Five Facts on African American Demographics

Every day, Learning Life spreads facts on current topics on our Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin pages.  This helps advance Learning Life’s mission to nurture a wider culture of learning using everyday surfaces, including our social media pages.  The following facts on current African American demographics come as the United States celebrates Black History Month in February. 

1) 46.3 million Americans identified as black or mixed race (including black) in 2015.

2) 57% of African Americans lived in the South in 2010, up from 55% in 2000, but down from 90% in 1900.

3) New York has the most African American residents (3.8 million).  The District of Columbia has the highest proportion of blacks (50%), followed by Mississippi (38.3%).

4) The median annual income of black households in 2015 was $36,544, compared with the national median of $55,775.  In 2015, 25.4% of African Americans lived in poverty compared with 14.7% of the total U.S. population.

5) 2.8 million blacks enrolled in college in 2015.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau