Living with a Disability

Older adults are most likely to live with a disability.

People with disabilities may have their social participation be marginalized, experience difficulties in mobility or accessibility, and face barriers in access to care, all of which contribute to poor health and lower quality of life. For this data, disability is defined as being deaf or having serious difficulty hearing; being blind or having serious difficulty seeing; having serious difficulty concentrating, remembering, or making decisions; having serious difficulty walking or climbing stairs; having difficulty dressing or bathing; and/or having difficulty doing errands alone (such as visiting a doctor’s office or shopping) because of a physical, mental, or emotional condition.  

From 2017 to 2021, 18.9% of King County adults were living with a disability.    

  • Age:  Living with a disability was most common among older adults, with 42.1% of those ages 75 and over and 25.3% of those ages 65-74 having a disability. Disability was much less common in younger adults ages 25-44 (13.9%).     

  • Sexual orientation: At 27.0%, lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) King County residents were more likely to be living with a disability than the county overall.   

  • Race and ethnicity: Asian (9.1%) adults were less likely to be living with a disability than the King County average. American Indian/Alaska Native (41.2%), Black/African American (27.4%), and Hispanic (23.3%) adults were more likely to have a disability than the King County average.   

  • Income: Living with a disability varies greatly among different income groups. About half of people (46.8%) living in households making less than $20,000 per year and about a third of people (31.1%) living in households making between $20,000 and 34,999 lived with a disability. About 1 in 10 (9.8%) of those in the highest household income group, $100,000 or more, were living with a disability.   

  • Region and city/neighborhood: Adults living in South Region (22.6%) were more likely to have a disability than those in East Region (14.9%) or Seattle (18.3%). Among cities and neighborhoods, Bellevue-Central (10.7%), Redmond – North (10.6%), and Seattle – University District (9.9%) had lower-than-average rates of disability.    

  • Veteran status: At 29.9%, veterans were more likely to be living with a disability than the county average.  

 

Notes and Sources

Source: Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) (2013-2021) 

Numerator: Those that answered “Yes” to one or more of the following questions: (1) deaf or having serious difficulty hearing; (2) blind or having serious difficulty seeing; (3) having serious difficulty concentrating, remembering, or making decisions; (4) having serious difficulty walking or climbing stairs; (5) having difficulty dressing or bathing; and/or (6) having difficulty doing errands alone (such as visiting a doctor’s office or shopping) because of a physical, mental, or emotional condition.  

Denominator: All respondents who answered the questions. 

The Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System collects information on the health and safety of Washington residents aged 18 and older. Every year, the Washington State Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention conduct the survey primarily through telephone interviews, including landline and cellphone numbers. To learn more about the survey, click here.

To learn more about the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System and view the data biography, click here.

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