2025

States in U.S. Ranked by Black Population

This list ranks the 50 states in the United States by Black or African American population, as estimated by the United States Census Bureau. It also highlights population changes in each states over the past five years.
Updated Jan 23, 2025
Ranked by Black population, here are the top states with their Black population counts:
  • Texas: 4,146,550 (11.66% of state population)
  • Florida: 3,900,650 (15.24% of state population)
  • Georgia: 3,648,016 (31.27% of state population)
  • New York: 3,519,047 (16.14% of state population)
  • California: 2,841,399 (6.16% of state population)
  • North Carolina: 2,422,743 (21.26% of state population)
  • Maryland: 2,001,093 (29.97% of state population)
Explore the complete rankings below to see how other states compare.

The 50 states in the United States by Black Population

View Methodology
Rank by Black Population
State
Black Population
% of Total State Population
% of Total U.S. Black Population
5 Year Rank Trend
1 Texas 4,146,550 11.66% 8.66%
2 Florida 3,900,650 15.24% 8.14%
3 Georgia 3,648,016 31.27% 7.62%
4 New York 3,519,047 16.14% 7.35%
6 North Carolina 2,422,743 21.26% 5.06%
7 Maryland 2,001,093 29.97% 4.18%
8 1,961,886 14.08% 4.10%
9 1,845,481 19.56% 3.85%
11 1,687,015 12.17% 3.52%
12 1,547,902 14.43% 3.23%
13 1,530,504 31.01% 3.20%
14 1,424,161 13.81% 2.97%
16 1,391,124 26.25% 2.90%
17 1,230,420 16.56% 2.57%
18 1,132,820 36.96% 2.37%
19 794,466 12.07% 1.66%
21 702,811 9.09% 1.47%
22 497,668 15.04% 1.04%
23 495,799 8.13% 1.04%
24 490,117 12.34% 1.02%
26 466,937 5.36% 0.97%
27 449,822 7.14% 0.94%
28 439,100 9.22% 0.92%
29 384,945 8.47% 0.80%
31 329,818 5.00% 0.69%
32 313,970 42.65% 0.66%
33 252,568 23.20% 0.53%
34 223,538 6.94% 0.47%
36 137,857 2.91% 0.29%
37 127,493 6.00% 0.27%
38 106,558 8.70% 0.22%
39 85,925 4.61% 0.18%
41 69,339 1.91% 0.14%
42 53,354 2.69% 0.11%
43 38,457 4.61% 0.08%
44 36,085 2.45% 0.08%
46 33,084 4.02% 0.07%
47 29,112 3.06% 0.06%
48 26,717 1.29% 0.06%
49 14,476 2.13% 0.03%
51 9,736 1.56% 0.02%
Methodology
This ranking list is based on data from the American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year Estimates, conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. The ACS is one of the most reliable sources for understanding population trends across different locations, and it provides estimates for various racial and ethnic groups at city, county, state and all geography levels down to the Census block group.
This list ranks states in United States by their Black or African American population, using the most recent ACS data available.
How the Census Defines Black Population
The U.S. Census Bureau allows people to self-identify their race, meaning individuals can choose one or more racial categories when responding to the survey. In this ranking, we include everyone who identifies as Black, whether alone or in combination with another race.
Here are a few important things to know about how race is reported:
  • Some people identify as Black alone, while others identify as Black along with another race (such as Black and White).
  • Hispanic / Latino origin is reported separately from race, so someone can be both Hispanic and Black .
  • We’ve used the “Black alone or in combination” category unless noted otherwise, which gives a broader picture of the Black population in each area.
How We Ranked the Data
This ranking is based on the total number of people who identified as Black alone or in combination in states. To provide additional context, we’ve also included two key percentages:
  1. % of Total State Population – This shows what percentage of the total state population identifies as Black .
  2. % of Total U.S. Black Population – This tells us how much of the entire U.S. Black population lives in that state.
To keep things simple, all population numbers have been rounded to the nearest whole number, and percentages are rounded to one decimal place. Because of rounding, some percentages may not add up to exactly 100%.
Things to Keep in Mind
Like all survey-based data, ACS estimates come with some limitations. Here are a few things to be aware of:
  • In places with very small Black populations, the numbers may not be reported at all due to privacy protections or sampling variability in the survey.
  • Since the ACS is based on a sample, the numbers are estimates, not exact counts. That means they may slightly differ from other sources like the decennial U.S. Census.
  • States that don’t have any reported Black population are not included in the ranking but are listed separately below for reference.
This ranking is meant to provide a clear, data-driven look at where Black populations are most concentrated while keeping the numbers easy to understand.
Sources
U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS) 2019-2023 5-Year Estimates.