Disability Employment Hits Record 40.3%, but Unemployment Remains Twice as High

A record number of working-age Americans with disabilities were employed in September 2026, marking an important milestone for workplace inclusion. But behind that progress lies a troubling reality: people with disabilities were still twice as likely to be unemployed as those without disabilities.

Figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) show that 40.3% of Americans with disabilities ages 16 to 64 were employed in September, the highest rate recorded in the comparable National Trends in Disability Employment (nTIDE) series.

The milestone represents meaningful progress, but the wider labor market tells a more complicated story.

While 75% of working-age Americans without disabilities held jobs, fewer than half of those with disabilities were employed. Their unemployment rate stood at 7.8%, compared with 3.9% among people without disabilities.

The Disability Guys is highlighting the divide behind these figures, drawing attention to the challenges that remain even as more Americans with disabilities enter the workforce.

The numbers also reveal another surprising development. Employment among women with disabilities rose sharply over the past year, while the rate among men with disabilities declined.

Together, these findings raise an important question: does record employment necessarily mean equal access to opportunities, career growth and financial independence?

Disability Employment Reaches a Historic Milestone

September’s employment figures marked the first time the disability employment rate exceeded 40% in the comparable nTIDE series. The employment-to-population ratio for working-age Americans with disabilities increased from 38.2% in September 2025 to 40.3% in September 2026. That represents a gain of 2.1 percentage points in just one year.

By comparison, employment among Americans without disabilities increased from 74.7% to 75.0%, an improvement of only 0.3 percentage points. The difference suggests that people with disabilities experienced stronger employment-rate growth during this period, even as the overall labor market showed relatively modest movement. But the national employment gap remains substantial.

In September 2026, there was a 34.7-percentage-point difference between the employment rates of people with and without disabilities. Although that gap narrowed from 36.5 percentage points a year earlier, the latest figures show that Americans with disabilities were still far less likely to have jobs. The disparity becomes even clearer when examining unemployment.

Among working-age adults with disabilities who were participating in the labor force, 7.8% were unemployed. For adults without disabilities, the corresponding rate was 3.9%.In other words, the unemployment rate among people with disabilities was exactly twice as high, based on the rounded BLS estimates.

These figures reflect two different challenges: helping more people enter the workforce and ensuring those actively seeking employment can find suitable jobs.

More Americans With Disabilities Are Entering the Workforce

Employment growth was not the only encouraging development in September. Labor-force participation among working-age adults with disabilities also reached a record 43.8%, up from 42.1% in September 2025.

Labor-force participation measures the share of people who are either employed or actively looking for work, including those on temporary layoff. An increase can indicate that more people are engaging with the labor market, even if they have not yet secured employment.

Among Americans without disabilities, the participation rate stood at 78.1%, compared with 77.9% a year earlier. This left a 34.3-percentage-point participation gap between the two groups. That difference is important because unemployment statistics alone do not tell the full story.

The unemployment rate counts people who are actively looking for work. It does not include those who are outside the labor force, whether because of health limitations, caregiving responsibilities, retirement, discouragement, or other circumstances.

As a result, a relatively low unemployment rate does not necessarily mean that everyone who wants to work has access to employment.

September’s participation figures suggest progress, but they also reveal how far the country remains from comparable levels of labor-market involvement.

Women With Disabilities Are Driving Much of the Improvement

One of the most striking findings from September’s data is the difference between employment trends for men and women with disabilities. In September 2025, 36.8% of working-age women with disabilities were employed. By September 2026, that figure had climbed to 41.9%, an increase of 5.1 percentage points.

The picture was different for men. Employment among working-age men with disabilities declined from 39.5% to 38.7% during the same period, a decrease of 0.8 percentage points.

The result was a reversal in employment rates. A year earlier, men with disabilities had a higher employment rate than women with disabilities. By September 2026, women had moved ahead by 3.2 percentage points.

Unemployment figures reveal a similar pattern. The unemployment rate among women with disabilities fell from 9.6% to 6.4%, a decline of 3.2 percentage points.

Among men with disabilities, unemployment increased slightly from 9.1% to 9.4%. By September 2026, the unemployment rate for men with disabilities was three percentage points higher than that of women with disabilities.

The figures do not establish exactly why these trends diverged. Changes in industries, hiring patterns, workforce participation, and demographic characteristics may all influence employment outcomes.

However, the differences make one thing clear: the national employment record does not mean every group of workers with disabilities experienced the same progress.

Understanding those differences could help employers and policymakers identify where opportunities are expanding and where additional attention may be needed.

Having a Job Does Not Always Mean Having Financial Security

Employment is an important measure of economic opportunity, but it does not reveal everything about a worker’s financial circumstances. Working hours, wages, benefits, job stability, and opportunities for advancement all affect whether employment provides long-term security.

The BLS annual disability employment report for 2025 highlights some of these differences. Among employed adults with disabilities ages 16 to 64, approximately 25.8% usually worked part-time, compared with about 15.5% of employed adults without disabilities in the same age group.

That means working-age employees with disabilities were roughly 1.7 times as likely to have part-time working arrangements. Part-time employment can offer valuable flexibility, particularly for workers managing health conditions or other responsibilities.

However, fewer working hours can also mean lower earnings and reduced access to workplace benefits, depending on the position and employer. The figures alone cannot determine how many workers chose part-time arrangements or would have preferred full-time positions.

Still, they show why employment rates should be considered alongside measures of job quality.

Career Opportunities Show Another Divide

The differences extend beyond working hours. According to the BLS’s 2025 annual data, 37.5% of employed people with disabilities ages 16 and older worked in management, professional, or related occupations. Among employed people without disabilities, the proportion was 43.9%.

That represents a 6.4-percentage-point difference. The figures suggest that people with disabilities were less represented in these occupational categories, although they do not establish the reasons behind the disparity.

Education, work experience, industry distribution, personal preferences and workplace barriers may all influence occupational outcomes. Self-employment also showed a notable difference.

In 2025, 9.1% of employed people with disabilities were unincorporated self-employed workers, compared with 5.9% of those without disabilities.

Self-employment may provide flexibility and greater control over working conditions. For some workers, it can also involve less predictable income and different access to benefits. These statistics offer another reason to look beyond the headline employment rate.

A growing number of people with disabilities may be finding work, but understanding the quality and sustainability of those opportunities remains essential.

Disability Employment Progress Still Faces Longstanding Challenges

The United States has spent decades developing laws intended to protect workers with disabilities from discrimination and improve workplace access.

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Rehabilitation Act, and the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 are central parts of that legal framework.

These laws address issues such as employment discrimination, workplace accessibility, and reasonable accommodations.

Yet the latest employment figures show that substantial differences in workforce participation and unemployment persist.

Brian M. Mittman, Esq., managing partner of Markhoff & Mittman, P.C., offers his perspective on the employment milestone and the challenges that remain.

“I have spent thirty years watching people with disabilities work harder than almost anyone I know just to hold onto jobs that the law says they are entitled to keep. A record employment rate is meaningful, and I want to honor what it represents for every individual behind it. But unemployment among workers with disabilities is still twice the rate of the general workforce, and that gap has persisted through multiple economic cycles and more than three decades of federal civil rights law. The ADA, the Rehabilitation Act, and the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 represent one of the most comprehensive disability employment frameworks in the world. The people those laws were written to protect are still waiting for the outcomes the statutes promised them.”

— Brian M. Mittman, Esq., Managing Partner, Markhoff & Mittman, P.C.

His comments underline a broader concern: legal protections and improving employment figures do not automatically mean that workers with disabilities experience equal opportunities in practice.

The national statistics cannot establish how much of the employment gap results from discrimination or workplace barriers.

Nevertheless, the persistent differences highlight the importance of continued attention to accessibility, accommodation and equitable hiring practices.

October’s Figures Show Employment Holding Near the Record

The September record was followed by another important update. On November 6, 2026, Kessler Foundation and the University of New Hampshire released their October nTIDE employment analysis.

The report showed that the employment-to-population ratio for working-age Americans with disabilities had declined slightly from 40.3% in September to 39.9% in October. The decrease of 0.4 percentage points brought the rate just below September’s historic high. Meanwhile, employment among people without disabilities increased from 75.0% to 75.3%.

Labor-force participation among people with disabilities also decreased slightly, from 43.8% to 43.3%. Although the October figures represented a modest decline, disability employment remained close to its record level. The latest report suggests that the gains seen earlier in the year had not disappeared, even as month-to-month conditions changed.

However, one month’s movement is not enough to establish a lasting trend. Because the federal government shutdown prevented Current Population Survey data collection in October 2025, a direct year-over-year comparison for October is unavailable.

That makes the September data particularly useful for understanding how disability employment changed over the preceding year.

Why the Employment Gap Still Matters

The September milestone arrived shortly before National Disability Employment Awareness Month in October, an annual observance focused on the contributions of workers with disabilities and the importance of inclusive workplaces.

The timing offered an opportunity to recognize progress while examining the challenges that remain. For employers, the figures highlight the importance of looking beyond hiring totals.

Accessible recruitment processes, reasonable accommodations, career-development opportunities, and supportive working environments can all play roles in helping workers participate and advance.

For policymakers and workforce organizations, the data point to the need for a more complete understanding of employment outcomes.

It is not enough to know how many people have jobs. Working hours, earnings, opportunities for advancement, and long-term employment stability also matter.

The latest national figures show meaningful improvements, particularly among women with disabilities.

But they also show that unequal employment opportunities have not disappeared.

The Bottom Line

September 2026 marked a major achievement for disability employment in the United States. For the first time in the comparable nTIDE series, more than 40% of working-age Americans with disabilities were employed.

That progress deserves recognition, especially as the latest October figures show employment remaining close to the record.

However, the wider picture is more complicated.

People with disabilities still face an unemployment rate twice as high as their counterparts without disabilities, along with substantial differences in workforce participation, working hours and occupational representation.