With October being National Disability Employment Awareness Month and  the average monthly Social Security disability benefit at only $1,126.02, barely enough to keep an individual out of poverty, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released its report on 2020’s Best & Worst Cities for People with Disabilities.

California has two cities among the top 10 and two in the bottom.

In order to ease the process of finding the best place to live while managing a disability, WalletHub compared more than 180 U.S. cities across 34 key indicators of disability-friendliness. The data set ranges from wheelchair-accessible facilities per capita to rate of workers with disabilities to quality of public hospital system.

Best Cities for People with Disabilities
1. Scottsdale, AZ
2. St. Louis, MO
3. South Burlington, VT
4. Huntington Beach, CA
5. Bismarck, ND
6. Minneapolis, MN
7. Denver, CO
8. Overland Park, KS
9. San Francisco, CA
10. Pittsburgh, PA

Worst Cities for People with Disabilities
173. Moreno Valley, CA
174. Knoxville, TN
175. Juneau, AK
176. Worcester, MA
177. San Bernardino, CA
178. Winston-Salem, NC
179. New Haven, CT
180. Providence, RI
181. Gulfport, MS
182. Bridgeport, CT

Best vs. Worst

  • Cleveland, Ohio, has the highest share of people with disabilities living in the area, 20.40 percent, which is 3.7 times higher than in Irvine, California, the city with the lowest at 5.50 percent.
  • Pearl City, Hawaii, has the lowest share of people with disabilities living in poverty, 8.89 percent, which is 5.1 times lower than in Rochester, New York, the city with the highest at 45.07 percent.
  • Bismarck, North Dakota, has the lowest median annual cost of in-home services, $32,032, which is 2.5 times lower than in Rapid City, South Dakota, the city with the highest at $80,080.
  • Fremont, California, has the highest median annual earnings for people with disabilities, $36,726, which is four times higher than in Burlington, Vermont, the city with the lowest at $9,290.

To view the full report and your city’s rank, click here. 

Image Sources

  • Swimmer: Pixaby