations of public use data from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS) for 2004, containing information on over 1 million residents of randomly selected U.S. households. Because it is a household survey, people living in institutions such as nursing homes are not included.

Previous years of disability data from the ACS:

 

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