This population indicator shows the estimated employment rate of all Vermonters with disabilities who are age 18-64. Employment is one way that Vermonters with disabilities contribute to their communities and the Vermont economy.  Employment income is also directly related to economic status and independence among people with disabilities.   

Note that the employment rate is higher in Vermont, but related earned wages are lower in Vermont. There is also evidence that some people with disabilities want a job but do not have one, and that some people with disabilities who have a job would like to work more hours and/or earn higher wages.

As reported by Joyce Manchester of the Joint Fiscal Office, an unusually high number of Vermonters of working age are eligible for SSDI.  This tends to remove them from the active workforce. 

It is suggested that most of the increase from 2021 to 2022 can be attributed to the post COVID labor shortage. In the very tight labor market employers have been much more willing to hire people with disabilities. Also the 2021 numbers may have been suppressed with the lingering effects of COVID. It will be interesting to see if this holds up for 2023 and 2024. This has been a national trend.

It is important to note that because of the small sample size of those surveyed (459) the margin of error is 4.13% for this data point. So the difference might not be quite so high.

The employment rate among people wiht disabilities is related to the state of the Vermont economy and labor force; work incentives and disincentives within public benefit programs; and the efforts of employment programs including the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, the Division for the Blind and Visually Impaired, the Department of Labor, the Department of Mental Health, and the Division of Developmental Disabilities Services.  Individual employment is directly supported by the efforts of local partners including VABIR, designated agencies, and specialized service agencies.

Updated September 2024.

2022 is the most recent data available as of August 2024. The disability statistics through Cornell is dependent on the American Community Survey Data, which is why more recent data is not yet available.

http://www.disabilitystatistics.org/reports/acs.cf...

Erickson, W., Lee, C., von Schrader, S. (2022). Disability Statistics from the American Community Survey (ACS). Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Yang-Tan Institute (YTI). Retrieved from Cornell University Disability Statistics website: www.disabilitystatistics.org

A person is considered employed if he or she is either

1. "at work": those who did any work at all during the reference week as a paid employee (worked in his or her own business or profession, worked on his or her own farm, or worked 15 or more hours as an unpaid worker on a family farm or business) or
2. were "with a job but not at work," : had a job but temporarily did not work at that job during the reference week due to illness, bad weather, industrial dispute, vacation or other personal reasons. The reference week is defined as the week preceding the date the questionnaire was completed.

'Target' value is the national rate. Note high margins of error for estimated state rate. Caution should be used when interpreting a statistic based on small sample sizes or when the Margin Of Error (MOE) is large relative to the estimate. The MOE is a measurement of the accuracy of the statistic. We highly recommend that you indicate the sample size and MOE when reporting a statistic.

The ACS definition of disability is based on six questions. A person is coded as having a disability if he or she or a proxy respondent answers affirmatively for one or more of these six categories.

Hearing Disability (asked of all ages): Is this person deaf or does he/she have serious difficulty hearing?

Visual Disability (asked of all ages): Is this person blind or does he/she have serious difficulty seeing even when wearing glasses?

Cognitive Disability (asked of persons ages 5 or older): Because of a physical, mental, or emotional condition, does this person have serious difficulty concentrating, remembering, or making decisions?

Ambulatory Disability (asked of persons ages 5 or older): Does this person have serious difficulty walking or climbing stairs?

Self-care Disability (asked of persons ages 5 or older): Does this person have difficulty dressing or bathing?

Independent Living Disability (asked of persons ages 15 or older): Because of a physical, mental, or emotional condition, does this person have difficulty doing errands alone such as visiting a doctor’s office or shopping?