A growing share are foreign born, the population is aging (though some segments are significantly younger), and a growing share are college graduates. The nation’s Black population is changing in other ways too. Then, 93% identified their race and ethnicity as Black alone. 2But these shares have changed since 2000. Another 2.4 million, or 5%, self-identified as both Black and Hispanic, or Black Hispanic. In 2019, 40.7 million, or 87%, identified their race as Black alone and their ethnicity as non-Hispanic, while around 3.7 million, or 8%, indicated their race was Black and another race (most often White) and not Hispanic. Among those who self-identify as “Black or African American,” the share who say it is their only racial or ethnic identification has declined over the past two decades. About 14% of the national population said they were Black in 2019, up from 13% who did so in 2000.Īt the same time, the Black population’s racial self-identification is changing. population is higher today than in 2000 as well. identified their race as Black, either alone or as part of a multiracial or ethnic background. As a result, there are key distinctions in demographic and economic characteristics between different parts of the national Black population, highlighting its diverse multitude of backgrounds. The Black population also has nuanced ethnic and racial identities reflecting intermarriage and international migration. Its members have varied histories in the nation – many are descendants of enslaved people, while others are recently arrived immigrants. The Black population of the United States is diverse. For this analysis, Generation Z is defined as those ages 7 to 22 in 2019. * No chronological endpoint has been set for this group. These are defined by their birth years and ages in 2019 as follows: Generation In this report, we refer to several generations. The terms foreign born and immigrant are used interchangeably in this report. citizen.įoreign born refers to people born outside of the United States to parents neither of whom was a U.S. territories and those born in other countries to parents at least one of whom was a U.S. citizens at birth, including those born in the United States, Puerto Rico, U.S. White refers to people who self-identify as White only (single race) and do not identify as Hispanic or Latino.Īsian refers to people who self-identify as Asian only (single race) and do not identify as Hispanic or Latino. The terms Hispanic or Latino are used interchangeably throughout this report.

The term Black Hispanic is used to refer to those who self-identify as Black and Hispanic or Latino, as well as those who self-identify as multiracial Black and Hispanic or Latino. The term multiracial Black is used to refer to people who self-identify as two or more races and do not identify as Hispanic or Latino. This population is made up of individuals who self-identify only as Black and do not identify as Hispanic or Latino. The terms single-race Black and Black alone are used interchangeably throughout the report to refer to the same population. The terms Black population and Black people are used interchangeably in this report. This includes those who say their race is only Black those who say Black is one of two or more races in their background and those who say they their race is Black, or that one of their races is Black but also indicate they are of Hispanic or Latino or Black origin. Black population or total Black population refers to all people who self-identify as Black in the United States. Unless otherwise noted, adults are those who are ages 18 and older. These changes may impact how many people identify as Black (or any other race). Census Bureau can change as the way the nation sees itself changes (see the “Measuring ethnic and racial identity” section of this report for more details on census years). In addition, the racial and ethnic categories used by the U.S. However, an individual’s racial and ethnic self-identification may not be fixed and instead can change over time. Census Bureau products (decennial censuses and iterations of the American Community Survey) to identify the nation’s Black population. This report relies on self-identification of race and ethnicity in U.S.

Us census race percentage