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Black or African American Population
Black or African Americans are classified as those having origins in any of the native peoples of sub-Saharan Africa and people who indicated their race or races as “Black, African Am., or Negro,” or wrote in entries such as African American, Afro American, Nigerian, or Haitian”.
African Americans constitute the second-largest racial group in the U.S. after White Americans, as well as the third-largest ethnic group after Hispanic and Latino Americans.
In 2021, US Census Bureau estimated 49,586,352 (49.6 million) African Americans in the United States meaning that 14.9% of the total American population. This includes those who identify as ‘Black Only’ and as ‘Black in combination with another race’. This marks a 30% increase since 2000 when there were 36.3 million Black people living in the U.S.
In 2021, there were 4.8 million foreign-born Black Americans, about 10% of the U.S. Black population. This is an increase from 2000, when 2.4 million people, or 7%, among the Black population, were foreign-born.
Source: US Census 2022
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Census Numbers and Percentage
The Black or African American alone population (45 million) accounted for 13.60% of all people living in the United States, compared with 38.9 million (12.6%) in 2010. Black Alone or in Combination with another race accounts for 14.9% or 49.5 million people. While the Black or African American alone population grew 5.6% since 2010, the Black or African American in combination population grew 88.7%.
Notably, the number of people self-identifying as another race in addition to Black has increased nearly 240% since 2000, reflecting a broader national shift in the number of Americans identifying as multiracial as well as changes to how the U.S. Census Bureau asks about race and ethnicity. The number of Black Americans who say they are Hispanic has also risen sharply over this period, up 185% since 2000.
| CATEGORY | POPULATION | PERCENT |
| Black Alone | 45,060,857 | 13.60% |
| Black Alone or in Combination with another race | 49,586,352 | 14.90% |
Black Population on the basis of Hispanic/Latino
According to the 2020 Census, approximately 1% of African Americans identified as Hispanic or Latino in origin, many of whom may be of Brazilian, Puerto Rican, Dominican, Cuban, Haitian, or other Latin American descent.
| Black Alone (Not Hispanic) | 39,940,338 | 12.60% |
| Black Alone (Hispanic) | 3,202,321 | 1.00% |
Statewise Black population
Regional Breakdown
As per the 2020 U.S. census, 56% of African Americans lived in the South. 17% of African Americans lived in the Northeast and 17% in the Midwest, while only 10% lived in the Western states.
- South – 56%
- North East – 17%
- Midwest – 17%
- West – 10%
The Top States with the Largest Black population are Texas (3.6 million), Georgia (3.32 million), and Florida ( 3.24 million). Percentage-wise top states with a Black population are Mississippi (37%), Georgia (31%), and Louisiana (31%).
Let’s have a look at the Statewise Black population
| Rank | State | Black Alone | Percent | *Black in combination | Percent |
| 1 | Texas | 3,552,997 | 12% | 3,964,700 | 14% |
| 2 | Georgia | 3,320,513 | 31% | 3,538,146 | 33% |
| 3 | Florida | 3,246,381 | 15% | 3,703,952 | 17% |
| 4 | New York | 2,986,172 | 15% | 3,533,873 | 17% |
| 5 | California | 2,237,044 | 6% | 2,825,293 | 7% |
| 6 | North Carolina | 2,140,217 | 21% | 2,344,553 | 22% |
| 7 | Maryland | 1,820,472 | 29% | 1,977,453 | 32% |
| 8 | Illinois | 1,808,271 | 14% | 1,992,213 | 16% |
| 9 | Virginia | 1,607,581 | 19% | 1,799,960 | 21% |
| 10 | Ohio | 1,478,781 | 13% | 1,704,492 | 14% |
| 11 | Louisiana | 1,464,023 | 31% | 1,543,119 | 33% |
| 12 | Pennsylvania | 1,423,169 | 11% | 1,655,034 | 13% |
| 13 | Michigan | 1,376,579 | 14% | 1,544,122 | 15% |
| 14 | Alabama | 1,296,162 | 26% | 1,364,736 | 27% |
| 15 | South Carolina | 1,280,531 | 25% | 1,370,528 | 27% |
| 16 | New Jersey | 1,219,770 | 13% | 1,413,772 | 15% |
| 17 | Tennessee | 1,092,948 | 16% | 1,196,114 | 17% |
| 18 | Mississippi | 1,084,481 | 37% | 1,123,613 | 38% |
| 19 | Missouri | 699,840 | 11% | 798,623 | 13% |
| 20 | Indiana | 648,513 | 10% | 760,017 | 11% |
| 21 | Massachusetts | 494,029 | 7% | 669,866 | 10% |
| 22 | Arkansas | 453,783 | 15% | 495,968 | 16% |
| 23 | Minnesota | 398,434 | 7% | 483,646 | 8% |
| 24 | Connecticut | 388,675 | 11% | 467,416 | 13% |
| 25 | Wisconsin | 376,256 | 6% | 452,743 | 8% |
| 26 | Kentucky | 362,417 | 8% | 436,059 | 10% |
| 27 | Arizona | 339,150 | 5% | 446,394 | 6% |
| 28 | Washington | 307,565 | 4% | 446,240 | 6% |
| 29 | Nevada | 304,739 | 10% | 375,198 | 12% |
| 30 | Oklahoma | 289,961 | 7% | 382,698 | 10% |
| 31 | District of Columbia | 285,810 | 41% | 304,543 | 44% |
| 32 | Colorado | 234,828 | 4% | 318,179 | 6% |
| 33 | Delaware | 218,899 | 22% | 244,944 | 25% |
| 34 | Kansas | 168,809 | 6% | 223,275 | 8% |
| 35 | Iowa | 131,972 | 4% | 172,988 | 5% |
| 36 | Nebraska | 96,535 | 5% | 124,773 | 6% |
| 37 | Oregon | 82,655 | 2% | 134,692 | 3% |
| 38 | West Virginia | 65,813 | 4% | 90,526 | 5% |
| 39 | Rhode Island | 62,168 | 6% | 99,925 | 9% |
| 40 | New Mexico | 45,904 | 2% | 68,409 | 3% |
| 41 | Utah | 40,058 | 1% | 67,128 | 2% |
| 42 | North Dakota | 26,783 | 3% | 34,499 | 4% |
| 43 | Maine | 25,752 | 2% | 36,304 | 3% |
| 44 | Hawaii | 23,417 | 2% | 46,783 | 3% |
| 45 | Alaska | 21,898 | 3% | 35,454 | 5% |
| 46 | New Hampshire | 20,127 | 1% | 32,998 | 2% |
| 47 | South Dakota | 17,842 | 2% | 26,307 | 3% |
| 48 | Idaho | 15,726 | 1% | 27,645 | 2% |
| 49 | Vermont | 9,034 | 1% | 14,422 | 2% |
| 50 | Montana | 5,484 | 1% | 12,737 | 1% |
| 51 | Wyoming | 5,232 | 1% | 9,661 | 2% |
*Black alone & Black in combination with one or more races
Top Metros by Black population
New York has more Black residents than any other metropolitan area. Nearly 4 million Black Americans live in the New York metro area. Other metro areas with large Black populations include Atlanta (2.2 million), Washington, D.C. (1.8 million), and Chicago (1.7 million).
As a share of the population, the Atlanta area is home to a higher percentage of Black people than any other metro area with at least 1 million Black residents. Nearly four-in-ten residents of the Atlanta metro area (37%) are Black, followed by 28% in the Washington metro area, 24% in the Detroit metro area, and 23% each in the Philadelphia and Miami metro areas.
| # | Metropolitan/micropolitan Area | Black or African American alone | Percent Black |
| 1 | New York City, NY-NJ-PA | 3,237,789 | 16% |
| 2 | Atlanta, GA | 2,048,212 | 34% |
| 3 | Chicago, IL-IN-WI | 1,576,952 | 16% |
| 4 | Washington, DC-VA-MD-WV | 1,562,340 | 24% |
| 5 | Philadelphia–Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD | 1,273,120 | 20% |
| 6 | Houston, TX | 1,237,934 | 17% |
| 7 | Dallas–Fort Worth, TX | 1,220,934 | 16% |
| 8 | Miami–Fort Lauderdale–West Palm Beach, FL | 1,194,334 | 19% |
| 9 | Detroit, MI | 961,076 | 22% |
| 10 | Los Angeles, CA | 848,206 | 6% |
| 11 | Baltimore, MD | 811,018 | 29% |
| 12 | Memphis, TN-MS-AR | 612,104 | 46% |
| 13 | Charlotte, NC-SC | 581,927 | 22% |
| 14 | Virginia Beach–Norfolk–Newport News, VA-NC | 544,740 | 30% |
| 15 | St. Louis, MO-IL | 506,762 | 18% |
| 16 | New Orleans, LA | 423,909 | 33% |
| 17 | Orlando–Sanford, FL | 410,855 | 15% |
| 18 | Cleveland, OH | 410,206 | 20% |
| 19 | Tampa–St. Petersburg, FL | 375,855 | 12% |
| 20 | Richmond, VA | 364,714 | 28% |
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