Despite recent improvements in Black families’ homeownership rates, Black households still hold a disproportionately low share of housing wealth nationally relative to their share of households. In most counties, the gap between the share of Black households and their share of total home values has narrowed, but it still varies widely across markets.
Census data show the Black homeownership rate increased from 41.2 percent in 2015 to 44.3 percent in 2022. Because home prices rose over the same period, the total value of homes owned by Black households nationally (i.e., their housing wealth) increased from $1.11 trillion to $2.17 trillion. (Note that the housing wealth metric in this post does not take out outstanding mortgage debt, which is typically higher for Black homeowners.)
Yet in 2022, Black households held 5.9 percent of total housing wealth, despite making up 11.9 percent of households. This is the result of decades of systemic racism in housing policies and practices and disproportionate negative impacts of crises and economic shocks on Black families that have left them with lower homeownership rates and lower-value homes. In 2022, the Black homeownership rate was 44.3 percent versus 65.1 percent for all households. The same year, Black homeowners’ average home value was about $318,000, compared with $423,000 for all homeowners.
But national trends might not fully reflect local changes. For Black History Month, we used the Upward Mobility Data Dashboard to understand changes in Black homeownership and housing wealth at the county level. By identifying counties with notable shifts, we offer valuable insights for local policymakers looking to address housing wealth disparities in their communities.
Black households’ share of housing wealth is smaller than their share of households in most counties
The Upward Mobility Data Dashboard includes data on the ratio of the share of total home values owned by Black homeowners to the share of total households headed by Black individuals. If the share of all households who are Black is much larger than Black households’ home value share, this can indicate local housing market disparities.
The table below shows the 10 counties with the largest and smallest gaps between these two shares out of the 100 most-populous counties with at least 5,000 Black residents in 2022. Of these 100 counties, only 4 had no gap or a positive gap, where Black households’ share of housing wealth is larger than their share of households. The share of the total population that is Black in two of these, Bernalillo County, New Mexico, and Ventura County, California, is very small.
The county with the smallest gap was Prince George’s County, Maryland, where Black households owned 66.9 percent of the county’s total home value but made up 64.8 percent of households in 2022. Black households in the county had a homeownership rate of 61.8 percent, much higher than the national average of 44.3 percent.
The county with the largest gap was Shelby County, Tennessee, where Black households owned 29 percent of the county's total home value but made up 53.4 percent of all households. This gap is driven by both a low Black homeownership rate and lower-value homes. The Black homeownership rate was slightly lower than the national rate in 2022 (42.5 percent versus 44.3 percent), and the average home value for Black homeowners was significantly lower than that for all other homeowners in the county ($215,887 versus $369,937).
The gap between Black households’ share of all households and their share of housing wealth has decreased in most counties
Some local markets experienced significant changes in the gap between the share of Black households and their share of housing wealth between 2015 and 2022. The table below shows whether the gap increased or decreased (by 0 to 4 percentage points or by more than 4 percentage points) over this period for the 100 largest counties with at least 5,000 Black residents. The gap between Black households and home values decreased in 92 percent of counties, with only 8 counties seeing the gap increase.
The nine counties with the largest decreases were spread out in the South (Georgia and Tennessee), Midwest (Illinois, Michigan, and Ohio), and Northeast (New Jersey and Pennsylvania). The eight counties with the largest increases were in Texas (which has two of the eight counties), Alabama, Colorado, Illinois, Kentucky, New Jersey, and North Carolina. The remaining states with eligible counties saw no or moderate decreases.
The gap shrank the most in Dekalb County, Georgia, declining from 23.9 to 15.9 percentage points between 2015 and 2022. This reduction was mainly driven by the homeownership rate for Black households increasing (from 47.7 to 55.0 percent) as the total number of households slightly declined. Despite the substantial increase in homeownership, the average home value was much lower for Black homeowners than for non-Black homeowners in 2022 ($301,000 versus $502,000). This largely explains why the gap between Black households’ share of households and their housing wealth is still significant.
The gap increased the most in Williamson County, Texas, though it has a much smaller gap than Dekalb County. The gap between the share of Black households and their share of housing wealth increased from 0.26 percentage points in 2015 to 3.10 percentage points in 2022. This increase is largely attributable to the 49 percent increase in the number of Black households in the county during these years. According to our analysis of census data, more than 80 percent of Black households who migrated to the county started as renters, leading to a significant drop in the Black homeownership rate from 58.3 percent to 38.3 percent.
Local market analyses can inform effective solutions to address disparities in housing wealth
Data from the Upward Mobility Data Dashboard reveal substantial variations and changes in the gap between Black households’ share of households and their share of housing wealth across markets. Our analysis also highlights that the inflow and outflow of Black households, new household formation, and home prices can also lead to differences in how much housing value Black households own in a market.
By breaking down these trends, local policymakers and leaders can develop better-tailored solutions for closing Black housing wealth gaps. For example, in Williamson County, where the Black homeownership rate has fallen significantly, providing financial support such as down payment assistance might be helpful. In Dekalb County, where homeownership has risen but Black households live in less expensive homes, providing financial support for renovations could increase home values for Black homeowners.
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