46.eight million people in the U.South. identify every bit Black

The assay presented in this report and the accompanying fact sail about the Black population of the United States combines the latest data available from multiple data sources. It is mainly based on information from the U.Southward. Census Bureau'due south 2006-2019 American Community Surveys (ACS) and the post-obit U.S. decennial censuses provided through the Integrated Public Utilise Microdata Series (IPUMS) from the University of Minnesota: 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930, 1940, 1950, 1960, 1970 (course 2), 1980, 1990 and 2000. The ACS is used to present demographic and economic characteristics for each group.

This data was collected before the COVID-xix pandemic.

This report relies on self-identification of race and ethnicity in U.S. Census Bureau products (decennial censuses and iterations of the American Community Survey) to place the nation'southward Black population. Nonetheless, an private's racial and indigenous self-identification may not exist fixed and instead can change over time. In addition, the racial and indigenous categories used by the U.S. Census Bureau tin can change as the way the nation sees itself changes (run across the "Measuring ethnic and racial identity" department of this report for more details on demography years). These changes may bear on how many people identify as Black (or whatsoever other race).

Unless otherwise noted, adults are those who are ages eighteen and older.

U.S. Black population or total Black population refers to all people who self-identify as Blackness in the United States. This includes those who say their race is just Black; those who say Blackness is 1 of two or more races in their groundwork; and those who say they their race is Blackness, or that 1 of their races is Blackness but too bespeak they are of Hispanic or Latino or Black origin. The terms Blackness population and Black people are used interchangeably in this report.

The terms single-race Black and Black alone are used interchangeably throughout the report to refer to the same population. This population is made up of individuals who self-identify only as Black and exercise not identify as Hispanic or Latino.

The term multiracial Black is used to refer to people who self-identify as 2 or more races and do not place as Hispanic or Latino.

The term Black Hispanic is used to refer to those who self-identify as Black and Hispanic or Latino, equally well as those who self-identify as multiracial Black and Hispanic or Latino.

The terms Hispanic or Latino are used interchangeably throughout this report.

White refers to people who self-identify as White just (single race) and do not place as Hispanic or Latino.

Asian refers to people who self-identify equally Asian only (single race) and exercise not identify as Hispanic or Latino.

U.S. born refers to people who are U.S. citizens at birth, including those born in the U.s.a., Puerto Rico, U.S. territories and those born in other countries to parents at least one of whom was a U.S. denizen.

Foreign born refers to people born outside of the Us to parents neither of whom was a U.S. citizen. The terms foreign born and immigrant are used interchangeably in this study.

In this study, nosotros refer to several generations. These are divers by their nativity years and ages in 2019 as follows:

Generation Birth years Age in 2019
Under 7 2012-nowadays 0-half-dozen
Generation Z (Gen Z)* 1997-2012 7-22
Millennial 1981-1996 23-38
Generation X (Gen 10) 1965-1980 39-54
Baby Boomer (Boomer) 1946-1964 55-73
Silent 1928-1945 74-91
Greatest Before 1928 92 and older
* No chronological endpoint has been set for this group. For this analysis, Generation Z is divers every bit those ages 7 to 22 in 2019.

The Black population of the United States is diverse. Its members have varied histories in the nation – many are descendants of enslaved people, while others are recently arrived immigrants. The Black population also has nuanced ethnic and racial identities reflecting intermarriage and international migration. As a issue, there are key distinctions in demographic and economical characteristics between unlike parts of the national Black population, highlighting its diverse multitude of backgrounds.

Chart showing that among the U.S. Black population, both multiracial and Hispanic numbers have grown since 2000

The U.S. Blackness population is also growing. In 2019, 46.8 1000000 people in the U.S. identified their race every bit Black, either alone or equally part of a multiracial or indigenous groundwork. That is upward from 36.2 million in 2000.1 The Black share of the U.Due south. population is college today than in 2000 also. About xiv% of the national population said they were Blackness in 2019, up from thirteen% who did so in 2000.

At the same fourth dimension, the Black population's racial self-identification is irresolute. Among those who self-identify as "Black or African American," the share who say it is their only racial or ethnic identification has declined over the past two decades. In 2019, 40.seven million, or 87%, identified their race as Black alone and their ethnicity equally non-Hispanic, while around 3.seven one thousand thousand, or viii%, indicated their race was Black and another race (most oftentimes White) and not Hispanic. Another 2.4 million, or 5%, self-identified as both Blackness and Hispanic, or Black Hispanic.iiBut these shares have changed since 2000. Then, 93% identified their race and ethnicity as Black solitary.

The nation'due south Black population is changing in other ways too. A growing share are strange built-in, the population is aging (though some segments are significantly younger), and a growing share are college graduates. These trends and more than are explored in this report. Accompanying information technology is a fact canvas showing the demographic and economical characteristics of the nation'southward Blackness population in 2019, based on the U.South. Census Bureau'southward 2019 American Community Survey. Findings for all Blackness people, non-Hispanic unmarried-race Black people, non-Hispanic multiracial Black people and Blackness Hispanics are shown separately. A downloadable spreadsheet of findings is likewise bachelor.

Measuring racial and ethnic identity

Racial identity – as measured by the U.S. decennial census – has inverse over time. The census has drastically inverse since its outset administration in 1790. So, just two racial categories were included: free (which more often than not included White people) and slaves (who were mostly enslaved Black people). The Census Bureau has modified terms used to refer to people of non-White racial identities throughout the years, in accord with the politics and sensibilities of the times. For instance, in the 2020 census, those who selected "Blackness or African American" as their race were asked to write more near their origins, reflecting a more nuanced understanding of Black racial identity. (For more almost how racial and ethnic categories have changed over fourth dimension, see "What Census Calls U.s.a..")

Today, decennial census and American Customs Survey data is collected in a different manner than for most of the nation's history. Respondents choose their racial response categories themselves. This was not true for over a century of censuses. Prior to 1960, 1's racial identification was selected by a census-taker – a Census Bureau employee who administered the survey on paper and chose a racial category on a person'southward behalf. Nonetheless, starting that year, some respondents could self-identify, or chose their own racial category. Self-identification was expanded in subsequent censuses to include virtually all respondents. Additionally, starting in 1980, census data included information from the unabridged population on Hispanic or Latino indigenous identity in addition to their racial identification.And the 2000 census marked the first time respondents were able to include themselves in more than ane racial category; prior to that year, multiracial respondents could select only one racial category.

It's important to note that racial and indigenous self-identification is highly personal and tin alter as one'due south relationship with their identity changes. For example, an analysis of 168 million Americans' demography forms linked between 2000 and 2010 indicated that 10 million people identified their racial and/or indigenous background differently between the ii census forms. Multiracial Americans were one of the population groups that were more likely to change their racial identification between the ii decennial census years.

One-in-four Black people are members of Gen Z

The age structure of the Black population has also changed since 2000. As of 2019, the median age of single-race, non-Hispanic Black people is 35, compared with xxx in 2000. This makes the nation's Black population younger than the nation'south unmarried-race, non-Hispanic White population (with a median age of 43) and the single-race, non-Hispanic Asian population (38), and slightly older than the nation'south Hispanic population (29).

The median age for the entire Black population is 32, though information technology varies across the differing identities amid the Black population. Among Black Hispanic people, it is 22 years. Meanwhile, multiracial Black people are the youngest group, with a median age of 16.

Chart showing that in 2019, most multiracial Black people in U.S. were members of Gen Z or younger, reflecting their youth

A quarter (25%) of those in the U.S. Blackness population are members of Generation Z – born between 1997 and 2012 and ages 7 to 22 in 2019. A further 1-in-ten were under the age of vii that yr. Together, 35% of the U.S. Black population is age 22 or younger. Another 23% are Millennials, significant that over one-half (59%) of the nation's Black population were Millennials or younger (nether age 38) in 2019.

The majority (63%) of multiracial Black people were age 22 or younger in 2019, reflecting the youth of this demographic subgroup. Roughly one-half (51%) of Blackness Hispanics were 22 or younger every bit well.

Over half of the Black population lives in the Southward

Chart showing in 2019, Black people mostly lived in the South

In 2019, the South was the region with the highest share of the land's Black population, with 56% of this population living there. The Midwest and Northeast each held 17% of this population, while the West was home to one-tenth of the Black population.

Regionally, the share of the national Black population living in the Due south has grown. In 2000, over half (54%) of Blackness people in the U.Southward. lived in the S, a very similar share to 2019 (56%). Meanwhile, somewhat higher shares lived the Midwest and Northeast in 2000 than in 2019. Back then, 19% of the national Black population lived in the Midwest and 18% in the Northeast. Over the by two decades, the share of Black people living in Western states was unchanged, at 10%.

Chart showing slight increases in the shares of the Black population living in the South since the 1970s

The growth of the Black population in the South suggests a difference from previous Black migration patterns. The first half of the 20th century featured increasing shares of the population residing in regions of the U.South. outside of the South, primarily after the kickoff of the Great Migration in the late 1910s. Consequently, each decade featured decreasing shares of the Blackness population living in the Southward.

Starting in 1970, shares of the Black population who alive in the South accept grown. There has been a 4 percent point increase in the shares of the Black population who live in the South between 1970 (52%) and 2019 (56%).

Texas has the largest Black country population

With more than 3.9 one thousand thousand Black people in 2019, Texas is home to the largest Blackness population in the U.S. Florida has the second largest population at three.viii million, and Georgia is home to 3.6 million Black people. Other top states of residence include New York (3.4 meg) and California (2.8 million). Together, these five states hold 37% of the national Black population.

Although the peak five states of residence have remained the same for Black people as in 2000, the order shifted substantially, with New York and California dropping from the two largest to fourth and fifth in 2019. In 2000, New York (three.2 million), California, Texas, Florida (each ii.five million) and Georgia (ii.four million) rounded out the top five, together holding 36% of the full Black population.

Acme states of residence differ by racial subgroup. Among non-Hispanic single-race Black people, Texas has the largest population, followed by Georgia, Florida, New York and North Carolina. But amidst non-Hispanic multiracial Blackness people, the state with the largest population is California, followed by Texas, Florida, Ohio and New York. Among Black Hispanics, meanwhile, New York has the largest population, followed past Florida, California, Texas and New Jersey. Notably, Texas, New York and Florida make the superlative five for all subgroups.

Table showing the top five states of residence for the U.S. Black population in 2019

The New York metropolitan area has the largest Black metropolitan population

The metropolitan area with greatest number of Black people is the New York metropolitan area, with roughly iii.eight one thousand thousand in 2019. The New York Urban center area has been the acme urban centre since at least 2000 for Black people, though other metro areas are on the ascent. In 2019, the Atlanta metropolitan area came in a distant 2nd, with ii.2 million Black people, and the Washington, D.C., expanse was next, with i.7 million. By comparison, in 2000, the Chicago metropolitan area had the 2d largest Black metro population and Atlanta had the 4th largest.

Table showing the largest metropolitan areas by Black population, 2019

The New York Metropolis metropolitan area has the largest Black population across the 3 Blackness racial and ethnic subgroups, merely the other top large metropolitan areas differ across categories. The list of top v metropolitan areas for those who say their racial identity is just Black is the same as it is for the Blackness population overall, reflecting their majority (87%) share of the population. However, the top metropolitan areas for multiracial Black people and Black Hispanics differ.

Besides New York Metropolis, the top urban centers for those identifying as multiracial Black are the Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Chicago metropolitan areas. Past contrast, for Black Hispanics, Miami is second, followed by the Boston, Los Angeles and Philadelphia metro areas.

The number of Black adults with a college degree or more pedagogy has more than doubled since 2000. That yr, roughly iii 1000000 Black adults ages 25 and older, or 15%, had earned at least a bachelor'southward caste. That number grew to half dozen.seven million (23%) in 2019.

Chart showing Black bachelor's degree holders more than doubled since 2000

Notably, the share of the Black population with at least a college degree has risen at a similar rate to that of the general population. In 2000, roughly a quarter (24%) of the unabridged U.Southward. population ages 25 and older had a bachelor's caste or higher. In 2019, that share rose to 33%, an increase of nine percentage points. The share of Black adults who earned a bachelor's degree or higher also grew near 9 points over the same time flow, from fifteen% to 23%.

At that place has been a similar up trend specifically amongst Black adults with a principal'due south degree or college. While roughly 1 million Black adults in 2000 (v% of the population over 25) had an avant-garde degree, that number rose to almost 2.half-dozen 1000000, or 9% in 2019.

At that place were differences in educational attainment in 2019 among different subgroups of the Black population. Among these groups, the multiracial Black population has the highest shares of adults 25 and older with a bachelor's degree (20%) and avant-garde degree (12%). Unmarried-race Black adults and Black Hispanics 25 and older have similar, but lower, shares with a bachelor's degree (14% and 15%, respectively) as well as an avant-garde caste (9% and 8%).

The share of Black adults 25 and older without a high school diploma (or its equivalent, such as a GED certificate) has dropped substantially – by more half – since 2000. And then, roughly three-in-ten adults in that age range (28%) had not earned a loftier school diploma. In 2019, that share had dropped to 13%, signifying a fifteen percentage point drop over virtually two decades.

Chart showing that the number of Black immigrants has almost doubled since 2000, and most are from Caribbean, Africa

Immigrants are a part of the nation's Black population that has grown over fourth dimension. The foreign-born Black population has virtually doubled since 2000, rising from 7% so to 10% in 2019. In numbers, 2.4 1000000 Black people were born in some other state in 2000, and past 2019, that had risen to 4.6 million.

Blackness immigrants are mostly from merely two regions of the world. About nine-in-ten (88%) were born in African or Caribbean countries. Of that group, a petty less than half (46%) were born in Caribbean nations, while a slightly lower share (42%) are from African countries. The remaining 12% of Black immigrants are from other parts of the world, with Guyana, Mexico and Honduras as the top three countries of origin.

The majority of Blackness immigrants place as single-race Black (87%) and non-Hispanic, while 10% place every bit Black and Hispanic and 3% say their racial background is multiracial.

Black household incomes since 2000

Since 2000, the U.S. Blackness population has non seen significant increases in median household income. The median income for households headed by a Blackness person was $44,000 in 2019 (before the COVID-19 pandemic-induced recession). But household income of Black households varies. Roughly three-in-10 Black households (29%) fabricated less than $25,000 in 2019, while a quarter earned between $25,000 and $49,999 – which means that more than half (54%) of Black households made less than $50,000 in 2019. About one-in-half-dozen Black households (17%) made $50,000 just below $75,000, 10% earned at least $75,000 but less than $100,000, and 18% earned $100,000 or more in 2019.

Chart showing that nearly half of Black households in U.S. earned $50,000 or more in 2019

The 2019 shares represent an improvement over the distribution of Black household income in 2000. In 2000, roughly three-in-ten (31%) Black-headed households made $25,000 or less (in 2019 U.S. dollar adjusted value), and a quarter (25%) made betwixt $25,000 and $49,999, significant that 56% of Black households earned less than $50,000 in 2000. In that same twelvemonth, roughly three-in-ten Blackness households (28%) made at least $50,000 just less than $100,000, and 16% made $100,000 or more than.

The median income among Black households in 2019 was roughly $44,000, representing a slight inflation-adapted increase over the median household income for Black people in 2000 ($43,581 after adjusting for inflation).

Income inequality within the Blackness population remains one of the widest within a major racial or indigenous grouping. In 2019, Black-headed households with income in the 90th percentile amid the population of Blackness households earned 14 times that of Black households with income in the 10th percentile. The 90th percentile of households in the overall 2019 population, by contrast, earned 12 times that of households with incomes in the 10th percentile.

CORRECTION (Aug. 4, 2021): The "Black household incomes" section has been updated to reflect the 2019 inflation-adjusted distribution of Black household incomes in 2000, which was mischaracterized in a previous version. Related changes accept been made to whatever references in the text of the report. These changes do not substantively affect the written report's findings.