The National Research & Training Center on Blindness and Low Vision (NRTC) recently released an infographic titled The Unemployment Rate for People with Visual Impairment: Debunking the Myth and an accompanying fact sheet. Using 2023 American Community Survey data, these resources focus on working-age adults with visual impairments (ages 18–64) in the United States.
The truth? Only 8.1% of people with visual impairments are unemployed—not 70%.
These resources provide updated estimates and calculations from national data, highlighting the difference between “unemployed” and “not in the labor force.”
Key employment-related statistics presented in the resources are:
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2.43 million working-age people with visual impairments were in the labor force.
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52.3% were employed (currently working)
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8.1% were unemployed (not working but actively seeking work).
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1.84 million working-age people with visual impairments were not in the labor force.
The infographic offers a visual summary of the data. To ensure accessibility for everyone, the infographic is also available in a screen reader-friendly format. The fact sheet provides definitions and the calculations behind the numbers presented in the infographic.
Visit our Project 6 outputs page to access this infographic and fact sheet, as well as additional infographics that clarify employment trends among people with visual impairments.
The NRTC focuses on employment outcomes of people with blindness or low vision (B/LV), providing training, technical assistance, and resources for professionals and people with B/LV interested in employment through funding from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research grant #90RTEM0007. To learn more, visit our About page and the NTAC-BLV website.