The 10 Best States for Disability Employment

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, signed by former President George H.W. Bush in 1990 to outlaw discrimination based on disability.

Still, people with disabilities are far more likely than nondisabled people to be unemployed. According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey in 2017, people with disabilities were about 2.5 times as likely to be unemployed than people without disabilities.

Multiple 2020 presidential candidates have voiced their dedication to improving outcomes for the more than 61 million Americans with disabilities. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat, recently released her plans to protect the rights of individuals with disabilities, including in the workplace.

According to U.S. News’ 2019 Best States rankings, some states are doing better than others at lowering the disability employment gap. The ranking is based on an analysis of each state’s gap in the unemployment rate. That gap is calculated as the ratio of people in the labor force with a disability over people in the labor force without a disability. The ranking is part of U.S. News’ larger Best States for Equality ranking, which includes additional factors such as education, race and gender equality.