Gap Between Black And White Homeownership Widens Over Past 6 Decades
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Loading... - Hayley Baker
- 01 Mar 2023
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Realizing the American Dream of homeownership is something that most aspire to nationwide. Some have succeeded, while others haven’t, but it has proven that Black consumers have a more challenging time making their ownership dreams a reality.
That’s been evident in the persisting gap in ownership rates between Black and white homeowners, which a new report highlights as it dives into 60 years of data depicting the widening gap despite cultural and social improvements during that time period.
The homeownership gap widened by more than two percentage points since 1960, with most of that change occurring between 2010 and 2021 when the gap grew by 1.5 percentage points.
The gap expanded from 27% in 1960 to slightly higher than 27.7% in 1994. By July 2022, the gap had grown to 29.4%.
“The national gap between Black and white homeownership rates is an important gauge of how we, as a country, have progressed toward the goals of equitable access to homeownership,” wrote Shadi Bushra, who authored the report by Today’s Homeowner. “By that measure, we have backtracked in terms of equality between Black and white families.”
Most cities (98%) still have a gap between Black and white homeownership, with the most prominent gaps in Arden-Arcade, California; Mesa, Arizona; Bethlehem, Pennsylvania; Torrance, California; and Rochester, Minnesota.
According to the report, 35 states saw their gaps grow in the past decade, with several seeing double-digit growth. Only 15 states managed to narrow their gap in the same period.
States in the South had some of the narrowest gaps, including South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama. D.C. has the smallest gap between Black and white homeownership rates at about half of the national average.
Midwestern states had the most noticeable gaps, with North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin having some of the widest gaps in 2021. However, both Minnesota and South Dakota have improved their gaps since 2010. Read More…
