List of U.S. states and territories by African-American population

The following is a list of U.S. states, territories and the District of Columbia ranked by the proportion of African Americans of full or partial descent, including those of Hispanic origin, in the population. Considering only those who marked "black" and no other race in combination, as in the first table, the percentage was 12.4% in 2020, down from 12.6% in 2010.^[1] Considering those who marked "black" and any other race in combination, as in the second table, the percentage increased from 13.6% to 14.2%.

Proportion of African Americans in each U.S. state, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico as of the 2020 United States Census

Proportion of black Americans in each county of the fifty states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico as of the 2020 United States Census

2020 census (single race)

% Black or African American alone or in combination[2]	Rank	State or territory	Black or African American alone Population (2020)
76.0%	1	Virgin Islands (U.S.)	80,908[3]
41.41%	2	District of Columbia	285,810
37.94%	3	Mississippi	1,084,481
33.13%	4	Louisiana	1,464,023
33.03%	5	Georgia	3,320,513
32.01%	6	Maryland	1,820,472
29.80%	7	Alabama	1,296,162
27.09%	8	South Carolina	1,280,531
23.50%	9	North Carolina	2,140,217
22.11%	10	Delaware	218,899
21.60%	11	Virginia	1,607,581
19.80%	12	Tennessee	1,092,948
17.46%	13	Puerto Rico	328,711
17.11%	14	Florida	3,246,381
17.10%	15	Arkansas	453,783
16.89%	16	New York	2,986,172
16.19%	17	Illinois	1,808,271
15.76%	18	Michigan	1,376,579
15.19%	19	New Jersey	1,219,770
14.20%	−	United States of America	47,511,020
12.58%	20	Ohio	1,478,781
12.21%	21	Texas	3,552,997
11.40%	22	Missouri	699,840
11.30%	23	Pennsylvania	1,423,169
10.88%	24	Connecticut	388,675
10.80%	25	Nevada	304,739
10.60%	26	Indiana	648,513
8.09%	27	Kentucky	362,417
7.39%	28	Oklahoma	289,961
7.09%	29	Massachusetts	494,029
7.08%	30	Minnesota	398,434
6.40%	31	Wisconsin	376,256
6.30%	32	California	2,237,044
5.79%	33	Kansas	168,809
5.78%	34	Rhode Island	62,168
5.77%	35	Nebraska	96,535
5.76%	36	Arizona	339,150
5.19%	37	Colorado	234,828
5.14%	38	Iowa	131,972
5.09%	39	Washington	407,565
3.9%	40	North Dakota	26,783
3.76%	41	West Virginia	165,813
3.70%	42	Alaska	21,898
2.28%	43	New Mexico	55,904
2.26%	44	Oregon	182,655
2.24%	45	South Dakota	17,842
1.90%	46	Maine	25,752
1.60%	47	Hawaii	23,417
1.50%	48	New Hampshire	20,127
1.40%	49	Vermont	9,034
1.20%	50	Utah	40,058
1.0%[4]	51	Guam	1,540[4]
0.99%	52	Idaho	15,726
0.91%	53	Wyoming	5,232
0.50%	54	Montana	5,484
0.1%[5]	55	Northern Mariana Islands	55[5]
0.02%[6]	56	American Samoa	13[6]

African-American proportion of state and territory populations (1790–2020)

From 1787 to 1868, enslaved African Americans were counted in the U.S. census under the Three-fifths Compromise. The compromise was an agreement reached during the 1787 United States Constitutional Convention over the counting of slaves in determining a state's total population. This count would determine the number of seats for each state in the U.S. House of Representatives and, should direct taxation be imposed by Congress (which was never done under Article I, section 2, clause 3 of the Constitution), how much each state would pay in taxes. The compromise counted three-fifths of each state's slave population toward that state's total population for the purpose of apportioning the U.S. House of Representatives. Even though slaves were denied voting rights, this gave Southern states more U.S. representatives and more presidential electoral votes than if slaves had not been counted. Free blacks and indentured servants were not affected by the proviso, and each was counted as one full person for representation.^[7]

In the United States Constitution, the Three-fifths Compromise is part of Article 1, Section 2, Clause 3. Section 2 of the Fourteenth Amendment (1868) later superseded this clause and explicitly repealed the compromise.

African-American % of Population (1790–1990)
Black or African American alone or in combination (2000–2020) by U.S. state and territory^{[8][9][10][11] [12] [13]}

State/Territory	1790	1800	1810	1820	1830	1840	1850	1860	1870	1880	1890	1900	1910	1920	1930	1940	1950	1960	1970	1980	1990	2000	2010	2020
United States of America	19.3%	18.9%	19.0%	18.4%	18.1%	16.8%	15.7%	14.1%	12.7%	13.1%	11.9%	11.6%	10.7%	9.9%	9.7%	9.8%	10.0%	10.5%	11.1%	11.7%	12.1%	12.9%	13.6%	14.2%
Alabama		41.4%	29.0%	33.2%	38.5%	43.3%	44.7%	45.4%	47.7%	47.5%	44.8%	45.2%	42.5%	38.4%	35.7%	34.7%	32.0%	30.0%	26.2%	25.6%	25.3%	26.0%	26.3%	26.8%
Alaska												0.3%	0.3%	0.2%	0.2%	0.2%		3.0%	3.0%	3.4%	4.1%	4.3%	4.7%	4.8%
American Samoa																					0.02%	0.04%	0.02%
Arizona								0.3%	0.3%	0.4%	1.5%	1.5%	1.0%	2.4%	2.5%	3.0%	3.5%	3.3%	3.0%	2.8%	3.0%	3.6%	5.0%	6.2%
Arkansas			13.0%	11.7%	15.5%	20.9%	22.7%	25.6%	25.2%	26.3%	27.4%	28.0%	28.1%	27.0%	25.8%	24.8%	22.3%	21.8%	18.3%	16.3%	15.9%	16.0%	16.1%	16.5%
California							1.0%	1.1%	0.8%	0.7%	0.9%	0.7%	0.9%	1.1%	1.4%	1.8%	4.4%	5.6%	7.0%	7.7%	7.4%	7.4%	7.2%	7.1%
Colorado								0.1%	1.1%	1.3%	1.5%	1.6%	1.4%	1.2%	1.1%	1.1%	1.5%	2.3%	3.0%	3.5%	4.0%	4.4%	5.0%	5.5%
Connecticut	2.3%	2.5%	2.6%	2.9%	2.7%	2.6%	2.1%	1.9%	1.8%	1.9%	1.6%	1.7%	1.4%	1.5%	1.8%	1.9%	2.7%	4.2%	6.0%	7.0%	8.3%	10.0%	11.3%	13.0%
Delaware	21.6%	22.4%	23.8%	24.0%	24.9%	25.0%	22.2%	19.3%	18.2%	18.0%	16.8%	16.6%	15.4%	13.6%	13.7%	13.5%	13.7%	13.6%	14.3%	16.1%	16.9%	20.1%	22.9%	24.7%
District of Columbia		30.4%	33.1%	31.2%	30.1%	29.1%	26.6%	19.1%	33.0%	33.6%	32.8%	31.1%	28.5%	25.1%	27.1%	28.2%	35.0%	53.9%	71.1%	70.3%	65.8%	61.3%	52.2%	44.2%
Florida					47.1%	48.7%	46.0%	44.6%	48.8%	47.0%	42.5%	43.7%	41.0%	34.0%	29.4%	27.1%	21.8%	17.8%	15.3%	13.8%	13.6%	15.5%	17.0%	17.2%
Georgia	35.9%	37.1%	42.5%	44.4%	42.6%	41.0%	42.4%	44.0%	46.0%	47.0%	46.7%	46.7%	45.1%	41.7%	36.8%	34.7%	30.9%	28.5%	25.9%	26.8%	27.0%	29.2%	31.5%	33.0%
Guam																					2.37%	1.02%	0.96%
Hawaii												0.2%	0.4%	0.1%	0.2%	0.1%	0.5%	0.8%	1.0%	1.8%	2.5%	2.8%	2.9%	3.2%
Idaho									0.4%	0.2%	0.2%	0.2%	0.2%	0.2%	0.2%	0.1%	0.2%	0.2%	0.3%	0.3%	0.3%	0.6%	1.0%	1.5%
Illinois		7.4%	6.4%	2.5%	1.5%	0.8%	0.6%	0.4%	1.1%	1.5%	1.5%	1.8%	1.9%	2.8%	4.3%	4.9%	7.4%	10.3%	12.8%	14.7%	14.8%	15.6%	15.4%	15.5%
Indiana		4.4%	2.6%	1.0%	1.1%	1.0%	1.1%	0.8%	1.5%	2.0%	2.1%	2.3%	2.2%	2.8%	3.5%	3.6%	4.4%	5.8%	6.9%	7.6%	7.8%	8.8%	10.1%	11.2%
Iowa						0.4%	0.2%	0.2%	0.5%	0.6%	0.6%	0.6%	0.7%	0.8%	0.7%	0.7%	0.8%	0.9%	1.2%	1.4%	1.7%	2.5%	3.7%	5.4%
Kansas								0.6%	4.7%	4.3%	3.5%	3.5%	3.2%	3.3%	3.5%	3.6%	3.8%	4.2%	4.8%	5.3%	5.8%	6.3%	7.1%	7.6%
Kentucky	17.0%	18.6%	20.2%	22.9%	24.7%	24.3%	22.5%	20.4%	16.8%	16.5%	14.4%	13.3%	11.4%	9.8%	8.6%	7.5%	6.9%	7.1%	7.2%	7.1%	7.1%	7.7%	8.7%	9.7%
Louisiana			55.2%	51.8%	58.5%	55.0%	50.7%	49.5%	50.1%	51.5%	50.0%	47.1%	43.1%	38.9%	36.9%	35.9%	32.9%	31.9%	29.8%	29.4%	30.8%	32.9%	32.8%	33.1%
Maine	0.6%	0.5%	0.4%	0.3%	0.3%	0.3%	0.2%	0.2%	0.3%	0.2%	0.2%	0.2%	0.2%	0.2%	0.1%	0.2%	0.1%	0.3%	0.3%	0.3%	0.4%	0.7%	1.6%	2.7%
Maryland	34.7%	36.7%	38.2%	36.1%	34.9%	32.3%	28.3%	24.9%	22.5%	22.5%	20.7%	19.8%	17.9%	16.9%	16.9%	16.6%	16.5%	16.7%	17.8%	22.7%	24.9%	28.8%	30.9%	32.0%
Massachusetts	1.4%	1.5%	1.4%	1.3%	1.2%	1.2%	0.9%	0.8%	1.0%	1.0%	1.0%	1.1%	1.1%	1.2%	1.2%	1.3%	1.6%	2.2%	3.1%	3.9%	5.0%	6.3%	7.8%	9.5%
Michigan		3.7%	3.0%	2.1%	0.8%	0.3%	0.6%	0.9%	1.0%	0.9%	0.7%	0.7%	0.6%	1.6%	3.5%	4.0%	6.9%	9.2%	11.2%	12.9%	13.9%	14.8%	15.2%	15.3%
Minnesota							0.6%	0.2%	0.2%	0.2%	0.3%	0.3%	0.3%	0.4%	0.4%	0.4%	0.5%	0.7%	0.9%	1.3%	2.2%	4.1%	6.2%	8.5%
Mississippi		41.5%	47.0%	44.1%	48.4%	52.3%	51.2%	55.3%	53.7%	57.5%	57.6%	58.5%	56.2%	52.2%	50.2%	49.2%	45.3%	42.0%	36.8%	35.2%	35.6%	36.6%	37.6%	37.9%
Missouri			17.6%	15.9%	18.3%	15.6%	13.2%	10.0%	6.9%	6.7%	5.6%	5.2%	4.8%	5.2%	6.2%	6.5%	7.5%	9.0%	10.3%	10.5%	10.7%	11.7%	12.5%	13.0%
Montana									0.9%	0.9%	1.0%	0.6%	0.2%	0.3%	0.2%	0.2%	0.2%	0.2%	0.3%	0.2%	0.3%	0.5%	0.8%	1.2%
Nebraska								0.3%	0.6%	0.5%	0.8%	0.6%	0.6%	1.0%	1.0%	1.1%	1.5%	2.1%	2.7%	3.1%	3.6%	4.4%	5.4%	6.4%
Nevada								0.7%	0.8%	0.8%	0.5%	0.3%	0.6%	0.4%	0.6%	0.6%	2.7%	4.7%	5.7%	6.4%	6.6%	7.5%	9.4%	12.1%
New Hampshire	0.6%	0.5%	0.5%	0.3%	0.2%	0.2%	0.2%	0.2%	0.2%	0.2%	0.2%	0.2%	0.1%	0.1%	0.2%	0.1%	0.1%	0.3%	0.3%	0.4%	0.6%	1.0%	1.7%	2.4%
New Jersey	7.7%	8.0%	7.6%	7.2%	6.4%	5.8%	4.9%	3.8%	3.4%	3.4%	3.3%	3.7%	3.5%	3.7%	5.2%	5.5%	6.6%	8.5%	10.7%	12.6%	13.4%	14.4%	14.8%	15.2%
New Mexico							0.0%	0.1%	0.2%	0.8%	1.2%	0.8%	0.5%	1.6%	0.7%	0.9%	1.2%	1.8%	1.9%	1.8%	2.0%	2.3%	2.8%	3.2%
New York	7.6%	5.3%	4.2%	2.9%	2.3%	2.1%	1.6%	1.3%	1.2%	1.3%	1.2%	1.4%	1.5%	1.9%	3.3%	4.2%	6.2%	8.4%	11.9%	13.7%	15.9%	17.0%	17.2%	17.5%
North Carolina	26.8%	29.4%	32.2%	34.4%	35.9%	35.6%	36.4%	36.4%	36.6%	38.0%	34.7%	33.0%	31.6%	29.8%	29.0%	27.5%	25.8%	24.5%	22.2%	22.4%	22.0%	22.1%	22.6%	22.5%
North Dakota									1.0%	0.3%	0.2%	0.1%	0.1%	0.1%	0.1%	0.0%	0.0%	0.1%	0.4%	0.4%	0.6%	0.8%	1.6%	4.4%
Northern Mariana Islands																					0.06%	0.06%	0.1%
Ohio		0.5%	0.8%	0.8%	1.0%	1.1%	1.3%	1.6%	2.4%	2.5%	2.4%	2.3%	2.3%	3.2%	4.7%	4.9%	6.5%	8.1%	9.1%	10.0%	10.6%	12.1%	13.4%	14.4%
Oklahoma											8.4%	7.0%	8.3%	7.4%	7.2%	7.2%	6.5%	6.6%	6.7%	6.8%	7.4%	8.3%	8.7%	9.7%
Oregon							0.5%	0.2%	0.4%	0.3%	0.4%	0.3%	0.2%	0.3%	0.2%	0.2%	0.8%	1.0%	1.3%	1.4%	1.6%	2.1%	2.6%	3.2%
Pennsylvania	2.4%	2.7%	2.9%	2.9%	2.8%	2.8%	2.3%	2.0%	1.9%	2.0%	2.0%	2.5%	2.5%	3.3%	4.5%	4.7%	6.1%	7.5%	8.6%	8.8%	9.2%	10.5%	11.9%	12.7%
Puerto Rico																						10.9%	14.8%	17.5%
Rhode Island	6.3%	5.3%	4.8%	4.3%	3.7%	3.0%	2.5%	2.3%	2.3%	2.3%	2.1%	2.1%	1.8%	1.7%	1.4%	1.5%	1.8%	2.1%	2.7%	2.9%	3.9%	5.5%	7.4%	9.1%
South Carolina	43.7%	43.2%	48.4%	52.8%	55.6%	56.4%	58.9%	58.6%	58.9%	60.7%	59.8%	58.4%	55.2%	51.4%	45.6%	42.9%	38.8%	34.8%	30.5%	30.4%	29.8%	29.9%	28.8%	26.8%
South Dakota								0.0%	0.6%	0.3%	0.2%	0.1%	0.1%	0.1%	0.1%	0.1%	0.1%	0.2%	0.2%	0.3%	0.5%	0.9%	1.8%	3.0%
Tennessee	10.6%	13.2%	17.5%	19.6%	21.4%	22.7%	24.5%	25.5%	25.6%	26.1%	24.4%	23.8%	21.7%	19.3%	18.3%	17.4%	16.1%	16.5%	15.8%	15.8%	16.0%	16.8%	17.4%	17.3%
Texas							27.5%	30.3%	31.0%	24.7%	21.8%	20.4%	17.7%	15.9%	14.7%	14.4%	12.7%	12.4%	12.5%	12.0%	11.9%	12.0%	12.6%	13.6%
Utah							0.4%	0.1%	0.1%	0.2%	0.3%	0.2%	0.3%	0.3%	0.2%	0.2%	0.4%	0.5%	0.6%	0.6%	0.7%	1.1%	1.6%	2.1%
Vermont	0.3%	0.4%	0.3%	0.4%	0.3%	0.3%	0.2%	0.2%	0.3%	0.3%	0.3%	0.2%	0.5%	0.2%	0.2%	0.1%	0.1%	0.1%	0.2%	0.2%	0.3%	0.7%	1.5%	2.2%
Virgin Islands (U.S.)																					76.62%	76.19%	76.03%
Virginia	43.4%	44.6%	47.1%	47.8%	47.9%	46.9%	45.0%	43.3%	41.9%	41.8%	38.4%	35.6%	32.6%	29.9%	26.8%	24.7%	22.1%	20.6%	18.5%	18.9%	18.8%	20.4%	20.7%	20.9%
Washington								0.3%	0.9%	0.4%	0.4%	0.5%	0.5%	0.5%	0.4%	0.4%	1.3%	1.7%	2.1%	2.6%	3.1%	4.4%	4.8%	5.8%
West Virginia	9.5%	9.8%	11.5%	12.1%	11.2%	9.6%	7.8%	5.6%	4.1%	4.2%	4.3%	4.5%	5.3%	5.9%	6.6%	6.2%	5.7%	4.8%	3.9%	3.3%	3.1%	3.5%	4.2%	5.0%
Wisconsin				1.2%	1.8%	0.6%	0.2%	0.2%	0.2%	0.2%	0.1%	0.1%	0.1%	0.2%	0.4%	0.4%	0.8%	1.9%	2.9%	3.9%	5.0%	6.1%	7.1%	7.7%
Wyoming									2.0%	1.4%	1.5%	1.0%	1.5%	0.7%	0.6%	0.4%	0.9%	0.7%	0.8%	0.7%	0.8%	1.0%	1.3%	1.7%

Free blacks as a percentage out of the total black population by U.S. region and U.S. state between 1790 and 1860

In 1865, all enslaved blacks (African Americans) in the United States were emancipated as a result of the Thirteenth Amendment. However, some U.S. states had previously emancipated some or all of their black population. The table below shows the percentage of free blacks as a percentage of the total black population in various U.S. regions and U.S. states between 1790 and 1860 (the blank areas on the chart below mean that there is no data for those specific regions or states in those specific years).^{[citation needed]}

Free blacks as a percentage of the total black (African-American) population by U.S. region and U.S. state between 1790 and 1860^[14]

State/territory	1790	1800	1810	1820	1830	1840	1850	1860
United States	7.9%	10.8%	13.5%	13.2%	13.7%	13.4%	11.9%	11.0%
Northeast	40.1%	56.2%	73.5%	83.7%	97.8%	99.5%	99.8%	100.0%
Midwest		78.7%	52.4%	38.0%	37.7%	34.4%	35.5%	37.6%
South	4.7%	6.7%	8.5%	8.2%	8.4%	8.1%	7.0%	6.3%
West							97.9%	99.4%
Alabama		4.4%	2.2%	1.3%	1.3%	0.8%	0.7%	0.6%
Alaska
Arizona								100.0%
Arkansas			1.4%	3.5%	3.0%	2.3%	1.3%	0.1%
California							100.0%	100.0%
Colorado								100.0%
Connecticut	50.4%	84.9%	95.4%	98.8%	99.7%	99.8%	100.0%	100.0%
Delaware	30.5%	57.3%	75.9%	74.2%	82.8%	86.7%	88.8%	91.7%
District of Columbia		16.2%	30.7%	37.9%	50.5%	66.2%	73.2%	77.8%
Florida					5.2%	3.1%	2.3%	1.5%
Georgia	1.3%	1.7%	1.7%	1.2%	1.1%	1.0%	0.8%	0.8%
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois		41.5%	78.5%	33.3%	68.7%	91.6%	100.0%	100.0%
Indiana		75.7%	62.4%	86.6%	99.9%	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%
Iowa						91.5%	100.0%	100.0%
Kansas								99.7%
Kentucky	0.9%	1.8%	2.1%	2.1%	2.9%	3.9%	4.5%	4.5%
Louisiana			18.0%	13.2%	13.2%	13.1%	6.7%	5.3%
Maine	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	99.8%	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%
Maryland	7.2%	15.6%	23.3%	27.0%	33.9%	40.9%	45.3%	49.1%
Massachusetts	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%
Michigan		100.0%	83.3%	100.0%	99.6%	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%
Minnesota							100.0%	100.0%
Mississippi		5.0%	1.2%	1.4%	0.8%	0.7%	0.3%	0.2%
Missouri			17.4%	3.3%	2.2%	2.6%	2.9%	3.0%
Montana
Nebraska								81.7%
Nevada								100.0%
New Hampshire	79.9%	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	99.5%	99.8%	100.0%	100.0%
New Jersey	19.5%	26.2%	42.0%	62.2%	89.0%	96.9%	99.0%	99.9%
New Mexico							100.0%	100.0%
New York	17.9%	33.3%	62.8%	74.4%	99.8%	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%
North Carolina	4.7%	5.0%	5.7%	6.7%	7.4%	8.5%	8.7%	8.4%
North Dakota
Ohio		100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	99.9%	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%
Oklahoma
Oregon							100.0%	100.0%
Pennsylvania	63.6%	89.5%	96.6%	99.3%	98.9%	99.9%	100.0%	100.0%
Rhode Island	78.2%	89.7%	97.1%	98.7%	99.5%	99.8%	100.0%	100.0%
South Carolina	1.7%	2.1%	2.3%	2.6%	2.4%	2.5%	2.3%	2.4%
South Dakota								N/A[a]
Tennessee	9.6%	2.2%	2.9%	3.3%	3.1%	2.9%	2.6%	2.6%
Texas							0.7%	0.2%
Utah							48.0%	50.8%
Vermont	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%
Virginia	4.1%	5.6%	7.3%	8.2%	9.3%	10.1%	10.2%	10.5%
Washington							100.0%	100.0%
West Virginia	11.6%	6.8%	10.5%	8.5%	10.9%	14.1%	13.1%	13.1%
Wisconsin				100.0%	51.6%	94.4%	100.0%	100.0%
Wyoming

a^ No blacks, whether free or enslaved, were reported as living in South Dakota in 1860.^[14]

See also

• United States portal

• African-American neighborhoods
• List of African-American neighborhoods
• List of U.S. cities with large African-American populations
• List of U.S. counties with African-American majority populations
• List of U.S. metropolitan areas with large African-American populations
• Black Southerners