2023's States with the Biggest and Smallest Wealth Gaps by Race/Ethnicity

In America, there is racial inequality in many areas, including our wealth. Current trends show that a wide financial gulf continues to divide racial groups in the U.S., with Hispanic and black Americans still at the bottom of the economic ladder. Non-Hispanic white Americans have a median household wealth of $187,300, compared to $14,100 for black households and $31,700 for Hispanic households.

Some key factors driving the racial wealth gap include unequal access to higher education and employment for minorities, as well as residential segregation that still persists.

In light of these issues, WalletHub measured the financial inequality among racial groups in each state and the District of Columbia. We did so by analyzing each state across 21 key metrics, ranging from the median household income gap to the unemployment rate gap.

Main Findings

Notes:
*No. 1 = Biggest Wealth Gaps
**The “Biggest Poverty Rate Gap” category describes the poverty rate of a certain ethnicity in relation to that of white people. For example, 100% would mean twice the poverty rate of white people.
***The “Educational Attainment Gap” category in this table refers to Bachelor's Degree or Higher.

Homeownership Rate Gap Over Time

Ask the Experts

In order to curb the persisting income inequality problem in the U.S., reforms must be implemented at the policy level. For additional insight, we consulted a panel of experts regarding changes that can help. Click on the experts’ profiles to read their bios and responses to the following key questions:

1. Why do you believe the income gap by race has increased tremendously in the past decade?
2. Can entrepreneurship programs for minorities help alleviate the wealth gap?
3. Should public policy focus more on racial income inequality or opportunity inequality (regardless of racial mix)?
4. What types of programs and initiatives should public policy officials focus on to curb inequality?
5. How will inflation affect the racial wealth gap? What are the recent trends in wealth and income inequality by race?

Ask the Experts

Gwendolyn Purifoye
Ph.D. – Assistant Professor of Racial Justice and Conflict Transformation, Keough School of Global Affairs – University of Notre Dame
Read More

Justene Hill Edwards
Ph.D. – Associate Professor, Corcoran Department of History – University of Virginia
Read More

Julie J. Park
Ph.D. – Associate Professor, College of Education – University of Maryland, College Park
Read More

Phillip B. Levine
Katharine Coman and A. Barton Hepburn Professor, Department of Economics – Wellesley College
Read More

Darrell Hudson
Ph.D. – Associate Professor at the Brown School – Washington University in St. Louis
Read More

Jonathan Feingold
Associate Professor of Law – Boston University School of Law
Read More

Methodology

To measure the wealth gap among races in the U.S., WalletHub analyzed the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 21 key metrics, which are listed below with their corresponding weights.

Because white people comprise the majority of the American population at 63 percent, we chose this racial group as our benchmark with which to measure the gap with minority, nonwhite populations, including black people, Hispanics and Asians. To determine the overall ranking of each state, we selected the biggest gap between racial groups for each metric. For instance, if the income gap in California is 20 percent between white people and black people, 30 percent between white people and Hispanics and zero between white people and Asians, we used 30 percent for that metric for California. We took this approach in order to draw attention to the areas where the biggest gaps exist.

• Median Household Income Gap (Black People vs. White People): Full Weight (~4.76 Points)
• Median Household Income Gap (Hispanics vs. White People): Full Weight (~4.76 Points)
• Median Household Income Gap (Asians vs. White People): Full Weight (~4.76 Points)
• Homeownership Rate Gap (Black People vs. White People): Full Weight (~4.76 Points)
• Homeownership Rate Gap (Hispanics vs. White People): Full Weight (~4.76 Points)
• Homeownership Rate Gap (Asians vs. White People): Full Weight (~4.76 Points)
• Unemployment Rate Gap (Black People vs. White People): Full Weight (~4.76 Points)
• Unemployment Rate Gap (Hispanics vs. White People): Full Weight (~4.76 Points)
• Unemployment Rate Gap (Asians vs. White People): Full Weight (~4.76 Points)
• Poverty Rate Gap (Black People vs. White People): Full Weight (~4.76 Points)
• Poverty Rate Gap (Hispanics vs. White People): Full Weight (~4.76 Points)
• Poverty Rate Gap (Asians vs. White People): Full Weight (~4.76 Points)
• Educational Attainment Gap Among People with At Least a High School Diploma (Black People vs. White People): Full Weight (~4.76 Points)
• Educational Attainment Gap Among People with At Least a High School Diploma (Hispanics vs. White People): Full Weight (~4.76 Points)
• Educational Attainment Gap Among People with At Least a High School Diploma (Asians vs. White People): Full Weight (~4.76 Points)
• Educational Attainment Gap Among People with a Bachelor’s Degree or Higher (Black People vs. White People): Full Weight (~4.76 Points)
• Educational Attainment Gap Among People with a Bachelor’s Degree or Higher (Hispanics vs. White People): Full Weight (~4.76 Points)
• Educational Attainment Gap Among People with a Bachelor’s Degree or Higher (Asians vs. White People): Full Weight (~4.76 Points)
• Uninsured Rate Gap (Black People vs. White People): Full Weight (~4.76 Points)
• Uninsured Rate Gap (Hispanics vs. White People): Full Weight (~4.76 Points)
• Uninsured Rate Gap (Asians vs. White People): Full Weight (~4.76 Points)

Sources: Data used to create these rankings were obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Supporting Video Files:

• YouTube (for web embedding)
• Raw video files (for editing into clips)