Black America Data
The Black American demographic reference: population, business, health, education, employment, and city data for the United States.
Black Census
The Black Population of the United States: Size, Definitions, and Distribution
The Black population of the United States totals 52.8 million — 15.4 percent of the nation. How the Census Bureau defines and counts the population, and where it lives.
Black Median Household Income in the United States
Black median household income stands at $56,490 in the Census Bureau's annual income report — how the figure is measured, how it compares, and what drives it.
The Black Poverty Rate: Levels, Children, and the Long Trend
The official Black poverty rate is 17.1 percent — against 11.1 percent nationally and 7.7 percent for non-Hispanic White Americans. How poverty is measured and what the data show.
The Black Homeownership Rate: The Gap and Its History
The Black homeownership rate stands at 44.7 percent, against 72.4 percent for White households — a gap wider than when discrimination in housing was legal. The data and its drivers.
Black Population in Texas: Size, Cities, and Growth
Texas holds the largest Black population of any state — about four million people, roughly one in seven Texans. The census profile of Black Texas.
Black Population in Georgia: One in Three Georgians
About 3.6 million Black Georgians — roughly one in three residents — make Georgia one of the most Black states in the union by share and by scale. The census profile.
Black Business
Black-Owned Businesses: Counts, Receipts, and the Representation Gap
About 161,000 Black-owned employer firms and three million solo ventures: how the Census Bureau counts Black business ownership, where firms concentrate, and the gap between population share and business share.
Black Median Net Worth: The Wealth Gap in Federal Reserve Data
The Federal Reserve puts Black median family net worth at $44,900, against $285,000 for White families — about 16 cents on the dollar. The widest gap in economic data.
Black Buying Power: The $1.8 Trillion Consumer Economy
Black buying power is estimated at about $1.8 trillion — larger than the economy of most nations. What the figure measures, who produces it, and what it buys.
Black-Owned Businesses by Industry: Where the Firms Are
Health care and social assistance is the largest industry of Black business — nearly a third of employer firms. The Annual Business Survey industry profile.
Black Women-Owned Businesses: The Fastest-Growing Founders
Black women start businesses at the fastest pace of any major demographic — roughly two in five Black-owned firms — against the steepest capital odds in the data.
Financing a Black-Owned Business: What the Lending Data Show
Black business owners are approved for full financing at roughly half to two-thirds the rate of White owners in the Federal Reserve's credit surveys. The lending data.
Black Public Health
Hypertension Among Black Adults: Prevalence, Control, and Consequences
About 55 percent of Black adults have hypertension — the highest rate of any U.S. group. Prevalence, onset, control, and the stroke, heart, and kidney consequences in the data.
Diabetes Among Black Adults: Prevalence and Complications
Nearly one in five Black adults has diabetes, diagnosed or undiagnosed — and its complications fall with particular weight. The CDC data on prevalence, control, and outcomes.
Black Life Expectancy: The Gap at Birth and Its Causes
Black life expectancy at birth is about 73 years, roughly five years below the national figure — the summary measure of every health gap in this section. The CDC data.
Health Insurance Coverage Among Black Americans
About one in ten Black Americans is uninsured. Employer plans cover about half, and Medicaid covers roughly one in five — the coverage data behind every health statistic on this site.
Black Maternal and Infant Health: Mortality and Birth Outcomes
Black mothers die from pregnancy-related causes at about two and a half times the White rate, and Black infants at more than twice the White rate. The CDC vital statistics.
Cancer Among Black Americans: Incidence and Mortality
Black Americans develop cancer at rates near the national figure but die from it at higher rates — with the widest gaps in prostate and breast cancer. The CDC and American Cancer Society data.
Black Education
Black Educational Attainment: High School Parity, the College Gap
About 89 percent of Black adults hold a high school diploma and one in four holds a bachelor's degree or higher — the attainment ladder, the college completion gap, and the generational trend.
Historically Black Colleges and Universities: Enrollment and Degrees
More than 100 HBCUs enroll roughly 290,000 students and award about one in six Black bachelor's degrees — an outsized share from a small sector. The federal education data.
Black College Enrollment: 2.4 Million Students
About 2.4 million Black students are enrolled in American colleges — nearly two-thirds of them women. The NCES enrollment data by sector, level, and trend.
Black Student Loan Debt: Borrowing More, Owing Longer
More than four in five Black bachelor's graduates borrow — and four years out they owe about $25,000 more than White graduates. The debt data behind the attainment numbers.
Black Teachers: Seven Percent of the Faculty, Fifteen Percent of the Students
Black teachers are about 7 percent of the public school faculty teaching a student body that is 15 percent Black — and the research says the mismatch matters. The NCES data.
Black Students in K-12: Enrollment, Schools, and Measured Outcomes
About 7.3 million Black children attend America's public schools — 15 percent of enrollment — across district, charter, and private systems. The NCES enrollment and outcomes data.
Black Employment
The Black Unemployment Rate: The Two-to-One Pattern
Black unemployment runs at roughly twice the White rate — 5.5 percent against 3.3 percent in annual averages — a ratio stable across five decades of federal data. How it is measured and why it persists.
Black Median Weekly Earnings: The 80-Cent Ratio
Black full-time workers earn a median of about $900 a week — roughly 80 cents for every dollar White workers earn. The BLS earnings data by group, gender, and occupation.
Black Labor Force Participation: Working at National Rates
Black labor force participation runs at roughly the national rate — and Black women participate at higher rates than White women. The BLS participation data.
Black Workers by Occupation: Where Black America Works
About 36 percent of Black workers hold management or professional jobs; about one in five works in service occupations. The BLS occupational distribution and its history.
Black Workers in the Public Sector: Government as Employer
About one in five Black workers works for a government — federal, state, or local — a share far above the national figure, with consequences across the employment data.
Black Women in the Workforce: Participation, Pay, and Occupations
Black women work at the highest participation rates of any major group of women — about 62 percent — across every level of the economy. The BLS data.
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.
About this reference
Black America Data is a demographic reference covering the Black population of the United States.
Every article is built from published federal and institutional data, with the source named on the page.
The reference is organized in six sections: census, business, public health, education, employment, and cities.