Story at a glance
- Personal finance website WalletHub compared more than 180 U.S. cities across 34 key indicators of disability friendliness to determine the best cities in the U.S. for people with disabilities.
- Minneapolis secured the top position partly due to its No. 1 ranking in WalletHub’s health care category.
- Pittsburgh came in second on the list.
Minneapolis is the best city in the U.S. for people with disabilities, according to a report released less than a week before National Disability Employment Awareness Month.
Personal finance website WalletHub compared more than 180 U.S. cities across 34 key indicators of disability friendliness, including wheelchair-accessible facilities per capita, the rate of workers with disabilities and the quality of public hospital system, to determine the best cities for people with disabilities.
Approximately 61 million Americans live with a disability, with the highest percentage living in the South, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Minneapolis secured the top position partly due to its number one ranking in WalletHub’s healthcare category, which includes data points such as the average cost of a doctor visit, hospital’s per capita, and the number of occupational therapists per capita.
Pittsburgh, home to the second highest number of family home physicians per capita, held the second spot on WalletHub’s list.
St. Louis; Columbia, Md.; and Huntington Beach, Calif., round out the site’s top five.
Meanwhile, Lewiston, Maine; Huntington, W.Va.; and Fort Smith, Ark., have the highest share of people with disabilities living in the area, according to the report. Overland Park, Kan., has the lowest percentage of people with disabilities living in poverty.
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Experts told the site people living with disabilities face many unique financial challenges, especially when it comes to finding accessible housing and transportation.
“Accessible housing is a major issue when it comes to living with disabilities,” Doron Dorfman, an associate professor of Law at Seton Hall University said. “Anything from physically being able to go around the house but also accessibility in less commonly thought ways for other types of disabilities.”
“Inaccessible public transportation is also a major obstacle. Owning a car is sometimes unattainable to people with disabilities and reliance on public transportation becomes a major issue in these circumstances.”
Here are WalletHub’s 10 best cities for people with disabilities.
1. Minneapolis
2. Pittsburgh
3. St. Louis
4. Columbia, Md.
5. Huntington Beach, Calif.
6. Scottsdale, Ariz.
7. Overland, Kan.
8. Philadelphia
9. Virginia Beach, Va.
10. Tempe, Ariz.
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