Facts About the U.S. Black Population
By Christine Tamir, Abby Budiman, Luis Noe-Bustamante and Lauren Mora
The Black population of the United States is growing. In 2019, there were 46.8 million people who self-identified as Black, making up roughly 14% of the country’s population. This marks a 29% increase since 2000, when there were roughly 36.2 million Black Americans.
Black Americans are diverse. This group consists of people with varied racial and ethnic identities and experiences. The nation’s Black population includes those who say their race is Black, either alone or along with other racial backgrounds. It also includes Hispanics or Latinos who say their race is Black.
This fact sheet is a profile of the demographic, geographic and economic characteristics of the U.S. Black population in 2019. In order to present detailed data about this group, charts and analysis about the Black population are analyzed through the lens of four different demographic groups:
- U.S. Black population (which is inclusive of the following three demographic subgroups):
- Single-race, non-Hispanic Black people
- Multiracial, non-Hispanic Black people
- Black Hispanic people
Scroll down or click through the navigation bar on the left to see various demographic and economic characteristics of the U.S. Black population.
Click here for a downloadable spreadsheet of these findings.
Population growth

Age structure

Over a third of the U.S. Black population (35%) was 22 years or younger in 2019. An additional 23% were Millennials, meaning roughly 58% of all Black Americans were age 38 or younger in 2019.

Fertility in the past year
The general fertility rate among Black women ages 15 to 44 is 5.9%.
Languages
Geography

The most populous metropolitan area of residence for all Black people in 2019 is New York City, with 3.8 million. In a distant second is Atlanta, with 2.2 million, and then the Washington, D.C., area, with 1.7 million Black residents.

Household income

Household type
Educational attainment

Religious affiliation
