Disabled people living and working in New York City make 20 percent less than those without disabilities, according to a new report released Thursday.

155,000 employed individuals living with disabilities were found to make an average annual salary of $32,000, compared to people without disabilities making $40,000, according to a new report from State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli’s Office.

DiNapoli found 441,000 disabled individuals are of working age, between the ages of 18 to 64, using the most recent data recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau in 2017.

Of that total, 181,600 people were either employed, at 155,000 people, or seeking work, at 26,600 individuals.

This accounts for a 65 percent unemployment rate, which jumps with 79 percent when including 16 and 17-year-olds.

Although full-time disabled employees took in an average salary of $48,200, 36 percent of workers were part-time employees earning a $14,000 average salary.



34 percent of working people with disabilities were found living in poverty—a number exceeding the national average pegged at 26 percent, and also higher than the state’s 30 percent average.

“People with disabilities face obstacles to employment, including lack of education, lack of training, lack of transportation, the need for accommodations and obviously, the challenges of the individual’s own disability,” said DiNapoli at a National Disability Employment Awareness Month event at the World Trade Center Thursday.

“[It’s] no surprise to anyone in this room the report finds that the current employment landscape in New York City for people with disabilities is in one word, challenging.”

930,100 people living in the five boroughs with a disability make up 11 percent of the City’s population according to the 2017 census data.