The Purchasing Power of Working-Age Adults With Disabilities in Boston and Other Top Metropolitan Areas

This white paper quantifies the amount of disposable and discretionary income held by people with disabilities and the implications for economic growth for the 10 largest metropolitan areas.

Key Findings:

•The amount of disposable income (total income after taxes) represented by people with disabilities varies by metropolitan statistical area (MSA), driven mostly by population size. Boston has a relatively smaller market size with $7 billion aggregated disposable income, due to its smaller population size than larger MSAs such as New York and Los Angeles. However, in the context of the local economy of Boston, the sum of disposable income possessed by the disability community in Boston exceeds the annual budget for the City of Boston which is $3.1 billion. This has important implications for economic growth in Boston, as spending will depend on accessible and inclusive places, products and services.
•People with disabilities in the Boston area have the highest rates of attainment of a bachelor’s degree after Washington, D.C. Efforts to employ and serve disability market should thus reflect the high level of educational attainment achieved by this local community.
•Among people with disabilities who have discretionary income (income after taxes and essential items and services, including housing and food), Boston has the highest average salary both before and after taxes. However, Boston also has high tax rates and expenditure levels, which lead to relatively lower aggregated amounts of discretionary income as compared to other MSAs.

Published on August 19th, 2020