Deaf Postsecondary Data from the 2023 American Community Survey, National Deaf Center on Post Secondary Outcomes at the University of Texas at Austin
Note: Click Occupational Fields
About: This table estimates the percentage of deaf and hearing people by occupation. The data is from the American Community Survey, an annual survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. Survey respondents who stated that they were deaf, or had serious difficulty hearing, were used to represent the deaf population in these analyses. According to the 2023 American Community Survey (ACS), about 2% of the U.S. population consider themselves deaf or have serious difficulty hearing.
Data Interpretation Example: According to the 2023 American Community Survey (ACS), 3.12% of employed Deaf people work as healthcare practitioners and technicians. Of that 3.12%, 55% have a Bachelor's Degree and a median annual earning of $80,000.
Citation: Bloom, C.L, Palmer, J.L., & Winninghoff, J. (2025). Deaf Postsecondary Data from the American Community Survey [Data visualization tool]. National Deaf Center on Postsecondary Outcomes, University of Texas at Austin. www.nationaldeafcenter.org/dashboard
Deaf People and Employment in the United States: 2019, National Deaf Center on Post Secondary Outcomes at the University of Texas at Austin
Note: Use pages 14-15
About: While more recent data is available (see 2023 above) the data visualization in this document may be preferable to some.
Data Interpretation Example: 15.9% of employed Deaf people work in manufacturing.
Citation: Garberoglio, Carrie, et al. “Deaf People and Employment in the United States: 2019.” National Deaf Center on Postsecondary Outcomes, U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs, 2019, nationaldeafcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Deaf-People-and-Employment-in-the-United-States_-2019-7.26.19ENGLISHWEB.pdf.
Occupations of Workers who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing, 2011, National Technical Institute for the Deaf, Rochester Institute of Technology
Note: Use the "List of Occupational Categories"
Notice the 2011 date. RIT has not updated their website with more recent data.
Citation: National Technical Institute for the Deaf. “Collaboratory Statistics about Deafness and Occupation.” Rochester Institute of Technology, 2011, www.rit.edu/ntid/collaboratory/occupations. Accessed 6 Feb. 2024.
Workers with a Disability by Detailed Occupation, U.S. Census Bureau, 2017
Use Table 2: Workers with a Disability by Detailed Occupation and Type of Disability: 2017
Date Interpretation Note & Example: Per occupational category, take the percent under hearing difficulty and divide it into the number of total workers with a disability. For example, 38.7% of 767,440 chief executives with a disability are hearing disabled. In other words, with a slight margin of error, the U.S. Census Bureau counted 296,999 chief executives with a hearing disability in 2017.
Notice the 2017 date. The US Census Bureau has not updated their data pages with more recent data sets.
Citation: U.S. Census Bureau. “Table 2. Workers with a Disability by Detailed Occupation and Type of Disability: 2017.” Workers with a Disability by Detailed Occupation, United States Census Bureau, 2017, www.census.gov/data/tables/2017/demo/disability/acs-17.html. Accessed 5 Feb. 2024.
Associated Research Question: What classes/degrees would a college offer to help in this field?
RIT: Rochester Institute of Technology:
Gallaudet University:
Other Resources Related to Career Preparation & Support (Gallaudet & RIT):