Every seven minutes, someone in the United States becomes blind or visually impaired.
Population Prevalence
To be legally blind, one must satisfy one of two criteria. The more common of these is lack of visual acuity - seeing only 20/200 in the better eye with the best correction. The other is having a field restriction of 20 degrees or less, regardless of visual acuity. However, it is not necessary for a person to be legally blind to have his impaired vision drastically affect his life. Wherever possible, we have included estimated numbers for both legal blindness and substantial visual impairment.
Legally Blind in the United States:
1.3 million
Visually Impaired (including blind) in the United States:
10 million
Number of blind school-age children (served in special education):
55,200 (blind) -- 93,600 (visually impaired)
Number of deaf-blind school-age children (served in special education):
10,800
Number of blind seniors, 65 and over:
787,691 (This estimate is projected to rise to 1.6 million by 2015 and 2.4 million by 2030.)
Number of visually impaired seniors, 65 and over
5.5 million
Mobility
Number of visually impaired people using long canes:
109,000
Number of visually impaired people using guide dogs:
7,000
Braille
Number of children for whom braille is the primary reading medium:
5,500
Computers
Number of visually impaired adults in the U.S. who use computers:
At least 1.5 million
Employment
Percentage of visually impaired working-age Americans (not including blind) who are employed:
46%
Percentage of blind working-age Americans who are employed:
32%
Education
Percentage of blind and visually impaired American high school graduates:
45% (compare with 80% of sighted individuals)
Percentage of blind and visually impaired high school graduates who attend college:
24% (compare with 27% of sighted individuals)
Percentage of blind and visually impaired high school graduates who graduate college:
6% (compare with 26% of sighted individuals)
