Living 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.  Many different definitions of disability exist, and they can be more inclusive or limiting, depending on context.  

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. This may be an underestimate, as some people with these conditions may have less access to survey participation, and other disabled people may not identify with any of these conditions.  

From 2020 to 2024, 21.1% of King County adults were living with a disability.    

• Age:  Age:  Living with a disability was most common among older adults, with 41.3% of those ages 75 and over and 26.8% of those ages 65-74 having a disability. Disability was much less common in younger adults ages 25-44 (16.8%).     

• Sexual orientation: At 32.9%, lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) King County residents were more likely to be living with a disability than heterosexual residents (18.8%).   

• Race and ethnicity: Asian (12.8%) adults were less likely to be living with a disability than American Indian/Alaska Native (41.7%), Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander (34.8%), Hispanic (27.7%), Multiple race (25.9%), Black (24.1%) and White (21.9%) adults in King County.  

• Gender: Female (22.6%) adults were more likely than males (19.6%) to live with a disability. Transgender adults (57.7%) were more than 2 times more likely to live with a disability than cisgender adults (20.5%). 

• Income: Living with a disability varied greatly among different income groups. Just over half of people living in households making less than $20,000 per year (51.0%) and over 1 in 3 people living in households making between $20,000 and $34,999 per year (37.2%) lived with a disability. About 11% of those in the highest household income group, $100,000 or more, were living with a disability.   

• Veteran status: At 31.5%, veterans were more likely to be living with a disability than non-veterans (20.3%). 

• Region and city/neighborhood: Adults living in South King County (25.6%) were more likely to have a disability than those in the East region (16.8%) North region (20.6%) or Seattle (20.4%). Among cities and neighborhoods, West Kent (36.0%), Seattle – Downtown, Belltown, and First Hill (29.9%), and Federal Way – North Corridor (29.3%) had some of the county’s highest rates of disability.    

• Trends over time: The percent of adults in King County living with a disability increased from a low of 18.3% in 2016-2017 to 21.9% in 2022-2024.