All Vision Impairment Data and Statistics

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” includes both low vision and blindness.

See tables for vision impairment data

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

2010 prevalence rates of vision impairment by race

2010 prevalence of vision impairment by race

2010 U.S. prevalent cases of vision impairment (in thousands) by age and race/ethnicity

Prevalent cases of vision impairment (in thousands) in the U.S. by age and race/ethnicity in 2010

2010 U.S. prevalent cases of vision impairment (in thousands) by age, gender, and race/ethnicity

pie chart of U.S. prevalent cases of vision impairment (in thousands) by gender in 2010. Females, represented with blue, comprise 64 percent, while males, represented with red, have a rate of 36 percent.

Projections for vision impairment (2010-2030-2050)

Bar chart of vision impaired, grouped by race, with different colors depicting number of people with impaired vision in 2010, 2030, and 2050.

Bar chart depicting numbers of cases of all vision impaired, grouped by year or projection (2010, 2030, and 2050). Each color bar depicts race (all, white, black, Hispanic, and other).

Changes of cases between 2000 and 2010

Bar chart showing 3,296 cases (in thousands) of vision impairment in 2000, and 4,196 cases (in thousands) of vision impairment in 2010.

2000 U.S. prevalent cases of vision impairment (in thousands) by race/ethnicity

Pie chart depicting all cases of vision impairment by age and race/ethnicity. Whites cases make up 84%, black cases up 8%, Hispanic cases make up 5%, and other cases make up the remaining 3%.

2000 U.S. prevalent cases of vision impairment (in thousands) by gender

Pie chart of 2000 U.S. prevalent cases (in thousands) of all vision impaired by gender. Female cases make up 66%, and male cases make up the remaining 34%.