---
"title": "Are blacks as financially well off as whites? Depends on whom you ask"
"description": "Despite large and persistent gaps between blacks and whites on virtually every indicator of economic well-being, about half of all whites say the average black person is about as well off financially or doing better than the average white person, according to a survey released last week by the Pew Research Center."
"date": "2013-08-27"
"authors":
  -
    "name": "Rich Morin"
    "job_title": "Former Senior Editor"
    "link": "https://alpha.pewresearch.org/pewresearch-org/staff/rich-morin/"
"url": "https://alpha.pewresearch.org/pewresearch-org/short-reads/2013/08/27/are-blacks-as-financially-well-off-as-whites-depends-on-whom-you-ask/"
"categories":
  - "Business & Workplace"
  - "Economic Inequality"
  - "Homeownership & Renting"
  - "Personal Finances"
  - "Poverty"
  - "Race & Ethnicity"
  - "Wealth"
  - "White Americans"
---

# Are blacks as financially well off as whites? Depends on whom you ask

Despite large and persistent gaps between blacks and whites on virtually every indicator of economic well-being, about half of all whites say the average black person is about as well off financially or doing better than the average white person, according to a [survey](https://alpha.pewresearch.org/pewresearch-org/social-trends/2013/08/22/kings-dream-remains-an-elusive-goal-many-americans-see-racial-disparities/) released last week by the Pew Research Center.

The survey found that 53% of whites say that, on average, blacks are “about as well off” financially as whites (43%) or say blacks are doing better (10%).

![FT-black-white-financial-gap-01](https://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2013/08/FT-black-white-financial-gap-01.png){.align}

But when you ask black Americans the same question, about six-in-ten blacks (59%) say, on average, blacks are worse off financially than whites.

Among blacks, about a third (36%) say the average black person is doing better or about as well off as the average white person.

So how does perception square with reality?

On the eve of 50<sup>th</sup> anniversary of Martin Luther King’s historic “I Have a Dream” speech, [decades of government data](https://alpha.pewresearch.org/pewresearch-org/social-trends/2013/08/22/race-demographics/) finds that blacks have consistently lagged far behind whites on most [indicators of economic well-being](https://alpha.pewresearch.org/pewresearch-org/short-reads/2013/08/21/through-good-times-and-bad-black-unemployment-is-consistently-double-that-of-whites/). If anything, the gaps on some key measures have grown over the years.

For example, the median household income of a family of three in 2011 was $39,760 for blacks but $67,175 for whites. That’s a difference of about $27,000, up roughly $8,000 since 1967.

The race gap between blacks and whites on median household wealth, measured in terms of net assets minus liabilities, has increased as well, from $75,224 in 1984 to $84,960 in 2011. During this period, the median net worth of an average black family actually declined slightly from $7,150 to $6,446.

One big reason for the wealth gap: Blacks are significantly less likely than whites to own their own homes (44% vs. 73%), and a home comprises the bulk of most family’s net worth.

Blacks also were about three times as likely as whites in 2011 to be living below the poverty line (28% vs. 10%). This gap has remained about the same in recent decades.

Perceptions of how blacks and whites are associated with other views on race. For example, about six-in-ten (58%) of those who say blacks are doing worse also say the country needs to make “a lot” more progress to achieve equality between the races, a view shared by 43% of those who say blacks are doing the same or better than whites.