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Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

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Question: What percentage of people with disabilities are employed?

Answer:

The statistics vary depending on the source data and the definition of disability.

The Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) reports disability employment statistics from the Current Population Survey (CPS), which include three key statistics for people with and without disabilities:

  1. Labor force participation rate – the total labor force divided by the entire population
  2. Employment-population ratio – the number of people employed divided by the entire population
  3. Unemployment rate – the number of unemployed people divided by the labor force

ODEP's disability employment statistics webpage also provides information on youth with disabilities, labor force statistics by disability status and race/ethnicity, and includes links to additional disability employment statistics resources.

For breakdowns by state, ODEP publishes maps of the employment-population ratio for people with and without disabilities by state and race or ethnicity and median annual earnings by disability status, state, and sex.

ODEP produces a series of Disability Data Blogs that focus on various topics such as the employment of people with disabilities in skilled trade professions.

ODEP and their grantees, contractors, and other partners also undertake a variety of research, analysis, and evaluation efforts to help achieve the goal of increasing quality employment opportunities for people with disabilities, which are posted on ODEP's Current and Recently Completed Work and Past Research webpages.