THE MARKET
DISABILITY STATUS: 2000
Census 2000 Brief
Census 2000 counted 49.7 million people with some type of long lasting condition or disability. 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.
Customers with Disabilities Mean Business
The U.S. Census Bureau’s 2002 Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) found that there are 51.2 million people with disabilities in the United States. More than one in six people in this country are potential customers for businesses that are accessible to people with disabilities.
To put that number into perspective, the 2002 SIPP indicates that the U.S. population’s percentage of people with disabilities is 18.1 percent. That is larger than the percentage of Hispanics in the U.S. population (13.3%), the country’s largest ethnic, racial, or cultural minority group.
Millions of people with disabilities regularly travel, shop, and eat out with family and friends. According to Census 2000, approximately 20.9 million families in this country have at least one member with a disability.
Disability Status: 2000
Census 2000 showed disability rising with age
Disability rates rose with age for both sexes, but significant differences existed between men and women, for people under 65 years old,
Disability rates varied among major racial & ethnic groups
Census 2000 allowed respondents to choose more than one race.
Additional Findings on Disabled People
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.
FACTS
- US CENSUS BUREAU
9.3 MILLION
(3.6 Percent) with a sensory disability involving sight or hearing. - US CENSUS BUREAU
21.2 MILLION
(8.2 Percent) with a condition limiting basic physical activities, such as walking, climbing stairs, reaching, lifting, or carrying. - US CENSUS BUREAU
12.4 MILLION
(4.8 Percent) with a physical, mental, or emotional condition causing difficulty in learning, remembering, or concentrating. - US CENSUS BUREAU
6.8 MILLION
(2.6 percent) with a physical, mental, or emotional condition causing difficulty in dressing, bathing, or getting around inside the home. - US CENSUS BUREAU
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 the 212.0 million people this age). - US CENSUS BUREAU
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).