Best & Worst Cities for People with Disabilities (2026)

When searching for a new home, people with disabilities often have a longer and more complicated list of considerations than other individuals. In addition to common wish-list items, such as reliable public transportation and diverse entertainment options, people with disabilities also must think about things like the accessibility of homes and public buildings.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 28.7% of U.S. adults have a disability. Keeping up with the costs of a disability can be very expensive, too. The average monthly Social Security disability benefit as of July 2026 was only $1,498.43. That adds up to a yearly income of $17,981.16, only slightly above the federal poverty line for a single individual ($15,960).

With the physical and economic challenges of managing a disability in mind, WalletHub compared more than 180 of the largest cities across 33 key indicators of disability-friendliness. Our data set ranges from physicians per capita to the rate of workers with disabilities to the accessibility of buildings.

Main Findings

In the overall ranking below, readers who are particularly interested in the best places to live on disability income should focus on the “Economy” category. Likewise, those who place a higher premium on quality of medical care should focus on the “Health Care” category.

Best & Worst Cities for People with Disabilities

Note: With the exception of “Total Score,” all of the columns in the table above depict the relative rank of that city, where a rank of 1 represents the best conditions for that metric category.

In-Depth Look at the Top Cities

St. Louis, MO

St. Louis, MO, is the best city for people with disabilities, in part because the city has earned a strong reputation among healthcare professionals. St. Louis, ranks seventh-best city for doctors and 19th-best city for nurses. In addition, the city has the 15th-highest share of people with disabilities, which improves accessibility within city buildings.

St. Louis offers excellent green space access for people with disabilities, with most parks located near where residents live. Around 98% of parks are accessible, the third-most in the country. On top of that, St. Louis has the 16th-highest walkability score.

Minneapolis, MN

Minneapolis is the second-best city for people with disabilities, in part due to the availability of affordable, quality medical care. The average monthly health insurance premium in Minneapolis is $437, the third-lowest in the country. In addition, the city has the eighth-best public hospitals and the 13th-most hospitals per capita.

Minneapolis has also made strides with accessibility, ranking as the 26th-best city when it comes to the number of wheelchair-accessible grocery stores and 25th-best for arts and entertainment establishments per capita. It has the fifth-most wheelchair-accessible trails as well, and 99% of residents live within half a mile of a park.

Finally, over 27% of homes listed for sale in Minneapolis are wheelchair-accessible, the 11th-most in the country.

Columbus, OH

Columbus, OH, is the third-best city for people with disabilities, in part because it’s home to an especially high number of medical professionals. Columbus has the 36th-most occupational therapists and the 11th-lowest average monthly health insurance premium. In addition, the city has the 13th-most special-education teachers per 1,000 residents with a disability, which improves accessibility within schools.

Columbus is also good for homebuyers with disabilities, as nearly 25% of homes in the city are wheelchair-accessible, the 14th-most in the country. On top of that, Columbus is the 42nd-cheapest among the more than 180 cities in our study when it comes to housing affordability. The city has the 25th-lowest homelessness rate for people with disabilities, too.

The methodology can be found on the full version of the article on WalletHub.