New Jersey Disability Statistics From 2003 American Community Survey

An estimated 982,000 people in New Jersey have a disability, or 12.5% of the population age 5 and over. An estimated 198,000 people, or 2.5% of the population 5 and over, have difficulty performing self-care activities, also known as Activities of Daily Living, such as dressing, bathing, or getting around inside the home.

Subject

Population (Thousands)

With a disability (Thousands)

With a disability (Percent)

With a self-care difficulty (Thousands)

With a self-care difficulty (Percent)

Total in New Jersey
(ages 5 and over)

7,887

982

12.5%

198

2.5%

Disability Type

Sensory

256

21.5%

Mobility

579

176

30.5%

Cognitive

319

100

31.4%

Self-care

198

Leaving the home

305

149

48.9%

Work disability

537

164

30.6%

Gender

Male

3,810

443

11.6%

1.9%

Female

4,077

539

13.2%

125

3.1%

Age

Children (5-17)

1,567

5.1%

0.7%

5-15

1,342

5.0%

0.8%

16-17

225

5.4%

<0.5

0.2%

Working Ages (18-64)

5,260

470

8.9%

1.6%

18-44

3,168

183

5.8%

0.8%

45-64

2,092

287

13.7%

2.9%

Elderly (65+)

1,060

432

40.8%

101

9.6%

65-74

545

157

28.9%

5.5%

75-84

394

191

48.6%

10.4%

85+

122

68.4%

25.0%

Race

White

5,832

751

12.9%

149

2.6%

African American

1,092

154

14.1%

3.4%

Asian/Pacific Islander

543

5.7%

0.7%

American Indian/Alaska Native

24.0%

2.9%

Ethnicity

Hispanic

1,127

120

10.6%

1.9%

Non-Hispanic

6,761

862

12.8%

176

2.6%

Family Income

In poverty

631

148

23.4%

6.2%

Above poverty

7,239

833

11.5%

157

2.2%

Benefit Recipiency

Social Security (OASDI)

1,137

469

41.3%

114

10.0%

Supplemental Security Income

117

108

92.3%

27.2%

Employment (Ages 18-64)

Employed

3,839

185

4.8%

0.5%

Unemployed (in labor force)

311

10.4%

0.7%

Not in labor force

1,102

253

23.0%

5.9%

Living Arrangement

Lives alone

787

218

27.8%

6.0%

Lives with others

7,101

764

10.8%

150

2.1%

Source: Tabulations by the Center for PAS from the 2003 American Community Survey (ACS).

About the New Jersey 2003 ACS Disability Data

The Center for Personal Assistance Services has compiled state and national data on the prevalence of overall disability and of self-care difficulty, by gender, age, race and ethnicity, type of disability, family income, benefit recipiency, employment status, and living arrangement. These statistics are based on our tabulations of public use data from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS) for 2003, containing information on over 1 million residents of randomly selected U.S. households. Because it is a household survey, people living in institutions such as nursing homes are not included.

These statistics from the 2003 ACS are both more current and more valid than estimates obtained from either the 2000 Census or previous years of the ACS. Problems discovered in two of the six disability questions, leading to a substantial overestimate of the disability population in the 2000 Census, have been fixed in the 2003 ACS questionnaire. These problems also affected prior years of the ACS, but to a lesser extent than the 2000 Census, due to different data collection procedures.

Previous years of disability data from the ACS:

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About the New Jersey 2003 ACS Disability Data

Previous years of disability data from the ACS:

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