46.8 million people live in the U.S. who identified as African American in 2019. The African American population has grown by more than 10 million since 2000. Pew Research

In 2019, there were 40.6 million African Americans residing in the United States, which represents 12.8 percent of the total population. African Americans are the second largest minority population in the United States, following the Hispanic/Latino population.

In 2019, the majority of African Americans lived in the South (58.7 percent of the black U.S. population), while 35.8 percent of the non-Hispanic white population lived in the South. The ten states with the largest African American population in 2019 were Texas, Georgia, Florida, New York, North Carolina, California, Maryland, Illinois, Virginia, Louisiana.

Educational Attainment: It is well-known that Black households hold significantly less wealth than white households in the United States. In 2019, 87.2 percent of African Americans had earned at least a high school diploma, as compared to 93.3 percent of the non-Hispanic white population. 22.6 percent of African Americans had a bachelor’s degree or higher, as compared with 36.9 percent of non-Hispanic whites. More black women than black men had earned at least a bachelor’s degree (25.0 percent compared with 19.7 percent), while among non-Hispanic whites, a higher proportion of women than men had earned a bachelor’s degree or higher (37.3 percent and 36.5 percent, respectively). 8.6 percent of African Americans have a graduate or advanced professional degree, as compared to 14.3 percent of the non-Hispanic white population.

Income and Wealth: Building wealth and achieving financial security are
primary financial aspirations, but many in the African American community face
distinct challenges in reaching these goals. According to the Federal Reserve’s 2019 report, there is an 8:1 gap in wealth between white andBlack families, and a 5:1 gap in wealth between white and Hispanic families.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau in 2019, the average African American median household income was $43,771 in comparison to $71,664 for non-Hispanic white households. In 2019, the U.S. Census Bureau reported that 21.2 percent of African Americans in comparison to 9.0 percent of non-Hispanic whites were living at the poverty level. In 2019, the unemployment rate for African Americans was twice that of non-Hispanic whites (7.7 percent and 3.7 percent, respectively).

In the 2019, African American families’ median and mean wealth is less than 15 percent that of White families, at $24,100 and $142,500, respectively. White families have median and mean family wealth: $188,200 and $983,400, respectively.

The mumbers show that Aftican American families have considerably less wealth than White families. “We [African Americans] have to be equipped with the knowledge to transform the income we make into wealth we can keep. Your money has to start working for you if you want to build wealth,” says J.D. Smith, a Chicago-based Wealth Coach.

The stock market has been one of the greatest generators of wealth in the last decade plus. Yet, no matter the level of education and hard work that has been put in by African Americans, many have not been able to take advantage of stocks to build wealth.

“Wealth flows through us, not to us,” says Smith. “We are constantly transferring money from one institution to another. We go to school and have to take on additional jobs to fund our education and overall living expenses. Money typically goes from our jobs to the education system. And this pattern doesn’t stop after graduation. When we get into the workforce, money often flows from our jobs to pay hefty mortgage and student debt payments to keep up with the lifestyles of our colleagues. We need to allocate more money toward investing if we want to build wealth.”

Health and Life Expectancy: According to Census Bureau projections, the 2020 life expectancies at birth for blacks are 77.0 years, with 79.8 years for women, and 74.0 years for men. For non-Hispanic whites the projected life expectancies are 80.6 years, with 82.7 years for women, and 78.4 years for men. The death rate for African Americans is generally higher than whites for heart diseases, stroke, cancer, asthma, influenza and pneumonia, diabetes, HIV/AIDS, and homicide.

In 2019, suicide was the second leading cause of death for blacks or African Americans, ages 15 to 24. The overall suicide rate for African Americans was 60 percent lower than that of the non-Hispanic white population, in 2018.

Poverty level affects mental health status. Black or African Americans living below the poverty level, as compared to those over twice the poverty level, are twice as likely to report serious psychological distress.

References:

1. https://www.minorityhealth.hhs.gov/omh/browse.aspx
2. https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/notes/feds-notes/disparities-in-wealth-by-race-and-ethnicity-in-the-2019-survey-of-consumer-finances-20200928.htm
3. https://www.blackenterprise.com/african-american-wealth-zero-2053/
4. https://www.minorityhealth.hhs.gov/omh/browse.aspx
5. http://federalreserve.gov/econres/notes/feds-notes/disparities-in-wealth-by-race-and-ethnicityin-the-2019-survey-of-consumer-finances-20200928.htm