Large US City Black Populations ('21 ACS estimates)

[murksiderock]

Explore Census Data

data.census.gov

This thread is going to be all-encompassing, later highlighting metropolitan areas, but I'm going to start with the city municipal population first...

New York 1,795,113

Chicago 779,304

Philadelphia 625,772
Houston 510,280

Detroit 488,262
Memphis 391,951
Baltimore 349,358
Los Angeles 323,341
Dallas 301,499
Charlotte 294,703
Jacksonville 293,066
Washington 284,101
Columbus 261,987

Indianapolis 246,971
Atlanta 236,812
Milwaukee 219,192
New Orleans 209,219
Nashville 177,859
Fort Worth 177,747
Cleveland 175,532
Newark 149,309
Louisville 148,348
Boston 139,467
Kansas City 135,741
Birmingham 134,746
St Louis 128,470
Cincinnati 125,737
Raleigh 125,256
Greensboro 124,674
Baton Rouge 118,647
Phoenix 116,969
Durham 103,646

Buffalo 99,651
San Antonio 97,274
Oakland 97,176
Oklahoma City 96,282
Richmond 95,174
Norfolk 93,801
Arlington 88,770
Tampa 84,764
San Diego 84,278
Virginia Beach 83,754
Little Rock 82,011
Winston-Salem 81,604
Rochester 80,873
Minneapolis 80,379
Las Vegas 79,555

Orlando 72,960
Austin 69,421
Pittsburgh 68,799
Sacramento 68,780
Denver 65,455
Miami 62,904
Tulsa 61,299
Omaha 59,451
Jersey City 57,921
Long Beach 56,096
Dayton 54,616
St Petersburg 54,222
Columbia 53,091
Fort Lauderdale 51,957
Seattle 50,640

St Paul 49,765
Bridgeport 49,692
Hartford 44,010
New Haven 43,226
San Francisco 41,575
Fresno 39,749
Stockton 38,010
Portland 37,187
Grand Rapids 36,127
Knoxville 30,631
Charleston 30,019
Albany 28,895
Colorado Springs 28,553
Bakersfield 28,533
San Jose 28,521
Tucson 27,705
San Bernardino 27,553
Worcester 27,181
Providence 27,126

Tacoma 22,578
El Paso 22,388
Riverside 19,036
Albuquerque 17,441
Allentown 13,980

Honolulu 5874
Salt Lake City 5413

Boise 4274

 

[murksiderock]

So when we talk about "black meccas" in this country, it has to start where we find our largest concentrations of black people. Los Angeles as a city is less than 10% black, but has the 8th-largest black population in the nation among cities...

Los Angeles is, has been, and likely will always be, the primary black mecca west of Texas, its the capital of The Black West...

New York, Dallas, and Houston are all less than a quarter black, but the sheer volume of their black populations make them black meccas...

 

[murksiderock]

By percentage:

Detroit 77.2%

Birmingham 68.2
Memphis 62.4
Baltimore 60.6

Wilmington 55.7
New Orleans 55.5
Baton Rouge 53.4

Newark 48.6
Atlanta 47.7
Cleveland 47.7
St Louis 43.8
Washington 42.4
Richmond 42
Greensboro 41.8
Cincinnati 40.7
Little Rock 40.6

Norfolk 39.9
Philadelphia 39.7
Dayton 39.7
Columbia 38.6
Rochester 38.4
Milwaukee 38.5
Hartford 36.5
Durham 36.3
Buffalo 36
Charlotte 33.5
Bridgeport 33.5
Winston-Salem 32.6
New Haven 32
Jacksonville 30.7

Albany 29.3
Chicago 28.9
Columbus 28.9
Fort Lauderdale 28.6
Indianapolis 28
Kansas City 26.7
Raleigh 26.7
Nashville 26.2
Orlando 23.6
Louisville 23.6
Dallas 23.4
Greenville 23.2
Pittsburgh 22.9
Fort Myers 22.7
Arlington 22.6
Oakland 22.4
Houston 22.3
Tampa 21.9
Boston 21.3
New York 21.2
St Petersburg 21
Jersey City 20.4

Charleston 19.8
Fort Worth 19
Minneapolis 18.9
Virginia Beach 18.3
Grand Rapids 18.3
St Paul 16.2
Knoxville 15.9

Tulsa 14.9
Miami 14.3
Providence 14.3
Oklahoma City 14
Worcester 13.2
Sacramento 13.1
San Bernardino 12.4
Las Vegas 12.3
Long Beach 12.3
UNITED STATES 12.3%
Omaha 12.2
Stockton 11.8
Allentown 11.1
Tacoma 10.3

Denver 9.2
Los Angeles 8.4
Fresno 7.3
Phoenix 7.2
Austin 7.2
Bakersfield 7
Seattle 6.9
San Antonio 6.7
San Diego 6.1
Riverside 6
Colorado Springs 5.9
Portland 5.8
San Francisco 5.1
Tucson 5.1

El Paso 3.3
Albuquerque 3.1
San Jose 2.9
Salt Lake City 2.7

Boise 1.8
Honolulu 1.7%

 

[Chrishaune]

Huntsville Alabama has more black population than a lot of places on this list and it isn't near the size of a lot of them

 

[UberEatsDriver]

thought Houston would surpass Philly by now

 

[-DMP-]

Bham

 

[UberEatsDriver]

By percentage:

Detroit 77.2%

Birmingham 68.2
Memphis 62.4
Baltimore 60.6

Wilmington 55.7
New Orleans 55.5
Baton Rouge 53.4

Newark 48.6
Atlanta 47.7
Cleveland 47.7
St Louis 43.8
Washington 42.4
Richmond 42
Greensboro 41.8
Cincinnati 40.7
Little Rock 40.6

Norfolk 39.9
Philadelphia 39.7
Dayton 39.7
Columbia 38.6
Rochester 38.4
Milwaukee 38.5
Hartford 36.5
Durham 36.3
Buffalo 36
Charlotte 33.5
Bridgeport 33.5
Winston-Salem 32.6
New Haven 32
Jacksonville 30.7

Albany 29.3
Chicago 28.9
Columbus 28.9
Fort Lauderdale 28.6
Indianapolis 28
Kansas City 26.7
Raleigh 26.7
Nashville 26.2
Orlando 23.6
Louisville 23.6
Dallas 23.4
Greenville 23.2
Pittsburgh 22.9
Fort Myers 22.7
Arlington 22.6
Oakland 22.4
Houston 22.3
Tampa 21.9
Boston 21.3
New York 21.2
St Petersburg 21
Jersey City 20.4

Charleston 19.8
Fort Worth 19
Minneapolis 18.9
Virginia Beach 18.3
Grand Rapids 18.3
St Paul 16.2
Knoxville 15.9

Tulsa 14.9
Miami 14.3
Providence 14.3
Oklahoma City 14
Worcester 13.2
Sacramento 13.1
San Bernardino 12.4
Las Vegas 12.3
Long Beach 12.3
UNITED STATES 12.3%
Omaha 12.2
Stockton 11.8
Allentown 11.1
Tacoma 10.3

Denver 9.2
Los Angeles 8.4
Fresno 7.3
Phoenix 7.2
Austin 7.2
Bakersfield 7
Seattle 6.9
San Antonio 6.7
San Diego 6.1
Riverside 6
Colorado Springs 5.9
Portland 5.8
San Francisco 5.1
Tucson 5.1

El Paso 3.3
Albuquerque 3.1
San Jose 2.9
Salt Lake City 2.7

Boise 1.8
Honolulu 1.7%

From my observation a lot of the large cities look like they have decreases. Probably because of blacks moving to the burbs

 

[UberEatsDriver]

This also shows you that the black population is indeed 12.3% - 14% and not much much larger like people were claiming to in census thread. Only 7 medium to large cities in the entire nation have a black majority.

 

[UberEatsDriver]

I actually like the population numbers better. I feel good knowing that there are 1.7 million black folks in nyc

 

[JadeB]

This also shows you that the black population is indeed 12.3% - 14% and not much much larger like people were claiming to in census thread. Only 7 medium to large cities in the entire nation have a black majority.

The reason why people of all races question the number of Black people in this country because for such a small percentage of the population, we have a huge cultural and political impact. Like how 12-15% of the country got the rest of the 88-85% in a chokehold?

The same analogy could be a microcosm of how Los Angeles Black people have such a huge impact culturally despite being less than 10% of the city's population.

 

[UberEatsDriver]

The reason why people of all races question the number of Black people in this country because for such a small percentage of the population, we have a huge cultural and political impact. Like how 12-15% of the country got the rest of the 88-85% in a chokehold?

The same analogy could be a microcosm of how Los Angeles Black people have such a huge impact culturally despite being less than 10% of the city's population.

Explain the political part

 

[Chrishaune]

Explain the political part

Yeah that ain't true.
Politicians have figured out how to manipulate the black vote.

 

[murksiderock]

Huntsville Alabama has more black population than a lot of places on this list and it isn't near the size of a lot of them

Fair enough...

Huntsville is ~29.9% black, population of ~64,872...

From my observation a lot of the large cities look like they have decreases. Probably because of blacks moving to the burbs

I actually like the population numbers better. I feel good knowing that there are 1.7 million black folks in nyc

Black flight to the suburbs has been a thing post-recession ('08), there's a clear trend of black suburbanization, you're exactly right...

I also think the population numbers matter as much or more than the percentage. LA is 8.4% black but has the 8th-largest black population in the country. It isn't a small community when your city is that big...

I lived in Virginia Beach, which is "only" 18.3% black, a small percentage to some. But The Beach still has over 83,000 black people, that's alot of black people and our presence and impact is felt with a community that size...

I've personally found that once a large city hits 75,000 black people or so, we have a presence that can't be missed unless you're trying to miss us. Both Sacramento (13.1%) and Pittsburgh (22.9%) are just short of 70,000 black people, but neither feel as black as VB, despite Pgh being about 4.5 percentage points blacker than VB. The context here though, is that Pgh used to be blacker so you have the hallmarks of a city that once had more black residents, and Sac's black population is the highest its ever been and steadily growing...

That ~75,000 mark, give or take, is when we are really, really seen and impactful. Of course, if a city has a smaller black population but larger percentage, we are unmistakable in those cities as well---->case in point, the large Connecticut cities all have fewer than 50,000 black people in real population, but are all over 30% black. You can feel us in these cities certainly (I've been to Hartford to affirm this, so I assume this is also true of Bridgeport and New Haven)...

The reason why people of all races question the number of Black people in this country because for such a small percentage of the population, we have a huge cultural and political impact. Like how 12-15% of the country got the rest of the 88-85% in a chokehold?

The same analogy could be a microcosm of how Los Angeles Black people have such a huge impact culturally despite being less than 10% of the city's population.

I do think we are undercounted at 12%, but there isn't any evidence we are more than 15% of the population at best. There are wide, wide regions of this country you don't see hardly any of us---->I've been here in Boise for two weeks, and I've seen 32 black people (I've been counting). That's how rare it is to see black people here and areas like this exist across the nation...

 

[UberEatsDriver]

Fair enough...

Huntsville is ~29.9% black, population of ~64,872...





Black flight to the suburbs has been a thing post-recession ('08), there's a clear trend of black suburbanization, you're exactly right...

I also think the population numbers matter as much or more than the percentage. LA is 8.4% black but has the 8th-largest black population in the country. It isn't a small community when your city is that big...

I lived in Virginia Beach, which is "only" 18.3% black, a small percentage to some. But The Beach still has over 83,000 black people, that's alot of black people and our presence and impact is felt with a community that size...

I've personally found that once a large city hits 75,000 black people or so, we have a presence that can't be missed unless you're trying to miss us. Both Sacramento (13.1%) and Pittsburgh (22.9%) are just short of 70,000 black people, but neither feel as black as VB, despite Pgh being about 4.5 percentage points blacker than VB. The context here though, is that Pgh used to be blacker so you have the hallmarks of a city that once had more black residents, and Sac's black population is the highest its ever been and steadily growing...

That ~75,000 mark, give or take, is when we are really, really seen and impactful. Of course, if a city has a smaller black population but larger percentage, we are unmistakable in those cities as well---->case in point, the large Connecticut cities all have fewer than 50,000 black people in real population, but are all over 30% black. You can feel us in these cities certainly (I've been to Hartford to affirm this, so I assume this is also true of Bridgeport and New Haven)...



I do think we are undercounted at 12%, but there isn't any evidence we are more than 15% of the population at best. There are wide, wide regions of this country you don't see hardly any of us---->I've been here in Boise for two weeks, and I've seen 32 black people (I've been counting). That's how rare it is to see black people here and areas like this exist across the nation...

What are the black people like I’m noise? For example every black I know who lived in Alaska or Hawaii and either military or Oreos

 

[murksiderock]

I'll also say, your experience with us as a larger community, DEFINITELY differs depending on the blackness of your personal community (your hood, your schools and public places, your job)...

There is just short of ~4300 black folk here in Boise. There is no black neighborhood here (River Street is the historic black center but there's no one black there now). We are spread and integrated throughout the city. I haven't met anyone black here from Boise (the two black dudes working with my company here are from Mississippi and Louisiana). The black residents I got a chance to speak with here were from Arkansas, Mississippi, Washington (state), The Bay, and Kenya. Almost no one black is really from here, though of course, there must be black natives here who were born and/or raised here...

My point being, if you grow up here, or spend much of your life here, you aren't used to living in majority black spaces so you don't necessarily feel you're missing out on black-centric sites and events. Whereas, if you're from Birmingham, most of the city is black, you see blackness everywhere...

Not growing up or living around black people doesn't invalidate your black experience, it's just a different black experience. You're still black but being in Boise and being in Birmingham, I've been to both now, is an entirely different black experience!