Black Cities
Black Atlanta: Population, Distribution, and Growth of a Black Metropolis
Metro Atlanta holds more than two million Black residents — roughly one in three, second only to New York. The suburban distribution, migration history, and composition of Black Atlanta in the census data.
Black New York: The Largest Black Population in America
The New York metropolitan area holds about 3.4 million Black residents — more than any metro in the nation — and the city itself about two million. The census profile.
Black Washington: The District and the Metro
The Washington metro holds about 1.6 million Black residents, and the District itself — long a majority-Black city — now records a Black share near 41 percent. The census profile.
Black Chicago: Population of the City and the Metro
The Chicago metro holds about 1.6 million Black residents; the city itself counted 787,551 in the last census, just under 29 percent. The profile of Black Chicago.
Black Houston: Population, Wards, and Growth
The Houston metro holds about 1.3 million Black residents, and the city about half a million — roughly one in five Houstonians. The census profile of Black Houston.
Black Dallas: The Metroplex's Southern Half
Dallas–Fort Worth holds about 1.2 million Black residents. The city of Dallas is roughly one in four Black, and its southwestern suburbs include some of America's most affluent Black communities.
Black Los Angeles: From South Central to the Inland Empire
The Los Angeles metro holds close to a million Black residents — a shrinking share of a vast region, dispersing from historic South Los Angeles to the Inland Empire. The census profile.
Black Detroit: America's Blackest Big City
Detroit is the most heavily Black large city in the United States — about four in five residents — and its metro holds nearly a million Black residents. The census profile.
Black Baltimore: A Majority-Black City and Its Region
About three in five Baltimoreans are Black, and the metro holds some 850,000 Black residents. The census profile of a majority-Black city and its suburbs.
Black Memphis: The Bluff City's Majority
Nearly two-thirds of Memphis is Black — the deepest Black majority of any large Southern city — and the metro holds more than 600,000 Black residents. The census profile.
Black New Orleans: Before and After the Storm
New Orleans holds about 230,000 Black residents — roughly three in five of the city — remade by Katrina's displacement and a partial return. The census profile.
Black Miami: Dade, Broward, and the Haitian Capital
Greater Miami holds more than a million Black residents — African American, Haitian, Jamaican, and Afro-Latino — the most Caribbean Black metropolis in America. The census profile.
Black Philadelphia: Two in Five of the City of Brotherly Love
Philadelphia holds about 680,000 Black residents in the city and 1.35 million across the metro — one of the oldest and largest Black populations in the North. The census profile.
Black Charlotte: The Banking City's Third
Charlotte holds about 300,000 Black residents in the city and more than 600,000 across the metro — a banking-boom population between the old Brooklyn and the new suburbs. The census profile.
Black Boston: Roxbury, Mattapan, and the Suburban Shift
Boston holds about 160,000 Black residents in the city and near half a million across the metro — an abolitionist-era community reshaped by Caribbean migration. The census profile.
Black Seattle: The Central District's Transformation
Seattle holds about 60,000 Black residents in the city and 230,000 across the metro — a small share by this section's standards, transformed by the Central District's change. The census profile.
Black Cleveland: Nearly Half of the City on the Lake
Cleveland holds about 185,000 Black residents — nearly half the city — in a Great Migration metropolis whose Black suburbs are among America's oldest. The census profile.
Black St. Louis: The Ville, the North Side, and the County
St. Louis holds about 140,000 Black residents in the city and more than half a million across the bi-state metro. The census profile.
Black Milwaukee: Two in Five, in America's Most Divided Metro
Milwaukee holds about 245,000 Black residents in the city — two in five — in the metro that segregation indices have ranked at the top for decades. The census profile.
Black Indianapolis: Indiana Avenue's City, Three in Ten
Indianapolis holds about 260,000 Black residents — nearly three in ten — from the Indiana Avenue corridor to the township suburbs. The census profile.
Black Newark: Half the Brick City
Newark holds about 160,000 Black residents — half the city — at the center of Essex County's great Black suburban landscape. The census profile.
Black Kansas City: East of Troost
Kansas City holds about 150,000 Black residents in the Missouri city — and a metro population near 270,000 divided by the famous Troost line. The census profile.
Black Phoenix: A Metropolis Without a Historic Core
Phoenix holds about 125,000 Black residents in the city and 250,000 across the Valley — a Black metropolis built in the suburbs of the boom. The census profile.
Black Las Vegas: The Westside and the Valley's Growth
Las Vegas and Clark County hold about 330,000 Black residents — from the Historic Westside to the fastest-growing suburbs in Nevada. The census profile.
Black Denver: From Five Points to Aurora
Denver holds about 65,000 Black residents in the city and 185,000 across the metro — a community whose center of gravity has shifted to the suburbs. The census profile.
Black Birmingham: The Steel City's Majority
Birmingham is about seven-tenths Black — some 140,000 residents — at the center of a 300,000-person Black metro built by steel and enterprise. The census profile.
Black Nashville: Four HBCUs and Music City's Other Sound
Nashville holds about 195,000 Black residents in Davidson County — and the densest HBCU cluster in America relative to its size. The census profile.
Black Richmond: Jackson Ward and the Capital's Second History
Richmond holds about 105,000 Black residents — nearly half the city — in a capital whose Black history runs from slavery's marketplace to Maggie Walker's bank. The census profile.
Black Jacksonville: Florida's Largest Land City, Its Black Anchor
Jacksonville holds about 295,000 Black residents — nearly a third of the consolidated city — in the Bold City's port and naval economy. The census profile.
Black Columbus: The Capital City's East Side and Its Somali Chapter
Columbus holds about 275,000 Black residents — nearly a third of the city — the largest Black population of any Ohio city. The census profile.
Black Cincinnati: The River City Between Freedom and Slavery's Shore
Cincinnati holds about 135,000 Black residents — over two-fifths of the city — in the border city where the Underground Railroad crossed the Ohio. The census profile.
Black Austin: East of the Highway, Priced Out of the Center
Austin holds about 85,000 Black residents in the city and 155,000 across the metro — a shrinking share of a booming city. The census profile.
Black San Antonio: The East Side of Military City
San Antonio holds about 110,000 Black residents in the city and 165,000 across the metro — the east-side community of America's military capital. The census profile.
Black Orlando: Parramore, Eatonville, and the Tourism Workforce
Orlando holds about 80,000 Black residents in the city and 420,000 across the metro — from America's oldest Black town to the theme-park economy. The census profile.
Black Tampa: Central Avenue's Legacy and the Bay's Two Shores
Tampa holds about 95,000 Black residents in the city and 340,000 across Tampa Bay — including St. Petersburg's Deuces Corridor. The census profile.
Black Sacramento: The Capital's South Side and Del Paso Heights
Sacramento holds about 75,000 Black residents in the city and 165,000 across the metro — a state-capital community in California's affordability refuge. The census profile.
Black Portland: Albina's Shrinking Heart, the East Side's New Map
Portland holds about 50,000 Black residents in the city and 150,000 across the metro — a community displaced from its historic district to the city's edge. The census profile.
Black Buffalo: The East Side, the Fruit Belt, and a Hard Century
Buffalo holds about 100,000 Black residents in the city — a third of its population — and 160,000 across the metro. The census profile.
Black Pittsburgh: The Hill District and August Wilson's City
Pittsburgh holds about 70,000 Black residents in the city and 200,000 across the metro — from the Hill District's jazz age to the East End's present. The census profile.
Black Hampton Roads: Norfolk, the Navy, and Four Historic Cities
Hampton Roads holds about 500,000 Black residents across Norfolk, Hampton, Newport News, and Portsmouth — a military-and-HBCU metro like no other. The census profile.
Black Greensboro: A&T, Bennett, and the Lunch Counter's City
Greensboro holds about 125,000 Black residents in the city and 210,000 across the Triad — home to the nation's largest HBCU. The census profile.
Black Charleston: The Peninsula's Great Dispersal and the Gullah Coast's Anchor
Charleston's Black share fell from a majority to under a fifth of the city — while the metro's Black population grew in North Charleston and the suburbs. The census profile.
Black Columbia: Two HBCUs, a State House, and the Midlands' Center
Columbia holds about 55,000 Black residents in the city — two-fifths — and 240,000 across the metro. The census profile.
Black Jackson: Mississippi's Majority-Black Capital
Jackson is nearly four-fifths Black — the most heavily Black state capital in America — with about 300,000 Black residents across its metro. The census profile.
Black Baton Rouge: Southern University's City on the River
Baton Rouge is majority-Black — about 125,000 city residents — home to the largest HBCU system in America. The census profile.
Black Little Rock: Central High's City and the River's Two Shores
Little Rock holds about 85,000 Black residents in the city — two-fifths — and 260,000 across the metro. The census profile.
Black Oklahoma City: Deep Deuce's Heirs and the Northeast Side
Oklahoma City holds about 110,000 Black residents in the city and 200,000 across the metro — from jazz-age Deep Deuce to Langston's orbit. The census profile.
Black Tulsa: Greenwood's Ground and North Tulsa's Present
Tulsa holds about 65,000 Black residents in the city and 105,000 across the metro — on the most famous thirty-five blocks in Black economic history. The census profile.
Black Wichita: The Air Capital's Northeast Side
Wichita holds about 45,000 Black residents in the city and 70,000 across the metro — an aircraft town's compact Black community. The census profile.
Black Rochester: Douglass's City After Kodak
Rochester holds about 85,000 Black residents in the city — two-fifths — and 170,000 across the metro. The census profile.
Black Syracuse: The 15th Ward's Ground Beneath the Viaduct
Syracuse holds about 45,000 Black residents in the city — nearly a third — and 85,000 across the metro. The census profile.
Black Omaha: North Omaha's Long Arc From the 24th Street Days
Omaha holds about 60,000 Black residents in the city and 95,000 across the metro — Malcolm X's birthplace and the plains' oldest Black community. The census profile.
Black Des Moines: Center Street's Legacy and Iowa's Black Center
Des Moines holds about 25,000 Black residents in the city and 50,000 across the metro — small in count, central in Iowa's Black data. The census profile.
Black San Diego: The Southeast and the Navy's City
San Diego holds about 105,000 Black residents in the city and 190,000 across the metro — a military-built community in America's finest-weather city. The census profile.
Black Hartford: The North End, the West Indians, and Bloomfield
Hartford is nearly two-fifths Black in the city — about 45,000 residents — with a Caribbean depth rare in New England. The census profile.
Black Providence: Fox Point, the Cape Verdeans, and Rhode Island's Capital
Providence holds about 28,000 Black residents in the city and 105,000 across Rhode Island — home to America's Cape Verdean heartland. The census profile.
Black Albany: Arbor Hill and New York's Capital Region
Albany holds about 29,000 Black residents in the city and 95,000 across the Capital Region — a community older than the republic it now helps govern. The census profile.
Black Durham: The Hayti District and Black Wall Street's Other Home
Durham holds about 95,000 Black residents in the city and 150,000 across its metro — the city that built Black Wall Street beside Tulsa. The census profile.
Black Winston-Salem: Tobacco's Twin City and the Arts School
Winston-Salem holds about 90,000 Black residents in the city and 130,000 across the metro — a tobacco city with an HBCU and an arts identity. The census profile.
Black Fayetteville: Fort Liberty's City and the Sandhills
Fayetteville holds about 95,000 Black residents in the city and 135,000 across the metro — a community built beside the Army's largest post. The census profile.
Black Augusta: The Garden City, the Godfather, and the Medical District
Augusta holds about 105,000 Black residents in the city and 150,000 across the metro — a majority-Black Georgia city with James Brown in its marrow. The census profile.
Black Savannah: The Hostess City's First City of the Georgia Coast
Savannah holds about 88,000 Black residents in the city and 125,000 across the metro — from First African Baptist's 1773 founding to the port's modern cranes. The census profile.
Black Mobile: Alabama's Port City and the Last American Slave Ship
Mobile holds about 95,000 Black residents in the city and 140,000 across the metro — nearly half the city, from Africatown to the shipping channel. The census profile.
Black Shreveport: The Red River City of North Louisiana
Shreveport holds about 105,000 Black residents in the city and 145,000 across the metro — a majority-Black city on the Red River. The census profile.
Black Montgomery: The Cradle of the Confederacy and the Capital of the Movement
Montgomery holds about 125,000 Black residents in the city and 155,000 across the metro — a majority-Black capital holding both foundings. The census profile.
Black Knoxville: East Tennessee's Marble City
Knoxville holds about 32,000 Black residents in the city and 52,000 across the metro — East Tennessee's largest Black community, from Beck's archive to the Sunsphere. The census profile.
Black Lexington: Horse Country's Other Bloodlines
Lexington holds about 46,000 Black residents in the city and 58,000 across the metro — home to the Black jockeys who ruled the early Derby. The census profile.
Black Dayton: The Funk Capital's West Side
Dayton holds about 58,000 Black residents in the city and 100,000 across the metro — the West Side that gave the world the Ohio Players. The census profile.
Black Toledo: The Glass City's North End
Toledo holds about 75,000 Black residents in the city and 95,000 across the metro — over a quarter of the Glass City, from Scott High's maroon to the Jeep plant. The census profile.
Black Grand Rapids: Furniture City's Southeast Side
Grand Rapids holds about 38,000 Black residents in the city and 60,000 across the metro — West Michigan's largest Black community. The census profile.