Disability and Employment in 2026: What the Latest BLS Data Shows
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) publishes employment data that includes workers and job seekers with disabilities.
The latest monthly figures, covering July 2026, show an unemployment rate of 8.9% for people with a disability, compared with 4.1% for people with no disability (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics [BLS], 2026a).
Those numbers are part of a broader set of federal data tracking employment, unemployment, and labor force participation by disability status.
Here is what the latest BLS data shows in plain English.
(Important: This article summarizes federal labor-market statistics published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. It does not attempt to explain the causes of differences between groups or predict an individual job seeker’s employment prospects.)
What is the unemployment rate for people with disabilities in 2026?
In July 2026, the unemployment rate was:
8.9% for people with a disability
4.1% for people with no disability
These figures come from BLS's Current Population Survey and are not seasonally adjusted (BLS, 2026a).
For comparison, the same BLS table reports rates of 10.0% for people with a disability and 4.3% for people with no disability in July 2025.
The July figures are not seasonally adjusted (BLS, 2026a).
What percentage of people with disabilities are employed?
BLS also reports an employment-population ratio, which measures the percentage of the civilian noninstitutional population that is employed.
In July 2026, the employment-population ratio was:
22.3% for people with a disability
64.9% for people with no disability (BLS, 2026a)
Age is important when reading these figures.
In its most recent annual report, BLS noted that people with disabilities have an older age profile than people without disabilities. Half of the people with a disability in the 2025 data were age 65 or older, compared with about 18% of those with no disability (BLS, 2026b).
BLS states that this age difference partly contributes to the lower overall employment-population ratio. The agency also reports that people with disabilities were less likely to be employed across all age groups in its 2025 annual data (BLS, 2026b).
What does the latest annual disability employment report show?
BLS published its most recent annual People with a Disability: Labor Force Characteristics report in March 2026, covering calendar year 2025.
For 2025, BLS reported:
An 8.3% unemployment rate for people with a disability
A 4.1% unemployment rate for people with no disability
A 22.8% employment-population ratio for people with a disability
A 65.2% employment-population ratio for people with no disability (BLS, 2026b)
For people ages 16 to 64, the 2025 employment-population ratio was 38.1% among people with a disability and 74.8% among those with no disability (BLS, 2026b).
There is an important limitation to these annual figures.
The October 2025 Current Population Survey was not collected because of the federal government shutdown. As a result, BLS calculated its 2025 annual estimates using 11-month averages that exclude October.
BLS specifically cautions that the 2025 annual estimates are therefore not strictly comparable with annual averages from other years (BLS, 2026b).
How common is part-time work among workers with disabilities?
The annual BLS report also provides information about full- and part-time employment.
In 2025, approximately 30% of employed people with a disability usually worked part time, compared with about 17% of workers with no disability (BLS, 2026b).
BLS separately reported that approximately 4% of workers with a disability and 3% of workers without a disability worked part time for economic reasons.
BLS defines people working part time for economic reasons as those who would have preferred full-time work but were working part time because their hours had been reduced or because they could not find full-time employment (BLS, 2026b).
How does BLS identify people with disabilities?
The Current Population Survey uses a set of six questions to identify disability status.
A person is classified as having a disability for these statistics if there is a “yes” response indicating at least one of several types of difficulty, including serious difficulty with hearing, seeing, concentrating or making decisions, walking or climbing stairs, dressing or bathing, or doing errands independently because of a physical, mental, or emotional condition (BLS, 2026a).
This definition is important because it explains who is included in the BLS statistics discussed here.
What do these numbers tell us?
The BLS data provides a national statistical picture of employment and unemployment by disability status.
The latest figures show:
An 8.9% unemployment rate for people with a disability in July 2026
A 4.1% unemployment rate for people with no disability in July 2026
An employment-population ratio of 22.3% for people with a disability and 64.9% for those without a disability in July
Differences in employment remain visible when BLS looks at working-age groups in its annual data
Workers with disabilities were more likely to work part time in the 2025 annual data
The statistics themselves do not establish why these differences exist.
They describe labor-market outcomes collected through the Current Population Survey. Questions about the causes of those differences would require evidence beyond these BLS statistics alone.
Understanding the Data Is One Part of Navigating the Job Market
The BLS data provides a national picture of employment and unemployment by disability status. Understanding that broader picture is one part of navigating today’s job market.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is the unemployment rate for people with disabilities in 2026?
The latest available BLS monthly data at the time of publication reports an unemployment rate of 8.9% for people with a disability in July 2026. The rate for people with no disability was 4.1%. These figures are not seasonally adjusted (BLS, 2026a).
How many people with disabilities were employed in July 2026?
BLS estimated that approximately 8.27 million people with a disability were employed in July 2026 (BLS, 2026a).
What percentage of people with disabilities were employed?
The employment-population ratio for people with a disability was 22.3% in July 2026, according to BLS. The comparable figure for people with no disability was 64.9% (BLS, 2026a).
Why is the employment-population ratio different from the unemployment rate?
The two measures describe different things.
The employment-population ratio measures the percentage of the population that is employed. The unemployment rate measures unemployment among people who are participating in the labor force.
Does BLS explain why employment rates differ by disability status?
The BLS reports summarized here primarily provide labor-force statistics. BLS does note that the older age profile of people with disabilities partly affects the overall employment-population ratio, but these statistics alone should not be used to assign broader causes to differences in employment outcomes (BLS, 2026b).
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Sources & References
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2026a, August 7). Table A-6. Employment status of the civilian population by sex, age, and disability status, not seasonally adjusted. U.S. Department of Labor. https://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t06.htm
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2026b, March 3). People with a disability: Labor force characteristics — 2025. U.S. Department of Labor. https://www.bls.gov/news.release/disabl.htm
