Deaf History Month: Data and Statistics
Census Data for Disability
Census Data for People with Disabilities
The Census occurs every 10 years, in years ending in zero, to count the population and housing units for the entire United States. Its primary purpose is to provide the population counts that determine how seats in the U.S. House of Representatives are apportioned.
Data about deaf or hard of hearing people is included within the sections about disabilities in general. These statistics are available for the U.S., 50 states and the District of Columbia, counties, and subcounty statistical areas (such as zip codes and block groups) from 1990 to the present.
All Census Bureau data about disabilities comes from the American Community Survey and the Current Population Survey. There is also some data available from the Decennial survey.
Timelines
- Deaf Culture TimelineProduced by the Sign Language Company
- Gallaudet University Timeline150 years of Gallaudet University's campus history (1864-2014)
- Deafness in Disguise: Timeline of Hearing Devices and Early Deaf EducationProduced by the Washington University School of Medicine.
Infographics & Statistics
Hearing Loss Facts
Did You Know?- As of 2019, roughly 466 million people worldwide have disabling hearing loss, and 34 million of these are children.
- It is estimated that by 2050 over 900 million people will have disabling hearing loss.
- Worldwide costs for unaddressed hearing loss amount to $750 billion dollars annually.
- Disabling hearing loss refers to hearing loss of over 40 decibels in adults and 30 decibels in children.
- Approximately 1/3 of people over age 65 suffer from disabling hearing loss.
- Aging
- Heredity
- Infectious Disease
- meningitis
- cytomegalovirus
- rubella
- mumps
- measles
- Complications at Birth
- birth asphyxia
- low birth weight
- prematurity
- jaundice
- Ototoxic Medications
- aminoglycosides
- cytotoxic drugs
- diuretics
- anitmalarial drugs
- Excessive Noise
- Chronic Ear Infections
- Immunize children against harmful diseases
- Practice consistent healthy ear care
- Test children early for hearing loss
- Educate young people on hearing loss & its causes
- Assistive Devices such as hearing aids & cochlear implants
- Support Systems at school, at home, & in the community
- Accessible Communication via captioning & sign language
Percentage of adults aged 45 and over with difficulty hearing even when using a hearing aid, by age group and race and Hispanic origin: United States, 2019
- Some difficulty hearing
- Age 45 - 64
- Non-Hispanic White: 16.4%
- Non-Hispanic Black: 7.7%
- Hispanic: 8.6%
- Non-Hispanic Asian: 5.7%
- Age 65 and over
- Non-Hispanic White: 29.4%
- Non-Hispanic Black: 19%
- Hispanic: 16.6%
- Non-Hispanic Asian: 16.2%
- Age 45 - 64
- A lot of difficulty or cannot hear
- Age 45 - 64
- Non-Hispanic White: 1.8%
- Non-Hispanic Black: 0.7%
- Hispanic: 0.8%
- Non-Hispanic Asian: 0.5%
- Age 65 and over
- Non-Hispanic White: 4%
- Non-Hispanic Black: 1.9%
- Hispanic: 6.3%
- Non-Hispanic Asian: 3.6%
- Age 45 - 64