Introduction
The Racial Wealth Snapshot series provides a quick overview of the economic conditions of different demographic groups. This edition will focus on the demographic and economic characteristics of Black Americans. In this snapshot, the terms “African American” and “Black American” are used interchangeably to refer to people of African descent in the United States.
The vast majority of Black Americans are descendants of enslaved Africans brought to America, some even as early as 1619, before the founding of the country. Starting in the 1960s, a wave of immigrants from newly decolonized Caribbean and African countries arrived in the United States and now comprise about 10% of the Black population. Because government statistics do not differentiate between these two Black cultural groups, the following demographic and economic figures cited in this snapshot refer to the entire Black US population.
Demographics
There are about 48.3 million individuals defined as Black in the United States. From 2000 to 2023, the Black population has increased 33% from 36.1 million. Over half of the Black population (56%) lives in the southern region of the country primarily along the “Black Belt.” In fact, the three states with the largest Black populations are all in the South, with Texas in the lead and Florida and Georgia close behind.
Wealth
Net worth is the difference between assets (i.e., cash, homes, retirement, etc.) and liabilities (i.e., student loans, credit card debt, mortgages, etc). The racial wealth gap refers to the difference in wealth held by African Americans and White Americans. The median Black household holds $44,100 in net worth compared to $284,310 for White households. This means Black households have roughly 15 cents for every one dollar in wealth that White households have. This gap has remained largely consistent over time.
The median Black household has only $2,200 in their checking and savings accounts, or about a fifth of what White households possess ($10,000). Similar disparities exist when it comes to  stock ownership ($5,000 versus $20,000) and home equity values ($123,000 versus $205,000). Additionally, the median Black household holds $26,000 in student loan debt, a thousand more than their White counterparts, despite having much lower levels of wealth.
While homeownership is the cornerstone of the American dream, Black Americans were excluded for decades from participating in the wealth-building generated by homeownership. Here, there is a wide disparity in homeownership rates, with only 43% of Black Americans owning their homes, while White Americans enjoy a 73% homeownership rate.
Income and Poverty
The median household income for African Americans was $56,020 in 2024 compared to the average household income of $83,810. 61.8% of African Americans make less than 75,000. This is far below both the national average of $121,000 and the average for White households of $124,500. Only 27% Black households make more than $100,000, while 46.8% of White households have incomes above $100,000. 18.4% of Black households were below the poverty line in 2023, falling below the high of 26.2% reached in 2011.
Work and Labor
Black people are represented in a variety of different occupations and industries. Overall, they are most likely to work in management roles, the service industry, sales and other office occupations as well as in the transportation sector. Breaking down the numbers by sex reveals that Black men and women differ in the professions they are found in. Black men are heavily represented in logistical occupations, comprising over a quarter of all employment in the sector. Meanwhile, Black women are more likely to work in professional-managerial and service roles.
Work and Labor
Educational attainment has improved for Black Americans over the years. There are several definitions for measuring high school graduation rates. The benchmark method used to measure these rates, the adjusted cohort graduation rate (ACGR), measures the percentage of freshmen in the same cohort who finished high school in 4 years. From 2014 to 2022, the Black ACGR increased from 73% to 81% – the largest improvement of all racial/ethnic groups.
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Another measure of high school graduation rates is the status completion rate, or the percentage of 18 to 24-year-olds who completed high school, including GED holders. The rate for Black Americans has risen dramatically from 72% in 1972 to 93.8% in 2022. This marked increase has nearly closed the disparity in graduation rates between Blacks and Whites from 13.9% to 1.8% over the same 50-year period.
College attainment among African Americans has also improved. From 2012 to 2022, the percentage of Black adults aged 25 and older with a bachelor’s degree increased from 21.2% to 27.6%.
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