With protests against racial inequality taking place all across the nation and the black unemployment rate consistently above the rate for white people, WalletHub today released its report on the State Economies with the Most Racial Equality.
In order to determine which states have the most racial equality in terms of employment and wealth, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across eight key metrics. Our data compares the difference between white and black Americans in areas such as annual income, unemployment rate and homeownership rate. Below, you can see highlights from the report, along with a Q&A.
Racial Equality in New York’s Economy (1=Most Equality; 25=Avg.):
- 26th – Median Annual Income
- 38th – Labor-Force Participation Rate
- 29th – Unemployment Rate
- 24th – Homeownership Rate
- 17th – Poverty Rate
- 50th – Homeless Rate
- 1st – Share of Unsheltered Homeless
- 50th – Share of Executives
Q&A
What can the U.S. do to promote greater economic equality for black Americans?
“One way to help black Americans achieve greater economic equality is to increase funding for schools in underserved districts with high minority populations, since a better education can lead to better job opportunities in the future,” said Jill Gonzalez, WalletHub analyst. “In addition to providing higher quality education, we should combat the low representation of black Americans in business executive positions by promoting youth programs that offer resume-building leadership experience, and by pushing for merit-based advancement within large companies.”
How will the recent protests across the nation affect economic conditions for minorities?
“In the long term, the protests seen in the past few weeks have the potential to help minorities economically, as the U.S. is growing more conscious of social and economic inequality, and governing authorities are being pressured to pass laws that address those disparities,” said Jill Gonzalez, WalletHub analyst. “In the short term, the rioting that accompanied some of the protests created further business destruction that is bad for everyone involved.”
