Updated
Updated · PR Newswire · Jul 27
SourceAmerica Shows AbilityOne Workforce Grew to 37,407 as Average Wage Rose to $19.68
Updated
Updated · PR Newswire · Jul 27

SourceAmerica Shows AbilityOne Workforce Grew to 37,407 as Average Wage Rose to $19.68

3 articles · Updated · PR Newswire · Jul 27

Summary

  • SourceAmerica told the National Council on Disability that AbilityOne employment rose to 37,407 workers in 2025 from 32,652 in 2022, submitting updated data it said corrected outdated and inaccurate NCD reports.
  • Average pay climbed to $19.68 an hour from $16.43 over the same period, while about 6,000 employees moved into community jobs and 8,800 promotions were recorded.
  • SourceAmerica said those gains came despite labor shortages, post-pandemic disruption and commercial-sector wage competition, arguing the federal procurement-based program provides a stabilizing employment effect for people with disabilities.
  • The group also highlighted policy changes, including the phaseout of 14(c) certificates; its transition program helped 100 nonprofit agencies move away from subminimum-wage practices after AbilityOne contracts stopped using the certificates in 2023.
  • AbilityOne, in place for more than 85 years, is presented by SourceAmerica as a national-scale program that pairs long-term disability employment with federal service needs such as IT, mail delivery and NASA support.

Insights

As AbilityOne expands into AI and cybersecurity, could this federal procurement model outpace the commercial sector in inclusive hiring?
SourceAmerica claims massive wage growth, but do these new statistics truly silence the critics demanding full community integration?
With the end of subminimum wages, what hidden challenges did nonprofits face when moving workers into competitive community roles?