New Study Ranks State Economies With the Most Racial Equality

New Mexico was ranked No. 1 among state economies with the most racial equality, according to a new report released last week by WalletHub.

Ranking second was Alaska, third Arizona, fourth Hawaii, and fifth Texas.

To determine which states have the most racial equality in terms of employment and wealth, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across eight key metrics. The data compared the difference between white and Black Americans in areas such as median annual household income, unemployment rate, homeownership rate, labor force participation rate, poverty rate, homeless rate, share of unsheltered homeless and share of executives.

According to WalletHub, the state economies ranked sixth through 10th with the most racial equality included Colorado, Montana, Vermont, Delaware and Washington.

State economics with the least racial equality included Pennsylvania, Louisiana, North Dakota, Ohio, Michigan, Iowa, Minnesota, Illinois, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia.

While the Black unemployment rate was consistently higher than the white unemployment rate, what was even more striking was the disparity in wealth between white and Black Americans. The average white family holds a net worth of $171,000 compared to just $17,150 for the average Black family.

“One way to help Black Americans achieve greater economic equality is to increase funding for schools in underserved districts with high minority populations, since a better education can lead to better job opportunities in the future,” Jill Gonzalez, WalletHub analyst, said. “In addition to providing higher quality education, we should combat the low representation of Black Americans in business executive positions by promoting youth programs that offer resume-building leadership experience, and by pushing for merit-based advancement within large companies.”

A recent study found that only 3.2% of executive or senior-level positions were Black Americans, even though that demographic makes up 13% of the U.S. population, according to the Center for Talent Innovation, a New York City-based nonprofit think tank and advisory organization that helps leaders design diverse and inclusive workplaces.

Data used to create WalletHub’s ranking were collected from the U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Based in Washington, D.C., WalletHub is a personal finance website.