NHIS estimates reported here pertain to a nationally representative sample of the non-institutionalized civilian population, not including U.S. Territories. It is important to know that NHIS data does not include patients in institutional care facilities; therefore – in theory – the NHIS is under-representative of the older population, especially older Americans with significant long-term care needs. In a 2016 study, the CDC estimated that there were 1,347,600 nursing home residents in the U.S. About 84% were over age 64 and about 39% were over age 84.

Data users should be aware that the NHIS has a relatively small sample size, made even smaller when we focus only on the older population (for example, the 2014 estimate for ages 65 and up was based on only 15,603 responses). Therefore, we should expect some imprecision in the estimates. For example, the NHIS reported that they could say with 95% confidence that their 2014 estimate of 13.5% of people self-reporting vision loss is actually somewhere between 12.5% and 14.6%, and the estimate of 0.8% of people ages 65 and up identifying as blind is somewhere between 0.6% and 1.1%. Changes in sample estimation and question format also led AFB to archive older years of this table to reduce misleading apples and oranges comparisons across versions.

Read more about the NHIS and its Definitions and Scope

Older Adults with Vision Loss (trouble seeing, even when wearing glasses or contact lenses) ages 65 and up1

NHIS Year

Estimated population with vision loss, ages 65+

Estimated population who are blind, ages 65+

2022

13.2 million (23.3%)

1.5 million (2.7%)

2021

12.1 million (21.7%)

1.6 million (2.9%)

2020

11.7 million (21.4%)

1.5 million (2.8%)

2019

11.6 million (22%)

1.7 million (3.2%)

For the purpose of this table, blind refers to people who are blind and those who have significant low vision. These individuals reported either that they cannot see at all, or that they have significant difficulty seeing even when wearing their glasses. The column for all vision loss is inclusive of those who are blind.

Older Adults with Vision Loss (trouble seeing, even when wearing glasses or contact lenses) ages 85 and up1

NHIS Year

Estimated population with vision loss, ages 85+

Estimated population who are blind ages 85+

2022

1.8 million (31.2%)

350,000 (6.2%)

2021

1.7 million (30%)

420,000 (7.3%)

2020

1.6 million (29.4%)

430,000 (7.7%)

2019

1.8 million (30.5%)

530,000 (8.7%)

  1. Data source: The NHIS data shared on this website were obtained through the IPUMS NHIS database:

    Blewett, L. A., Rivera Drew, J. A., King, M. L., and Williams, K. C. (2019). IPUMS health surveys: National Health Interview Survey (Version 6.4) [dataset]. https://doi.org/10.18128/D070.V6.4