The 28.7% headline
Line-by-line
| Category | Share of US adults | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Cognition | 13.9% | Serious difficulty concentrating, remembering, or making decisions |
| Mobility | 12.2% | Serious difficulty walking or climbing stairs |
| Independent Living | 7.7% | Difficulty doing errands alone |
| Hearing | 6.2% | Deafness or serious difficulty hearing |
| Vision | 5.5% | Blindness or serious difficulty seeing |
| Self-Care | 3.6% | Difficulty dressing or bathing |
Fair housing implications
Disability is federally + CA protected
FHA §3604(f) covers disability at the federal level. California's FEHA is broader, it covers mental health conditions and medical conditions that sit below the federal "substantial limitation" threshold.
Invisible disabilities = #1 source of unintentional disparate treatment
Cognitive disability is a bigger category than mobility. Most are invisible, meaning agents and landlords don't know a protected class is in the room, and process violations go unnoticed until a complaint is filed.
Assistance animals are NOT pets
No breed restrictions, no size limits, no pet deposit. This is the most-sued area of fair housing in 2024-25. Screening protocol and documentation standards matter more here than almost anywhere else.
Reasonable accommodation vs modification
Accommodation = a change to a policy, practice, or service. Modification = a physical change to the unit. In California, modifications are often landlord-paid if the rental is publicly funded.
This is the most underestimated number in Oscar's deck. 28.7% is a bigger share than any ethnic group on any of his other slides. Every transaction has a disability dimension somewhere.
Source: U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.