* There are 48.9 million Americans with a disability. This represents 19.4% of the total population of the United States. In other words, nearly 1 in 5 Americans have some type of disability.
* 24.1 million have a severe disability, which represents 9.6% of the total population.
Age
* There are 29.5 million Americans with disabilities who are between the work ages of 15 to 64.
* 13.2 million of these individuals have a severe disability.
* 2.9 million children have a disability, and 16.5 million adults 65 and older have a disability.
* The 65 and older group is the most severely disabled. Of the 16.5 million adults in this age range with a disability, 10.4 million have a severe disability.
* For persons without a disability, the employment rate is 80.5%. For those with a severe functional limitation, however, the employment rate is only 27.6%.
* The mean earnings for people between the ages of 35 to 54 who have no disability is $2,446 per month. Those in the same age range with a non-severe disability have an average monthly earning of $2,006. For those with a severe disability, the average monthly wage is $1,562.
* The following were the most commonly cited functional limitations for persons between the ages of 15 and 64.
* Of the nearly 29.5 million persons between the ages of 15 to 64 who reported the cause of their disability, the following represent the most common causes:
* Of the 29.5 million Americans with disabilities between the ages of 15 to 64, 18.4 million are covered by private insurance. Of the 11.1 million not covered by private insurance, 4.4 million are covered by Medicaid, and 5.1 million have no form of health insurance.
* For those with a severe disability (13.2 million), 6.3 million are covered by private insurance. Of the 6.8 million not covered by private insurance, 3.6 million are covered by Medicaid and 2.1 million have no health insurance.
* For the 12.0 million adults between the ages of 25 and 64 who have a severe disability, 5.0 million have not finished high school; 4.3 million have completed high school, but have had no college education; and 2.7 million have had at least some college education.