In 2023, in the United States, almost 2.3 million veterans had a service-connected disability rating of 70 percent or higher. About 10.9 million veterans had no service-connected disability rating at that time.

The SCD Veterans are broken out by SCD ratings (0-20 percent; 30-40 percent; 50-60 percent and 70-100 percent) for FY 1986 to FY 2020. Source: Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Benefits Administration; 1985-1998: COIN CP-127 Reports; 1999-2019: Annual Benefits Reports Prepared by the National Center for Veterans Analysis and Statistics, Office of Enterprise Integration, Department of Veterans Affairs, May 2021

The prevalence of disabilities in the United States shows a clear correlation with age, with nearly half of Americans aged 75 and older experiencing some form of disability. This stark contrast to younger age groups highlights the increasing challenges faced by the elderly population in maintaining their independence and quality of life. Disability rates across age groups According to 2023 data, only 0.7 percent of children under 5 years old have a disability, compared to 6.3 percent of those aged 5 to 15. The percentage rises steadily with age, reaching 11.2 percent for adults between 21 and 64 years old. A significant jump occurs in the 65 to 74 age group, where 23.9 percent have a disability. The most dramatic increase is seen in those 75 and older, with 45.3 percent experiencing some form of disability. These figures underscore the importance of accessible services and support systems for older Americans. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) The prevalence of disabilities among younger Americans has significant implications for the education system. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is a law in the United States that guarantees the right to a free appropriate education for children with disabilities. In the 2021/22 academic year, 7.26 million disabled individuals aged 3 to 21 were covered by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). This number includes approximately 25,000 children with traumatic brain injuries and 434,000 with intellectual disabilities.

This report provides county-level estimates of the number of Veterans who were receiving VA Disability Compensation benefits as of the end of fiscal year 2023. It includes the Veterans’ total service-connected disability (SCD) rating, age group, and sex. Blank values represent small cell counts that have been suppressed to protect the identity of Veterans as well as some cell counts that have been suppressed in order to prevent the determination of the values of the aforementioned small cell counts. Some categories may not sum to the total due to missing information (e.g., age, sex, etc.). The availability of sex and age data is limited as some records have no sex or birthdate available. In the table, there are 404 Veterans whose sex is not available and 113 Veterans whose age is not available. The number of Veterans who were disability compensation recipients during FY 2023 but were no longer disability compensation recipients at the end of FY 2023 is 138,646. These Veterans are not included in the table. Source: Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Enterprise Integration, Veteran Object FY23 data and Veterans Benefits Administration VETSNET FY 2023 compensation data. Prepared by National Center for Veterans Analysis & Statistics, www.va.gov/vetdata.

Percentage of Service-Connected Disabled Who Did and Did Not Use Health Care, by Race/Ethnicity. Fourth figure of Part 3 of the FY2021 Utilization Profile, a report on Veterans' use of VA benefits and services.

In 2023, it was estimated that around 14 percent of the population of the U.S. had some form of disability, such as a vision disability, hearing disability, or cognitive disability. This statistic presents the percentage of people in the U.S. who had a disability from 2008 to 2023.

Percentage of Service-Connected Disabled Who Did and Did Not Use Health Care, by Disability Rating, FY 2021. Third figure of Part 3 of the FY2021 Utilization Profile, a report on Veterans' use of VA benefits and services.

Percentage of Service-Connected Disable Who Did and Did Not Use Health Care, by Disability Rating, FY 2018. Data underlying the third figure of Part 3 of the FY2018 Utilization Profile, a report on Veterans' use of VA benefits and services.

In 2023, the U.S. states with the highest share of the population that had a disability were West Virginia, Arkansas, and Kentucky. At that time, around 19.7 percent of the population of West Virginia had some form of disability. The states with the lowest rates of disability were New Jersey, Utah, and Minnesota. Disability in the United States A disability is any condition, either physical or mental, that impairs one’s ability to do certain activities. Some examples of disabilities are those that affect one’s vision, hearing, movement, or learning. It is estimated that around 14 percent of the population in the United States suffers from some form of disability. The prevalence of disability increases with age, with 46 percent of those aged 75 years and older with a disability, compared to just six percent of those aged 5 to 15 years. Vision impairment One common form of disability comes from vision impairment. In 2023, around 3.6 percent of the population of West Virginia had a vision disability, meaning they were blind or had serious difficulty seeing even when wearing glasses. The leading causes of visual disability are age-related and include diseases such as cataracts, glaucoma, and age-related macular degeneration. This is clear when viewing the prevalence of vision disability by age. It is estimated that 8.3 percent of those aged 75 years and older in the United States have a vision disability, compared to 4.3 percent of those aged 65 to 74 and only 0.9 percent of those aged 5 to 15 years.

Compensation & Pension: All Veterans who received VA disability compensation or pension payments were included. Veterans who received Special Adaptive Housing benefits were also included in the analysis. Veterans with pending or denied claims were not included. Learn more by reading this Utilization report.The U.S. Veterans Eligibility Trends and Statistics (USVETS) is the single integrated dataset of Veteran demographic and socioeconomic data. It provides the most comprehensive picture of the Veteran population possible to support statistical, trend and longitudinal analysis. USVETS has both a static dataset, represents a single authoritative record of all living and deceased Veterans, and fiscal year datasets, represents a snapshot of a Veteran for each fiscal year. USVETS consists mainly of data sources from the Veterans Benefit Administration, the Veterans Health Administration, the Department of Defense’s Defense Manpower Data Center, and other data sources including commercial data sources. This dataset contains information about individual Veterans including demographics, details of military service, VA benefit usage, and more. The dataset contains one record per Veteran. It includes all living and deceased Veterans. USVETS data includes Veterans residing in states, US territories and foreign countries. VA uses this database to conduct statistical analytics, predictive modeling, and other data reporting. USVETS includes the software, hardware, and the associated processes that produce various VA work products and related files for Veteran analytics.

Analysis of ‘Veterans Utilization Profile FY18 - Fig 16, Percentage of Service-Connected Disable Who Did and Did Not Use Health Care, by Disability Rating’ provided by Analyst-2 (analyst-2.ai), based on source dataset retrieved from https://catalog.data.gov/dataset/9a999d05-34bb-4efb-9891-b8b4663bcc15 on 26 January 2022.

--- Dataset description provided by original source is as follows ---

Percentage of Service-Connected Disable Who Did and Did Not Use Health Care, by Disability Rating, FY 2018. Data underlying the third figure of Part 3 of the FY2018 Utilization Profile, a report on Veterans' use of VA benefits and services.

--- Original source retains full ownership of the source dataset ---

Graph and download economic data for Unemployment Rate - With a Disability, 16 Years and over (LNU04074597) from Jun 2008 to Jun 2025 about disability, 16 years +, household survey, unemployment, rate, and USA.

Graph and download economic data for Population - With a Disability, 16 Years and over (LNU00074597) from Jun 2008 to Jul 2025 about disability, civilian, 16 years +, population, and USA.

Graph and download economic data for Labor Force Participation Rate - With a Disability, 16 Years and over (LNU01374597) from Jun 2008 to Jun 2025 about disability, participation, civilian, 16 years +, labor force, labor, household survey, rate, and USA.

SSA Disability Claims Data: Overview and Analysis

Description

This dataset provides detailed fiscal year data on initial claims for Social Security Administration (SSA) disability benefits. It includes counts, rates, and percentages related to adult and child disability beneficiaries, determinations, and favorable outcomes across states and years.

Column Information

• Region Code, State Code, Date: Details of the region, state, and year of data.
• Population age 18-64, SSA Disability Beneficiaries age 18-64: Counts related to adult disability benefits.
• Percent of Adult Population Receiving SSA Adult Disability Benefits: Percentage of adults receiving benefits.
• Eligible Adult Population, Adult Receipts: Counts and rates related to adult claims.
• Favorable Adult Determinations, Adult Favorable Determination Rate: Outcome details for adult claims.
• Population under age 18, SSI Disabled Child (DC) Beneficiaries: Counts related to children receiving SSI benefits.
• Percent of Population under age 18 Receiving SSI DC Benefits: Percentage of children receiving benefits.
• Eligible Child Population, SSI Disabled Child (DC) Receipts: Counts and rates related to child claims.
• Favorable SSI Child (DC) Determinations, SSI Disabled Child Allowance Rate: Outcome details for child claims.
• All Determinations, All Favorable Determinations: Total counts and rates of all determinations and favorable outcomes.

The data allows for a deep dive into the demographic and regional variations in disability claims processing and outcomes, offering insights into trends and patterns over time.

In 2023, the unemployment rate of persons with a disability was at 7.2 percent in the United States. This was a decrease from the previous year, when the unemployment rate was at 7.6 percent. The high unemployment among persons with disabilities may be due to the COVID-19 pandemic that has impacted everyone's employment, as can be seen in the unemployment rate of adults in the United States. The persons with a disability section of the Current Population Survey (CPS) is a set of six questions to identify persons who have physical, mental, or emotional conditions that cause serious difficulty with their daily activities. Disability in the labor force The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) shows the unemployment rate of persons with a disability that have the ability to participate in the civilian labor force. In 2020 around 20.5 percent of persons with disabilities in the United States participated in the civilian labor force. Among those capable of participating in the civilian labor force, persons with a disability tend to have a higher chance of employment the higher their level of education. Persons with a disability that had a bachelor's degree or higher had the highest employment rate in 2020 at 25.7 percent. Social Security benefits Due to the inability to work, or the lack of access to suitable employment, many persons with a disability rely on government sources for financial aid. A portion of civilian paychecks are taxed to fund programs like the Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) which provide this aid. In 2018, around 12.46 million disabled persons received OASDI or SSI benefits in the United States.

The Annual Benefits Report (ABR) clearly summarizes the benefit programs delivered by VBA identifies the current level of program participation by eligible persons, and profiles the beneficiaries.

Statistics on the Wage of Persons with Disabilities: Degree of disability. National.

Homeless persons with a disability according to percentage of disability by nationality. National.

Disability, Independence and Dependency Situations Survey: Percentage of persons, 16 years old and over, with disabilities, who are undertaking some regulated or non-regulated studies, by group of disability and sex. National.