What States Have the Most Black People? 2021 Top Five

Have you ever wondered what state the most black people live in? If you’re like me, you get random bouts of curiosity about things like this. It’s funny how when black people are mentioned, we’re lumped together as if we all live on the same block. And, every state is different in so many little ways!

To find out which states had the most black people living there, I took a look at the U.S. Census data along with a Pew Research study that tabulated results. Census data has come a long way since the beginning when there were only 2 categories; free and slaves. Now, it goes much further in the way of showing diversity.

A United States census is conducted every 10 years. The most recent (23rd census)was in 2019. That is the one that provided the data for this article. Let’s take a look at it.

States With the Most Black People

Before we can say which states have the most black people, we have to clarify the “black” part. I know we’ve all heard of the “one-drop” rule and. in a sense, that does apply here. However, that only applies in the “Single Race” category since it includes everyone who identifies as black. An important consideration here is that census data relies on self-identification.

As a side note for self-identification, it helps to know there are various categories of the concept. Self identification is literally how you see yourself or identify yourself and nothing more. There is no verification process or requirement attached. If you want to know how interesting that can get, think about Rachel Dolezal. She was known for presenting herself as a black woman even though she was born to white parents.

For the most part, there are five major categories of self-identification. Those categories are mental, social, spiritual, emotional, and physical. That’s important to note because it highlights the fact that what people report might not “look” like what it looks like. For instance, think of the people who were told things about their own heritage that might not exactly be true.

In terms of self-identification, there are three subcategories of the overall black population on the census. The first is “Single Race” which refers to those who self-identify as being black with no mention of another race. A second subcategory is “Interracial” which includes those who self-identify as Black and one or more races but not as Hispanic or Latino. Last is, Black Hispanic” which refers to people who self-identify as Hispanic or Latino and as Black regardless of the presence of other races. Here’s the breakdown.

Top 5 Black States by Population

U.S. States With the Highest Number of People Overall

As you can see from the chart above, there are a few different ways to look at the data. We’ll take a look at the obvious first and then the not so obvious.

The calculation here includes everyone who self-identifies as Black in any way, shape, or form. So, if they aren’t saying they are “Black”, they are saying that they are part “Black”, or they have “Black” in them. The order of ranking in this category is Texas, Florida, Georgia, New York, and California.

Texas

With a black population above 3.9 million Black people in 2019, takes the number one spot in regards to states with the highest overall black population. During the 2000 Census, New York held the top spot. It’s really not surprising considering how big the state is. Texas is the second biggest state by land mass after Alaska. Alaska is nowhere near the top five, for obvious reasons.

As with the total black population, Among non-Hispanic single-race Black people, Texas also has the largest population among single race Black people (non-Hispanic). 3.4 million blacks in Texas self-identify in the Single Race black category. It falls to second place when it comes to Interracial people. Texas comes in as the fourth largest state in the country in terms of those who identify as Black Hispanic.

Florida

After holding the fourth spot in 2000, Florida now holds the second place spot behind Texas. Florida had an overall black population of 3.8 million in the 2019 Census. Florida was also in the top 5 states with populations self-identifying as Interracial (Non-Hispanic). It ranked 3rd with 245,000 people. And again, Florida remained in the top 5 states with self-identifying Black Hispanic populations. That total about 260,000 people.

Georgia

Georgia had a total state population of around 10.6 million in 2019. The Overall Black population was at about 3.6 million. That puts the overall Black population of Georgia at 34% of the state’s total population. So, according to these numbers, the black population is literally one third of the population of Georgia. When it comes to Single Race category, Georgia comes in second. Single Race blacks in Georgia numbered around 3.3 million. Interestingly, Georgia doesn’t place in the top five when it comes to those self-identifying as Interracial or Black Hispanic

New York

The state of New York ranked 4th in terms of overall black population. 3.4 million people self-identified their race as Black during the 2019 census. Of those, 2.8 million considered themselves to be Single Race Blacks. That placed New York in 4th place in that subcategory as well. The state fell to the 5th position in the Interracial subcategory. 206,000 people self-identified themselves as Interracial. Under the Black hispanic subcategory, New York springs up to the first position. About 450,000 New Yorkers self-identified as Black hispanic.

California

The West Coast state of California rounds out the top five in overall black population. It had 2.8 million self-identifying as black. But, when it comes to Single Race Black self-identification, California drops out of the top five completely. However, in terms of those assigning themselves to the Interracial subcategory, California ranks number one. About 350,000 people claimed Interracial status. California also remains in the top 5 (3rd place) with those claiming Black hispanic status. The Black Hispanic group numbered around 240,000.

North Carolina

North Carolina was not in the top five for overall black population. But, it did show up once in the top five race within the subcategory of Single Race Blacks. 2.2 million black people self-identified themselves as Single Race Blacks during the 2019 census. That placed North Carolina in the 5th position for that self-identification.

Ohio

Like North Carolina, Ohio was not in the top five for overall black population either. It did, in contrast, show up in a separate subcategory. About 208,000 people self-identified themselves as Interracial in Ohio. That put Ohio in 4th place in the Interracial (Non-Hispanic) subcategory.

New Jersey

Like North Carolina and Ohio, New Jersey did not round out the top five for overall black population. New Jersey emerged as a top 5 state in the Black Hispanic subcategory. It took 5th place with 130,000 Black people claiming that status.

Black Population Source Data

Data for this article was taken from the 2019 U.S. Census data. It also features Pew Research Center tabulations of the 2019 American Community Survey (1% IPUMS). The tables break down the numbers of the 5 states with the highest black populations overall and by subcategory. The primary ranking (overall black population) is based on total population or number of black people. It includes black, black interracial, and black hispanic populations.

Subsequent rankings are in order of the specific subcategories only. “Single Race” includes those who identify as Black only, not Hispanic or Latino. “Interracial” refers to people who self-identify as Black and one or more races but not as Hispanic or Latino. “Black Hispanic” refers to people who self-identify as Hispanic or Latino and as Black.

When dealing with large numbers, rounding is typical. For this analysis of the data, rounding was based on two criteria. The census uses numbers over 1 million and numbers below 1 million. The numbers above 1 million were rounded to the nearest 100,000. Meanwhile, numbers below 1 million were rounded to the nearest 10,000.