National, Regional, and State Employment Rates of U.S. Adults Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing

Abstract

Most information on geographic variations in the employment of U.S. adults who are deaf or hard of hearing comes from the American Community Survey (ACS), which includes few people who are DHH in sparsely populated states. Using nationally representative Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System surveys from 2016-2018, the authors examined national-, regional-, and state-level employment rates of U.S. adults who were DHH and compared these rates with ACS estimates for this population. It was found that the national employment rate for people who were DHH was 51.3%; regional rates ranged from 47.9% to 56.9%, state rates from 36.9% to 68.0%. These figures were comparable to ACS estimates at all geographic levels. These findings indicate that employment disparities are not uniform across the United States for people who are DHH and underscore the need for additional policies in areas where this population experiences low employment.