health
Disability (any)
Why this matters
This measure shows the share of residents who report living with a disability. The survey counts six broad types: difficulty with hearing, vision, thinking or remembering, walking or moving, self-care, and living independently. It is a measure of who is in the community and what they may need.
Disability is common. This is an all-ages measure covering the civilian noninstitutionalized population, and about one in eight residents (roughly 13%) reports a disability. The share rises steeply with age, so it grows as a region’s population gets older. (CDC’s widely cited "one in four" figure is higher because it counts adults only and uses a different definition; children have much lower rates.)
Knowing this share helps a community plan. It signals demand for accessible sidewalks, buildings, transit, and housing, and for health and support services. People with disabilities often face extra barriers to care and higher costs.
About the Charlotte region
This explorer covers the 14-county, two-state Charlotte region (11 North Carolina and 3 South Carolina counties). Many of these indicators connect to a defining regional story: a landmark Harvard study ranked Charlotte last, 50th of the 50 largest U.S. metros for economic mobility (a child raised in the poorest fifth had about a 4.4% chance of reaching the top fifth), a finding that launched the region's Leading on Opportunity agenda. Updated 2024 data show Charlotte has since climbed to 38th.
Opportunity here is also unevenly mapped. An affluent “wedge” fanning southeast from uptown holds a large majority of the city's wealth on under a quarter of its land, while a ”crescent” to the north, west, and east carries higher poverty, a legacy of redlining, exclusionary zoning, and highway routing that recurs across the race, income, health, tree-canopy, and school maps in this tool. No single indicator is good or bad on its own; together they describe how the region sorted opportunity.
Companion resources: Charlotte-Mecklenburg Quality of Life Explorer · UNC Charlotte Urban Institute · Opportunity Atlas · Methods & sources
Learn more
- U.S. Census Bureau — Disability census.gov
The Census Bureau’s main page for disability data and definitions.
- U.S. Census Bureau — Why We Ask: Disability census.gov
The six disability questions and how communities use the results.
- CDC — Disability and Health Care Access cdc.gov
How common disability is and the barriers to care people face.
About the data
Calculated from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (2014–2024), at the Census-tract level, with margins of error. ACS 5-year vintages overlap year to year, so the series is a rolling estimate; compare only non-overlapping periods.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates.