The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) estimated that 8.029 million people with a disability were employed in 2025. The annual estimates cover the civilian noninstitutional population age 16 and over and use an 11-month average because October data were not collected during the federal government shutdown. BLS cautions that these estimates are not strictly comparable with annual averages from other years. People with a Disability: Labor Force Characteristics News Release - 2025 A01 Results
In this article
- Overall employment and labor-force status
- Employment by age
- Employment by sex-race-and-ethnicity
- Education and employment outcomes
- Full-time, part-time, and economic-reason work
- Occupations, industries, and worker class
Overall employment and labor-force status
In the 2025 annual average, the civilian noninstitutional population age 16 and over with a disability was 35.286 million. Of that population, 8.755 million people were in the civilian labor force, producing a labor-force participation rate of 24.8%. The labor force includes people who were employed and people who were unemployed but seeking work. These figures describe U.S. national estimates from the BLS Current Population Survey.
Employment reached 8.029 million, equal to an employment-population ratio of 22.8%. Another 725,000 people with a disability were unemployed. The unemployment rate was 8.3% for people with a disability, compared with 4.1% for people with no disability. In addition, 26.532 million people with a disability were not in the labor force.
| 2025 annual-average measure | People with a disability |
|---|---|
| Civilian noninstitutional population, age 16 and over | 35.286 million |
| Civilian labor force | 8.755 million |
| Labor-force participation rate | 24.8% |
| Employed | 8.029 million |
| Employment-population ratio | 22.8% |
| Unemployed | 725,000 |
| Unemployment rate | 8.3% |
| Not in the labor force | 26.532 million |
Source for all figures in this section and table: BLS, 2025 A01 Results.
Employment by age
Among people with a disability ages 16 to 64, 7.273 million were in the labor force in 2025. Their labor-force participation rate was 41.8%, and 6.630 million were employed. The employment-population ratio for this age group was 38.1%.
The employment-population ratio differed across individual age bands. For people ages 16 to 19 with a disability, the ratio was 22.1%. It was 42.3% among people ages 20 to 24 and reached 51.4% among those ages 25 to 34. The ratio was 47.1% for ages 35 to 44, 39.3% for ages 45 to 54, and 28.8% for ages 55 to 64.
These figures are employment-population ratios for each age group, rather than unemployment rates. They show the share of the population in the group that was employed during the 2025 annual-average measurement period. BLS, People with a Disability: Labor Force Characteristics
Employment by sex, race, and ethnicity
The 2025 employment-population ratio was 25.0% for men with a disability and 20.8% for women with a disability. The unemployment rate was 8.4% for men and 8.1% for women.
BLS reported the following employment-population ratios for people with a disability by race and ethnicity: 22.7% for White people, 21.1% for Black or African American people, 20.9% for Asian people, and 23.8% for Hispanic or Latino people.
Unemployment rates also varied among the reported groups. The rate was 11.8% among Black or African American workers with a disability, 9.5% among Hispanic or Latino workers with a disability, and 7.3% among White workers with a disability. The BLS source presents these categories as part of its 2025 annual-average labor-force estimates; the measures should not be read as disability prevalence within an occupation or industry.
Source for the sex, race, and ethnicity measures: BLS, 2025 A01 Results.
Education and employment outcomes
Among people with a disability age 25 and over, 7.270 million were employed in 2025. Employment-population ratios increased across the education categories reported by BLS. The ratio was 10.6% for people with less than a high school diploma, 17.5% for high school graduates with no college, 25.2% for people with some college or an associate degree, and 31.3% for people with a bachelor’s degree or higher.
| Education, age 25 and over | Employment-population ratio |
|---|---|
| Less than a high school diploma | 10.6% |
| High school graduate, no college | 17.5% |
| Some college or associate degree | 25.2% |
| Bachelor’s degree or higher | 31.3% |
The unemployment rate was 10.6% for people with a disability age 25 and over who had less than a high school diploma. It was 5.3% for those with a bachelor’s degree or higher. The higher-education category included 7.926 million people with a disability age 25 and over in 2025.
The education figures are descriptive 2025 annual-average estimates. They do not establish that education caused a particular employment outcome, and the reported ratios are not forecasts. Source: BLS, People with a Disability: Labor Force Characteristics News Release.
Full-time, part-time, and economic-reason work
Of the 8.029 million employed people with a disability in 2025, 5.602 million usually worked full time and 2.427 million usually worked part time. In the BLS definitions, full-time means usually working 35 or more hours per week; part-time means usually working fewer than 35 hours per week.
Among employed people with a disability ages 16 to 64, 4.920 million usually worked full time and 1.710 million usually worked part time. Among employed people age 65 and over with a disability, 682,000 usually worked full time and 717,000 usually worked part time.
BLS counted 327,000 employed people with a disability who worked part time for economic reasons. Using the reported BLS counts, people with a disability who usually worked part time represented 30.2% of their employed group: 2.427 million part-time workers out of 8.029 million employed people. This percentage is a calculation from those two reported counts, not a separate BLS percentage.
The age breakdown shows different full-time and part-time counts for working-age and older workers. It does not by itself identify why an individual worked a particular schedule. Source for the counts, definitions, and annual-average period: BLS, 2025 A01 Results.
Occupations, industries, and worker class
BLS reported the distribution of employed people with a disability across broad occupation groups. Management, professional, and related occupations accounted for 37.5% of the employed group. Service occupations accounted for 20.0%, sales and office occupations for 21.0%, and production, transportation, and material-moving occupations for 13.8%.
At the detailed occupation level, office and administrative support occupations represented 11.9% of employed people with a disability. Healthcare support occupations represented 4.6%, while community and social service occupations represented 2.2%.
The industry distribution included 21.8% of employed people with a disability in education and health services, 12.5% in retail trade, and 13.1% in professional and business services.
Worker class figures show that wage and salary workers represented 90.9% of employed people with a disability. Private-industry workers represented 76.8%. Government workers represented 14.0%, including 3.4% federal government workers, 5.2% state government workers, and 5.4% local government workers. Unincorporated self-employed workers represented 9.1%.
| Employment classification | Share of employed people with a disability |
|---|---|
| Management, professional, and related occupations | 37.5% |
| Service occupations | 20.0% |
| Sales and office occupations | 21.0% |
| Production, transportation, and material-moving occupations | 13.8% |
| Education and health services | 21.8% |
| Retail trade | 12.5% |
| Professional and business services | 13.1% |
| Wage and salary workers | 90.9% |
| Private-industry workers | 76.8% |
| Government workers | 14.0% |
| Unincorporated self-employed workers | 9.1% |
These occupation, industry, and worker-class percentages describe the composition of employed people with a disability. They do not measure the percentage of workers in each occupation or industry who have a disability. All measures in this section are U.S. Current Population Survey estimates for the 2025 annual average, as reported by BLS.