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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