Study Finds Nurses With Disabilities Earn 12% Less

Nurses with disabilities take home significantly smaller paychecks than their non-disabled colleagues, even after accounting for hours worked and demographic differences, according to new research.

The Study

The research letter, titled "Wage Gaps Between US Nurses With and Without Disabilities," was authored by Laurin Bixby, K. Jane Muir, Michelle Kephart, and Mihir Kakara. It was published June 27, 2026, in Health Affairs Scholar (Bixby et al., 2026).

The team drew on a large, long-running federal dataset — the American Community Survey — covering 473,850 employed nurses ages 20 to 65 between 2008 and 2023. Within that group, 17,425 nurses, or 3.5%, reported having a disability.

Key Findings

• A 12.2% annual wage gap. Nurses with disabilities earned 12.2% less in annual wages than nurses without disabilities, even after the researchers adjusted for demographic characteristics and hours worked.
• Lower hourly pay and fewer hours. Nurses with disabilities earned 7.4% lower hourly wages and worked roughly 27 fewer hours per year than their non-disabled peers.
• The gap held across roles. Registered nurses with disabilities earned 11.6% less, while advanced practice registered nurses with disabilities earned 6% less than their counterparts without disabilities. The disparity was most pronounced among nurses reporting multiple disabilities, cognitive disabilities, or independent living disabilities.

Why It Matters

The study's authors point to workplace factors including: accommodations, scheduling flexibility, and organizational support, as likely contributors to the disparity and call for further research to pin down the underlying causes.

The findings arrive at a notable moment for the nursing workforce. As the field continues to diversify and age, the number of nurses managing disabilities or activity limitations is expected to grow, making pay equity an increasingly pressing workforce issue.

The Bottom Line

Nearly one in 30 nurses in the sample reported a disability, and those nurses consistently earned less than their peers, a gap that persisted across nursing roles and could not be fully explained by hours worked or demographics alone. The authors' call for more research on workplace accommodations and suggests hospitals and health systems have concrete levers to potentially close this gap.

Source: Bixby, L., Muir, K. J., Kephart, M., & Kakara, M. (2026). Wage Gaps Between US Nurses With and Without Disabilities. Health Affairs Scholar, qxag161. https://doi.org/10.1093/haschl/qxag161

Additional reporting details via: Jeffries, E. (2026, July 13). Nurses with disabilities earn 12% less: 4 study notes. Becker's Hospital Review. https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/quality/nursing/nurses-with-disabilities-earn-12-less-4-study-notes/