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All Vision Impairment

Vision Impairment Defined

Vision impairment is defined as the best-corrected visual acuity less than 6/12 (‹20/40) in the better-seeing eye (excluding those who were categorized as being blind by the U.S. definition.)

The category "All Vision Impairment" icludes both low vision and blindness.

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2010 U.S. Age-Specific Prevalence Rates for Vision Impairment by Age and Race/Ethnicity

2010 U.S. age-specific prevalence rates for Vision Impaired by age, gender, and race/ethnicity

Age White Black Hispanic Other All
40-49 0.32% 0.23% 0.33% 0.28% 0.31%
50-54 0.36% 0.51% 0.62% 0.54% 0.42%
55-59 0.46% 0.92% 0.99% 0.86% 0.59%
60-64 0.68% 1.65% 1.60% 1.40% 0.89%
65-69 1.14% 2.96% 2.64% 2.36% 1.49%
70-74 2.17% 5.06% 4.46% 4.01% 2.70%
75-79 4.65% 8.20% 7.61% 6.92% 5.25%
80+ 27.17% 16.68% 19.11% 18.44% 25.66%
TOTAL 3.27% 2.18% 1.95% 2.02% 2.94%


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2010 Prevalence Rates of Vision Impairment by Race

Chart Projections 2010 (Vision Impaired)

  All White Black Hispanic Other
Prevalence 0.029 0.033 0.022 0.020 0.020


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2010 U.S. Prevalent Cases of Vision Impairment (in thousands) by Age, and Race/Ethnicity

2010 U.S. Prevalent Cases of Vision Impairment (in thousands) by age, and race/ethnicity (Vision Impaired)

Age White Black Hispanic Other All
40-49 92 12 22 9 135
50-54 56 13 16 8 93
55-59 67 20 18 11 116
60-64 87 27 22 13 149
65-69 111 34 25 15 185
70-74 157 43 32 20 252
75-79 272 50 39 24 385
80+ 2,556 133 119 76 2,884
TOTAL 3,398 332 293 176 4,199

2010 U.S. Prevalent Cases of Vision Impairment (in thousands) by Age, Gender, and Race/Ethnicity

2010 U.S. Prevalent Cases of Vision Impairment (in thousands) by gender.

Female/Age White Black Hispanic Other All
40-49 46 6 11 5 68
50-54 28 7 8 4 47
55-59 34 11 9 6 60
60-64 45 15 12 7 79
65-69 58 19 14 8 99
70-74 84 25 18 11 138
75-79 152 31 23 14 220
80+ 1,747 93 76 48 1,964
TOTAL 2,194 207 171 103 2,675
Male/Age White Black Hispanic Other All
40-49 46 6 11 4 67
50-54 28 6 8 4 46
55-59 33 9 9 5 56
60-64 42 12 10 6 70
65-69 53 15 11 7 86
70-74 73 18 14 9 114
75-79 120 19 16 10 165
80+ 809 40 43 28 920
TOTAL 1,204 125 122 73 1,524


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Projections for Vision Impairment (2010-2030-2050)

Chart Projections 2010 (Vision Impaired)

Year All White Black Hispanic Other
2010 4,195,966 3,398,977 330,644 290,781 175,564
2030 7,169,680 5,277,689 618,110 840,497 433,383
2050 13,026,870 9,019,189 1,047,986 2,000,853 958,842

Chart Projections 2010 (Vision Impaired)

Total Population 142,648,393 103,846,437 15,190,777 14,901,369 8,709,810


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Changes of Cases between 2000 and 2010

Chart Projections 2010 (Vision Impaired)

Year Value Short Value
2000 3,295,670 3,296
2010 4,195,966 4,196

2000 U.S. Prevalent Cases of Vision Impairment (in thousands) by Age, and Race/Ethnicity

2000 U.S. Prevalent Cases of Vision Impairment Chart

Age White Black Hispanic Other All
40-49 100 11 14 7 132
50-54 48 9 8 5 70
55-59 49 12 10 6 77
60-64 58 18 12 7 95
65-69 88 26 16 9 139
70-74 160 37 21 14 232
75-79 288 45 24 16 373
80+ 1,960 109 65 45 2,179
TOTAL 2,751 267 170 109 3,297

2000 U.S. Prevalent Cases of Vision Impairment (in thousands) by Age, Gender, and Race/Ethnicity

2000 U.S. Prevalent Cases of Vision Impairment (in thousands) by gender.

Female/Age White Black Hispanic Other All
40-49 50 6 7 4 67
50-54 24 5 4 3 36
55-59 25 7 5 3 40
60-64 30 10 6 4 50
65-69 47 15 9 5 76
70-74 89 22 12 8 131
75-79 170 28 14 9 221
80+ 1,405 77 43 28 1,553
TOTAL 1,840 170 100 64 2,174
Male/Age White Black Hispanic Other All
40-49 50 5 7 3 65
50-54 24 4 4 2 34
55-59 24 5 5 3 37
60-64 28 8 6 3 45
65-69 41 11 7 4 63
70-74 71 15 9 6 101
75-79 118 17 10 7 152
80+ 555 32 22 17 626
TOTAL 911 97 70 45 1,123


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