Report Reveals Best States For Racial Progress

Ahead of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, WalletHub’s 2024 “States with the Most Racial Progress” ranking points to the South with the most racial progress.

According to the analysis, Georgia, Texas, and Mississippi are the top three states that have achieved racial progress over time. WalletHub’s findings were uncovered by measuring the gaps between Black and white residents in the 50 states and the District of Columbia across four key categories: Employment & Wealth; Education; Social & Civic Engagement; and Health.

Only 28% of Americans are optimistic about our country’s ability to ensure racial equality. WalletHub ranked the states that have done the most to bring about racial progress: https://t.co/4gnZUrFHBi #MLKDay2024 pic.twitter.com/UV2muIPLs7

— WalletHub (@wallethub) January 9, 2024

The poverty rate for Black Americans was 34.7% in 1968. In 2022, the official poverty rate of the U.S. Black population reached a historic low of 17.1%, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.

“When people are forced to become preoccupied with more basic elements of survival, thoughts about investing for the future—whether their own or that of future generations—can seem to be much more abstract and therefore not a priority,” Patricia Davis said in the study.

She continued: “I would guess that some of the southern states are probably more successful, as that region is the center of African American identity and there are more Black people there, which has lead to better opportunities to engage in the economic activities that lead to wealth.”

Top 10 States for Racial Progress in Employment and Wealth, 2024

GEORGIA

Ranked No. 1 on the study’s list, Georgia has reduced the gap between the earnings of white and Black Americans by over 32% since 1979. This rate marks the most significant reduction in the nation, WalletHub said. On another note, the Peach State has also decreased the gap in business ownership by over 11% since 2002 and is among the few states that have reduced the poverty rate of Black residents.

“It’s a sense of pride that Georgia is at the top of that list, particularly since it is the birth, the cradle of the Civil Rights Movement,” Andrea Waters King, president of the Drum Major Institute, a civil rights think tank, told Axios. She is also the daughter-in-law of the late Martin Luther King Jr.

TEXAS

Texas is ranked No. 2 as the nation’s leader in reducing the gap in health insurance coverage between Black and white residents. The Lone Star State saw a more than 13% reduction rate since 1995 and a decrease in the education gap. 

MISSISSIPPI

At No. 3, Mississippi has seen the highest reduction in the poverty rate gap by nearly 27% since 1970. It also leads the nation in closing the gap in high school education. It remains ambitious in closing the gaps in healthcare, entrepreneurship, and equality in voter turnout.