People with Disabilities: A Texas Profile

Labor Force Characteristics of Individuals with Disabilities in Texas
The demographic analyses presented in this subsection focus on individuals with disabilities in Texas
who are in the civilian labor force, either employed or unemployed and seeking work. Individuals with
disabilities in Texas who are on active duty with the military (7,363 individuals comprising 0.3 percent of
individuals age 16 and over with disabilities in Texas) are not included in the analyses presented in this
subsection. Approximately 29.7 percent of Texans with disabilities age 16 and older (797,326
individuals) were labor force participants in 2011 and accounted for 6.4 percent of labor force
participants age 16 and older in Texas. The estimated numbers of labor force participants with
disabilities by each county in the local workforce development areas are illustrated in Appendix E.
In 2011, 12,514,448 individuals in Texas were labor force participants. Almost 800,000 labor force
participants had a disability. Approximately 55 percent of labor force participants with disabilities in
Texas (436,233 individuals) were male and approximately 45 percent (361,093) were female. Table 11
illustrates the race and ethnicity of labor force participants with and without disabilities. Approximately
11 percent of labor force participants in the ‘Other’ race/ethnicity category had a disability.
Approximately seven percent of both African American and white labor force participants had a
disability. Approximately six percent of Hispanic labor force participants had a disability and 2.3 percent
of Asian labor force participants had a disability.
Table 11: Race and Ethnicity of Texas Labor Force Participants with and without Disabilities, 2011
Race/Ethnicity
Total Labor Force
Participants in each
Race/Ethnicity
Category
Labor Force Participants
With a Disability
Labor Force Participants
Without a Disability
Number Percent Number Percent
Other 181,926 19,356 10.6% 162,570 89.4%
African American 1,427,891 106,285 7.4% 1,321,606 92.6%
White 5,987,787 412,929 6.9% 5,574,858 93.1%
Hispanic 4,391,334 246,437 5.6% 4,144,897 94.4%
Asian 525,510 12,319 2.3% 513,191 97.7%
Total 12,514,448 797,326 6.4% 11,717,122 93.6%
Table notes: 2011 ACS microdata. The race and ethnicity categories are mutually exclusive and include: Hispanics
of one or more races, Whites (exclusive), African Americans (exclusive), Asians (exclusive), and other (more than
one race not including Hispanic).
In 2011, the average age of a labor force participant with a disability in Texas was 47.5. Table 12 on the
following page illustrates that 76,549 individuals with disabilities between the ages of 16 and 24 were
labor force participants in 2011 and accounted for 4.1 percent of the age‐specific labor force. The
largest number of labor force participants with disabilities was between the ages of 25 to 64 and
comprise 6.1 percent of labor force participants in that age range. Between the ages of 65 to 74, labor
force participants with disabilities accounted for 17.6 percent of the age‐specific labor force.
22 Texas Workforce Investment Council