Best & worst cities for people with disabilities to live

Via unsplash.com

Did you know that October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM)? As per the United States Department of Labor's Office of Disability Employment Policy, "Observed each October, NDEAM celebrates the contributions of workers with disabilities and educates about the value of a workforce inclusive of their skills and talents." NDEAM was started in 1945, and this year's theme is "Inclusion Drives Innovation." The sentiment couldn't ring truer.

unsplash.com

As per the personal finance website, WalletHub, "According to the Social Security Administration, one in five Americans lives with a disability, and one in 10 has a severe disability." This portion of the population may need to pay a lot for healthcare and living expenses due to special needs. To embrace NDEAM and the U.S. cities which are friendliest to those with disabilities, WalletHub conducted an in-depth analysis to rank the 150 most populated American cities to deem which are the best and worst for people with living with disabilities in 2017.

WalletHub's team of experts compared 28 key indicators to make their determination as to which cities came out on top and which were at the bottom of the barrel when it comes to overall disability-friendliness. These include cost of living, employment rate for people with disabilities, percentage of persons with disabilities living in poverty, cost for doctors' visits, cost for in-home services, percentage of persons with disabilities living in the area, walkable park access, number of doctors/practitioners per capita, and more. By ranking these indicators across the 3 dimensions of economy, quality of life, and healthcare, each metric was, "graded on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the most favorable conditions for people with disabilities."

So, which cities came out on top? The top five (#1 being the best) are:

  • 1.Overland Park, KS
  • 2.Grand Rapids, MI
  • 3.Denver, CO
  • 4.Salt Lake City, UT
  • 5.Aurora, CO

And the worst? The bottom five (#1 being the worst) are:

  • 1.San Bernardino, CA
  • 2.Greensboro, NC
  • 3.Providence, RI
  • 4.Winston-Salem, NC
  • 5.Brownsville, TX

Did your city make WalletHub's 5 best or 5 worst?

Some interesting facts from the analysis…

Cleveland, OH and Columbus, GA have the highest number of people living with disabilities in the area – 20.5%.

Laredo, TX has the lowest cost of annual in-home services at $20,592 per year. San Francisco is the most expensive at $68,640 per year for in-home services.

In Cape Coral, FL, people with disabilities make only $9,704 (median annual earnings). The highest median annual earnings are found in Rancho Cucamonga, CA - $38,085.

unsplash.com

For more details about this WalletHub analysis and the full 150-city ranking, please see the full report.

Get Ready for Halloween!! Find Your Costumes at TIPSY ELVES!

PayPath
Follow Us on

Southwest Companion Pass

There’s all this talk about solo travel. And for good reason — no wasting precious time waiting for others to get their act together, take the plans out of the group chat and actually buy the tickets. Going solo, you can be spontaneous. You can plan your trips according to your precise tastes. You can hop on any flight and fly awayyyyyy.

Keep readingShow less

Jobs don't have to be miserable!

Photo by Madrona Rose on Unsplash

Though the wave of tech layoffs and the threat of a recession has overshadowed yesteryear's news of the great recession, everywhere you look, employees are asking for more — and getting it. Though this time of uncertainty could have given employers back the power, it's still in the hands of the workforce.

From Gen-Z's boundary setting and penchant for quiet quitting when they're being under-recognized, to labor unions and even the WGA writer's strike, we're in an era where workers can make demands about how they work — and where they work. And for many people, they want to work from home.

Keep readingShow less

Oh, how far we’ve come! Recently, it was revealed that — finally! — women CEOs at Fortune 500 companies outnumber male CEOs named John. A dubious milestone, but it's something to celebrate.

Though women have come pretty far in society, the progress we've made is far from enough. From the pay gap to daily microaggressions, it’s still obvious that women are treated as lesser than in society. This is especially clear when you look at how few female-founded businesses there are.

Keep readingShow less