Facts and Figures about People with Disabilities in Chicago and the U.S.

Statistics

Population Distribution

Currently:

Chicago: Over 520,000 Chicagoland[1] residents, approximately 10.1 percent of the total population, reported having a disability.[2]

U.S.: There are 40.5 million people with disabilities in the United States – approximately 12.6% of the population.[3]  

Globally: Around 15% of the world population, nearly 1 billion people, live with some form of disability.[4]

By age in the Chicagoland area:

  • 1 percent of children under 5 have disabilities
  • 4 percent of children 5 to 17 have disabilities
  • 5 percent of people 18 to 34 have disabilities
  • 10 percent of people 35 to 64 have disabilities
  • 23 percent of people 65 to 74 have disabilities
  • 43 percent of adults 75 and older have disabilities[5]

Breakdown by Disability Type in the U.S.

  • Mobility – 20.7 million people live with an ambulatory difficulty.
  • Blind/Visually Impaired – 7.6 million people report being unable to see or being visually impaired.
  • Deaf/Hard of Hearing – 11.5 million people report being unable to hear or having a hearing loss of some sort.
  • Cognitive/Developmental - 15.3 million people reported having limitations in cognitive function or have a mental or emotional illness that interferes with daily activities, including those with Alzheimer's disease.[6] 

[1] Statistics based on Cook County.

[2] 2018 Community Survey: https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?q=S18&d=ACS%201-Year%20Estimates%20Subject%20Tables&g=0500000US17031&tid=ACSST1Y2018.S1810

[3] 2018 Community Survey: https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?q=S18&d=ACS%201-Year%20Estimates%20Subject%20Tables&g=0500000US17031&tid=ACSST1Y2018.S1810

[4] 2018 World Health Organization: https://www.who.int/health-topics/disability#tab=tab_1

[5] 2018 Community Survey: https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?q=S18&d=ACS%201-Year%20Estimates%20Subject%20Tables&g=0500000US17031&tid=ACSST1Y2018.S1810

[6] 2018 Community Survey: https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?q=S18&d=ACS%201-Year%20Estimates%20Subject%20Tables&g=0500000US17031&tid=ACSST1Y2018.S1810