More Than 500,000 Chicago Adults Live With Disabilities, South and West Sides Show Higher Rates

More than 500,000 Chicago adults live with a disability, representing one in four residents citywide, with South and West side neighborhoods showing significantly higher rates than the North Side, according to a new city report released this week.

The “Neighborhood Conditions for Adults with Disabilities in Chicago” report, created in collaboration with the Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities and the Chicago Department of Public Health, identified eight community areas where more than 40% of adults report having a disability: West Garfield Park, North Lawndale, Fuller Park, West Englewood, Burnside, Roseland, South Deering and Riverdale.

The report found that disability is more prevalent among Black residents than among Latino, White or Asian residents in the city, according to the study. Disability rates are also higher among LGBTQ+ residents compared to cisgender heterosexual adults.

Chicago adults with disabilities face significant challenges compared to residents without disabilities, the report found. They experience more environmental concerns, have a harder time accessing resources like transit and fresh produce, express less trust in law enforcement, report less sense of belonging, and experience greater fear of crime.

“We cannot do a good job as public agencies if we’re not listening, if we’re not learning, if we’re not documenting the realities of the people we are supposed to be serving,” said CDPH Commissioner Dr. Olusimbo Ige during a webinar about the report. “People living with disabilities are not a separate group — they are Chicagoans. We must listen.”

The most common types of disability were cognitive and mobility disabilities, according to the report. Cognitive disabilities include intellectual or developmental disabilities, mental health conditions, or any condition that severely limits ability to concentrate, make decisions or remember.

Nearly 70% of adults with cognitive disabilities are under 45, with nearly 40% being young adults aged 18-29, the report found. In contrast, seniors aged 65 and older accounted for the largest age group with mobility disabilities.

Amber Smock, vice president of advocacy at Access Living, a Chicago disability rights and services organization, emphasized that the challenges faced by people with disabilities stem from systemic barriers rather than individual conditions.

“Disability, truly, is not always about the person’s condition,” Smock said. “It is about the social barriers that are put in front of us.”

These barriers range from economic insecurity to increased likelihood of experiencing harm from law enforcement, according to Smock. She noted the report’s value for neighborhood-level decision-making, such as determining where to open grocery stores.

Smock, who is deaf, challenged city leaders to integrate disability considerations into all planning processes rather than treating accessibility as an afterthought.

“I would challenge people reading the report to think about the fact that disabilities should never be an extra consideration in planning or in making communities as best as they can,” Smock said. “In fact, everything should just basically be done from a disability standpoint. When you design or make sure that your community is inclusive from the get-go, that actually ends up creating access for all the other people.”

The report aims to better understand the experiences and needs of Chicagoans with disabilities across different neighborhoods, providing data that public agencies can use to incorporate feedback and recommendations from people with disabilities in planning and resource allocation.

Ige emphasized that every city department could benefit from the report’s findings, as public agencies work to better serve all Chicago residents, including the substantial population living with disabilities.