# Presentation: 519481

## Blacksin the United States

**For Presentation at the District of Columbia**
**Public Library**
**Black History Month Program**
**February 28, 2008**
**Washington, DC**
**	****Claudette Bennett, Ph.D**
**U.S. Census Bureau**

## Goals

- Discuss the population size and growth of the Black population
- Review the geographic distribution of the Black population
- Discuss current socioeconomic characteristics of the Black population in the District of Columbia

**Notes:**
I will not be with you long.  In the time allocated. I have been asked to talk about the Black population and to present some statistics on the population distribution and concentration and some of the key social and economic indicators of the Black population in the United States and the District of Columbia.

The peculiar history of Black Americans is, in part, responsible for our present status.  Blacks, as a group differ from other population groups and in particular Whites in American in many ways.  These differences as you will see later in this presentation stem from the low status to which Blacks have been relegated in our society.  In the U.S there are several fundamental differences between Blacks and the total population.

## Black Alone Versus Black Alone or in Combination With Another Race

- Respondents who reported their race as Black and no other races are included in the Black alone population.
- Respondents who reported their race as Black and one or more other races are referred to as the Black alone or in combination with one or more other races population.

**Notes:**
Before, I proceed. I need to discuss terminology.  In 1997, the Office of Management and Budget issued a revision to the 1977 standard by which data on race and ethnicity are collected, tabulated, and presented  by federal agencies.  After an extensive review of the 1977 standards that identified four major race groups; the 1997 revisions identified five.  The five race groups are White, Black, American Indian and Alaska Native, Asian, and Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander.  In an effort to recognize and capture data for people of mixed racial parentage, it allowed these individuals to report one or more races. In the 2000 Census and thereafter, the instruction to the question on race, asked people to report one or more races.
The reporting of one or more races lead to two different approaches being used when tabulating data by race- the race alone; and the race alone or in combination with one or more races. The race alone is a count of the number of people who reported only one race.  The race alone or in combination is a tally of the races reported by the respondent and adds to greater than the total U.S. population. 

## Blacks Population in the United States: 1970 to 2050

**Blacks Population in the United States: 1970 to 2050**

- *Projected Population as of July 1

- Projections

- Census

- Numbers in Millions

**Notes:**
In 2000, the Black alone population totaled 34.7 million. An additionally 1.8 million people reported Black and at least one other race, bringing the total Black population to about 36.4 million. But in the slide we only show data for the Black alone population because, the Census Bureau has not developed a procedure to accurately project the population likely report more than one race.
The 2000 Black population of 34.7 million is exceeded by only 5 of the more than 40 independent African states .  
If current trend and in births, deaths, and immigration continues, the Black population is projected to reach 40.4 million in 2010, and 45 million by 2020.

Blacks are the largest visible racial minority population in the U.S.  Please note I said racial minority.  People of Hispanic origin may be of any race. Blacks constituted about 55 percent of the one race nonwhite population.  About one-fourth of the one race nonwhite population were in the Some other race category.  The single Some other race population were about 95 percent Hispanics. 

## Blacks as a Percent of Total Population in the United States: 1970 to 2050

**Blacks as a Percent of Total Population in the United States: 1970 to 2050**

- *Projected Population as of July 1

- Projections

- Census

**Notes:**
In 2000, Blacks made up 12.7 percent of the total U.S. population. 
At the time of the first census 1790, nearly 1 out of every 5 Americans was black.  With each following census the number increased to  the point that two hundred years later, 34 million blacks lived in the U.S.   The pattern of growth has been consistent, with the percentage of increase being greatest in the earlier years.   During the decade from 1800 to 1810, for example, the Black population increased by 37.5 percent.  The decade with the lowest percentage increase was from 1910 to 1920.  The single historical contributor to the increase in the Black population has been the excess of birth over death.  Since the first census, immigration has played an insignificant element in Black population growth.

By 2020, Blacks are projected to represent about 13.5 percent of the total U.S. population.The Black population is projected to increase to 61.4 million by 2050, thereby constituting about 15 percent of the total U.S. population.

## GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION OF THE BLACK POPULATION IN THE UNITED STATES: 1990 TO 2005 

##                     Percent of Population 1990

-                     Percent of Population 1990
-                             Black Population

**Notes:**
Throughout most of American history Black people have been heavily concentrated in the agricultural South.  At the end of the Civil War, more than 92 percent of Blacks lived in the southern region of the U.S.  Throughout the 20th century, Black have migrated from the South to other regions, principally the Northeast and Midwest.  So widespread was this migration that by 1990 only about half of Blacks remained in the South.

In recent years there has been a trend to reverse this pattern.  Black professionals and retiring Blacks are moving back to the South.

## Slide 8

**Notes:**
In this slide you see the continued representation of Blacks in the South.

## Slide 9

**Notes:**
In 2005, the Southern region had the largest Black population, as well as the highest proportion of Blacks in its total population; 19 percent of all people in the south were Black compared with 12 percent in the Northeast, 10 percent in the Midwest, and 5 percent in the West.

## Slide 10

**Notes:**
As shown on this slide, you see that the Black population is still highly concentrated - - over 60 percent of all counties (3,141) in the United States had fewer than 6 percent Blacks, but in 96 counties, Blacks comprised 50 percent or more of the total county population.  Ninety-five of those counties were located in the south and were distributed across the coastal and lowland south in a loose arc.  With the notable exceptions of Baltimore city (a county equivalent) and Prince George’s County Maryland.

Concentration of Blacks in the Midwest and West tended to be either in counties located within metropolitan areas or in counties containing universities or military bases or both.  In the Northeast, Blacks were concentrated in a band of counties extending from Philadelphia, PA to Providence Rhode Island and along the Hudson Valley northward from New York.
Western counties with large concentrations of Blacks were located in Southern California, the San Francisco and Sacramento areas, around Denver and Colorado Springs, and in the Seattle and Tacoma areas in Washington.  Clark county Nevada (Las Vegas area) also stood.

## POPULATION TRENDS IN THE BLACK POPULATON SINCE 2000 

##  Black Population Since 2000

- Population in millions

- *Population Estimates as of July 1

**Notes:**
Since the 2000 estimates, the Black population continue to grow, from about 35.8 million to about 38.3 million in 2006.

## Current Trends in the Black PopulationAs of July 1, 2006:

- 299 million total population
- 38.3 million Blacks alone, 12.8 % of total population
- 40.2 million Blacks alone or in combination with one or more other races, 13.4% of the total population
- Blacks alone accounted for about 14.7 % of the change in the total population since 2000
- Black alone or in combination with one or more other races accounted for 17.5 % of the change in the total population since 2000

## Percent Black and Their Contribution to Annual Components of Change:  2000-2006

- Percent

- Percent of total population

- *Population Estimates as of July 1

**Notes:**
Between 2000 and 2006, the Black population experienced about a 15 percent change in its population. There were more births than deaths and net immigration accounted for about 7 percent of the change.

## Top Five States by Black Alone Population Size: 2006

| Rank | State | Population Size |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | New York | 3,352,874 |
| 2 | Florida | 2,864,423 |
| 3 | Texas | 2,804,949 |
| 4 | Georgia | 2,799,625 |
| 5 | California | 2,445,228 |

- *Population Estimates as of July 1

**Notes:**
About three-fifths of all Blacks lived in 10 states.
 The ten states with the largest Black populations in 2006 were New York, Florida, Texas, Georgia, California, Illinois, North Carolina, Maryland, Virginia, and Michigan.  Combined these states represented 59 percent of the total Black population. Five of these ten states had Black populations greater than 2 million: New York (3.4 million), Florida (2.9 million), Texas (2.8 million), Georgia (2.8 million), and California (2.4 million). 

In the South, 11 states (Florida, Texas, Georgia, North Carolina, Maryland, Virginia, Louisiana, South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee) had Black populations over one million and, when combined, they represented 51 percent of the total Black population in the United States.  

## Top Five States by Percent Black Alone: 2006 

| Rank | State | Percent  |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | District of Columbia | 56.5 |
| 2 | Mississippi | 37.1 |
| 3 | Louisiana | 31.7 |
| 4 | Georgia | 29.9 |
| 5 | Maryland | 29.5 |

- *Population Estimates as of July 1

**Notes:**
In six states, Black represented over 25 percent of the total population, and all six of these states were located in the South - - Mississippi (37 percent); Louisiana (32 percent); Georgia (30 percent); Maryland (29.5 percent); South Carolina (29 percent); and Alabama (26 percent).  The District of Columbia, a state equivalent, had the highest proportion of Blacks with 56.5 percent).

## Black Alone Population by Region: 2006

| Rank | Region | Population Size |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | South | 21,094,342 |
| 2 | Midwest | 6,877,106 |
| 3 | Northeast | 6,855,244 |
| 4 | West | 3,515,857 |

- *Population Estimates as of July 1

**Notes:**
In 2006, the South had the largest Black population, as well as the highest proportion of Blacks in its total population: 21million or 19 percent of all residents in the South are Black compared with about  7 million or 12 percent in the Northeast,  about 7 million or 10 percent in the Midwest, and about 3 million or 5 percent in the West.

## Percent Black Alone Population by Region: 2006

| Rank | Region | Percent |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | South | 55.0 |
| 2 | Midwest | 17.9 |
| 3 | Northeast | 17.9 |
| 4 | West | 9.2 |

- *Population Estimates as of July 1

**Notes:**
In 2006, 55 percent of Blacks lived in the South, about 18 percent each resided in the Midwest and Northeast, and 9 percent lived in the Western region of the United States.

## Results From the 2006 American Community Survey

## American Community Survey

-     The American Community Survey (ACS) is a nationwide survey designed to provide reliable, timely information for local communities on how they are changing. It will replace the decennial census long form in future censuses and is a critical element in the Census Bureau’s 2010 Decennial Census Program.
- 	The ACS is the largest household survey in the United States, with a sample size of about 3 million housing unit addresses throughout the country. The following are survey estimates and are subject to sampling and nonsampling error.

## Household Type: 2006

**Percent**

- Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2006  American Community Survey

*** No spouse present****  **

**Notes:**
As of 2006, there were 13.1 million Black households in the United States. Of these 8.4 million or 64 percent were family households and 4.7 million or 36 percent were non family households. Of the 8.4 million family households, 45 percent were married-couple families, 46 percent were families headed by females with no spouse present, and 9 percent were families headed by males with no spouse present.  For Black families the proportion with married couples have steadily declined in recent years.  In 1970, 68 percent of all Black families were married couples; in 1980, 55 percent, and in 1990 50 percent. This represents a decrease of 23 percent in 30 years.

The decrease in married-couple families is accompanied by an increase in the proportion of  families maintained by one parent, usually the mother.  Between 1970 and 2006 Black families maintained by the mother increased from 28 percent to 46 percent.

## Educational Attainment by Sex: 2006 

**Percent**

- (Population 25 years and older)

- Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2006  American Community Survey

**Notes:**
In a highly post industrialized nation such as the U.S. education is a key factor in social mobility.  Generations of immigrants have improved their status after reaching the U.S. through the acquisition of formal education.
In 2006, the educational attainment levels among Blacks vary by sex.  About 18 percent of Black females 25 years of age and older had at least a bachelor’s degree, higher than the 15 percent of Black males.  About four-fifths of both Black females and males were high school graduates.

## Occupation of the Civilian Employed Male Population 16 Years and Older: 2006

- Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2006  American Community Survey

** ****21.2**

**Occupation of the Civilian Employed Male Population 16 Years and Older: 2006**

- Service

- Farming, fishing, and forestry

- Production, transportation, and material moving

- (Percent Distribution)

**Notes:**
In 2006, about 61 percent of Blacks 16 years of age were in the labor force.  But a higher percentage of Black females than males were in the civilian labor forces.  About 62 percent of Black females, compared with about 60 percent of Black males.

The occupational gap between Blacks and others in the first hundred years since emancipation has remained. The greatest change in the occupation status of Black people occurred between 1940 and 1970, when federal, state, and municipal governments enacted laws forbidding the traditional discriminatory employment practices against Blacks.  As a result of increasing employment opportunities, significantly greater numbers of Blacks were in technical, sales, and administrative support jobs.  

The occupational distribution of employed Black males differed from that of all males.  For example, about 26 percent of Black males versus about 19 percent of all males were employed in production, transportation, and material moving jobs.  In contrast,21 percent of Black males, compared with 31 percent of all males were in managerial, professional, and related occupations.

## Occupation of the Civilian Employed Female Population 16 Years and Older: 2006

- Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2006  American Community Survey

**30.6**

**Occupation of the Civilian Employed Female Population 16 Years and Older: 2006**

- Service

- Farming, fishing, and forestry

- Production, transportation, and material moving

- (Percent Distribution)

**Notes:**
The occupational distribution of Black males and females differ, but both continue to be concentrated in nonprofessional and non managerial occupations.  In 2006 about 26 percent of Black males were employed in production, transportation, and material moving jobs compared with 8 percent of Black females.  In contrast, 31 percent of Black females, compared with 21 percent of Black males were in managerial, professional, and related occupations.  About one-third of all Black females worked in sales and office jobs in 2006.

Both black females and all females were more likely to be employed in sales and office jobs and managerial, professional, and related jobs.  In 2006, about one-third of all black females compared with 35 percent of all employed females were employed in sales and office jobs.  Also, 37 percent of all employed females compared with 31 percent of Black females were in managerial, professional and related occupations.

A higher proportion of both Black males and females than all males and females were employed in service jobs.

## Median Earnings by Sex in the Past 12 Months: 2006(For employed, full-time, year-round workers 16 and older.In 2006 Inflation-Adjusted dollars)

- Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2006  American Community Survey

**Notes:**
In 2006, black males earned 82 percent of the median earning of males who worked year-round fulltime, and Black females earned 93 percent of the median earning of comparable white females.  On the other hand, black females median earning was about 88 percent of comparable black males median earnings, while all females earned about 77 percent of the median earnings of fulltime males earners.

## Poverty Rate in the Past  12 Months:  2006 (Poverty status was determined for all individuals except for unrelated individuals under 15 years old.)

**Percent**

- Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2006  American Community Survey

**Notes:**
In 2006, about 38.8 million people or 13 percent of the total U.S. population were in poverty. For blacks the figures were about 9 million people or 25 percent were in poverty.

## Results From the 2006 American Community SurveyDistrict of Columbia

## Household Type: 2006

**Percent**

- Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2006  American Community Survey

*** No spouse present****  **

**Household Type: 2006**

**Notes:**
As of 2006, there were 128,000 Black households in the District of Columbia. Of these 128,000 or 52 percent were family households and 61,488 or about 48 percent were non family households. Of the 128,356 family households, 31 percent were married-couple families, 58 percent were families headed by females with no spouse present, and 11 percent were families headed by males with no spouse present.

## Educational Attainment by Sex: 2006 

**Percent**

- (Population 25 years and older)

- Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2006  American Community Survey

**Notes:**
In 2006, the educational attainment levels among Blacks vary by sex.  About 20 percent of both Black males and females 25 years of age and older had at least a bachelor’s degree. This is slightly higher than the proportion for all Black males and females in the U.S.  About 78 percent of both Black males and females were high school graduates. This proportion is a little lower than all Black males and females in the U.S.

## Occupation of the Civilian Employed Male Population 16 Years and Older: 2006

- Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2006  American Community Survey

**Occupation of the Civilian Employed Male Population 16 Years and Older: 2006**

- Service

- Farming, fishing, and forestry

- Production, transportation, and material moving

** ****19.9**

- (Percent Distribution)

**Notes:**
The occupational distribution of employed Black males differed from that of all males.  For example, about 31 percent of Black males compared with 53 percent of all males were employed in management, professional, and related jobs.  About 22 percent of Black males and 16 percent of all males in the District of Columbia were employed in both Service and sales and office jobs.  
At the national level about 26 percent of Black males were employed in production, transportation, and material moving jobs compared with about 13 percent of Black males in DC. 

## Occupation of the Civilian Employed Female Population 16 Years and Older: 2006

- Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2006  American Community Survey

**Occupation of the Civilian Employed Female Population 16 Years and Older: 2006**

- Service

- Farming, fishing, and forestry

- Production, transportation, and material moving

** ****44.0**

- (Percent Distribution)

**Notes:**
Both black females and all females were more likely to be employed in management, professional, and related jobs in the District of Columbia- - 44 percent for Black females compared with 59 percent for all females. About 33 percent of Black females compared with 24 percent of all females were employed in  sales and office jobs in 2006.  
Again, at the national level a higher percentage of both black and all females were employed in sales and office jobs and managerial, professional, and related jobs.

## Median Earnings by Sex in the Past 12 Months: 2006(For employed, full-time, year-round workers 16 and older.In 2006 Inflation-Adjusted dollars)

- Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2006  American Community Survey

**Notes:**
In 2006, the median earnings of year-round fulltime black females workers was higher than than of comparable black males.  Black females median earning was 110 percent of that of comparable black males. The median earnings of year-round fulltime Black female workers in the District of Columbia was higher than than of all Black females workers in the U.S.

Black females earned was about 83 percent of that of all female median earnings in 2006.  Black males median earning was about 74 percent of all males in the District in 2006, somewhat lower than the national figures.

The median earning of all females who worked year-round fulltime was about 98 percent of that of comparable males.

## Additional Information

**Northeast Region: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania**
**South Region: Maryland, Delaware, West Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas, the District of Columbia**
**Midwest Region: North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio**
**West Region: Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Oregon, California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Alaska, Hawaii**
**For information on methodology for the nation, see **
- _[http://www.census.gov/popest/topics/methodology/v2005_nat_char_meth.html](http://www.census.gov/popest/topics/methodology/v2005_nat_char_meth.html)__)_
**For information on methodology for the region and state, see **
- _[http://www.census.gov/popest/topics/methodology/2005_st_char_meth.html](http://www.census.gov/popest/topics/methodology/2005_st_char_meth.html)_

## This presentation was created byClaudette E. Bennett, Ph.D U.S. Census Bureau

**For information on content please contact: **
**Claudette E. Bennett, PhD**
**Phone: 301-763-2404**
** ****e-mail:  Claudette.E.Bennett@census.gov**

**Notes:**
Good Evening.  Indeed it is a pleasure and honor for me to be with you this evening in your celebration of Black History Month.  I am humbled by this experience.  I would like to thank Mrs. Pican and all those responsible for allowing me this opportunity.

## For More Information

**   ****For more information about the Black population of the United States visit the Census Bureau’s website at:**

**www.census.gov**