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Census Bureau Releases Update on
Country's African American Population
The Commerce Department's Census Bureau today issued new data on the African
American population showing that 79 percent of African Americans age 25 and over
had earned at least a high school diploma and 17 percent had attained at least
a bachelor's degree by March 2000. Both percentages represented record levels of
educational attainment.
The Census Bureau cautioned the public not to confuse the new estimates with
Census 2000 results, which are scheduled for release over the next three years.
According to the 2000 estimates, there were 8.7 million African American
families. Less than one-half (48 percent) of all African American families
were married-couple families, 44 percent were maintained by women with no
spouse present and 8 percent were maintained by men with no spouse present.
Other highlights:
- Among African American men age 15 and over, 39 percent were currently
married, 3 percent were widowed and 10 percent were divorced. Among women,
the corresponding proportions were 31 percent, 10 percent and 12 percent. A
similar proportion -- 42 percent -- of African American men and women had
never married.
- African American families tend to be larger than White, not of Hispanic
origin families. For example, 21 percent of African American married-couple
families had five or more members, compared with 12 percent of their White,
not Hispanic, counterparts.
- African American women, age 16 and over, were more likely than their White,
not Hispanic, counterparts to participate in the labor force (64 percent
compared with 61 percent). For men, the reverse was true. African American
men had a participation rate of 68 percent compared with 74 percent of
White, not Hispanic men.
- Among African Americans age 16 and over who were employed, 25 percent of
women and 18 percent of men worked in managerial and professional specialty
occupations.
- The 1999 median household income was the highest ever recorded, in real
terms, for African Americans ($27,910).
- Half (51 percent) of African American married-couple families had incomes of
$50,000 or more, compared with 60 percent of their White, not Hispanic,
counterparts.
- In 1999, the poverty rate for African Americans fell to a record low of
23.6 percent.
- About 47 percent of African American householders were homeowners.
These findings on the African American population are available in two
different products released today. One is a series of 21 tables from the
March 2000 Current Population Survey (CPS) titled Black Population in the
U.S.: March 2000, PPL-142, covering such topics as age, marital status, family
type and size, education, occupation, income, poverty and housing. They also
show comparable national data for Whites, not of Hispanic origin.
The other product is a special edition of the Census Bureau's monthly Facts
for Features, celebrating African American History Month in February. It
consists of narrative on many of the same topics as the tables, plus
national-level population projections and population by state and county.
Statistics from sample surveys are subject to sampling and nonsampling error.
The March 2000 CPS uses the 1990 census as the base for its sample.
available free from Adobe.
