This report investigates disability among veterans of the U.S. armed forces and how they compare to the broader nonveteran population. It focuses on disability rates among post-9/11 veterans, that is, those who have served since September 2001. Post-9/11 veterans are the youngest cohort of veterans and more recently have been at the forefront of veteran public health research. 

This report uses annual data from the American Community Survey (ACS), 2008 to 2019 and 2021 to 2022. The Census Bureau did not release its standard 2020 ACS 1-year estimates because of the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, so data from 2020 were not included in this analysis. 

Following an earlier report, it looks at the prevalence of service-connected disabilities (SCD) among veterans as well as ACS-defined disabilities among both the veteran and nonveteran population. Last, the report uses statistical regression analysis to examine whether veterans have become increasingly likely to report an SCD or ACS disability over time, while accounting for differences in the demographic and socioeconomic composition of the veteran population.