To obtain exact statistics for this apparent direct question, is by no means simple or straightforward. Statistics do not specifically establish any figures concerning any group in particular because of the way census forms are constituted. The U S is divided into states, counties and communities and data concerning logistics is supposed to work its way upwards. All people with disabilities are categorized as one group and no distinction is made. By the time it is compiled into information it tends to be a bit nebulous.

There is also a tendency to ignore minority needs in favor of the holistic welfare of the greater American society, although lately state legislation has applied some control to this abuse. Still, if figures hangs in the air, nothing definite is acted on.

Estimates believe that there are between 500,000 and 2,000,000 people that use Sign Language as their home tongue. These numbers do deviate from different sources but it is surprisingly popular as mentioned in Trudy Suggs book: American Sign Language is the 3rd most-used language in the United States, trailing spoken English and Spanish however other research only points out the lack of assertive statistics available.

It seems that 3.68% of the total population is found to be hard of hearing and 0.3% of the total population is functionally Deaf, out of a total population of about 268,000,000 (2005) living souls in the US. Half of both proposed figures seems to be older than 65 years of age.

To conclude - there is a difference in the severity of hearing loss, from almost not measurable to functionally deaf. According to this 804,000 Americans are functionally Deaf and in total 9,862,400 Americans are hard of hearing. This philosophy is derived from health statistics and conjecture.