The State of Black Residents: The relevance of place to racial equity and outcomes

People shape places, and places in turn shape outcomes for people. Racial disparities reported at the national level in the United States are broad averages that obscure what is happening in specific communities, whether they are stories of progress, stagnation, or regression. To take on this multifaceted concept, we begin by defining a set of quality-of-life aspirations and looking at metrics related to them at the county level. We then aggregate the results for places with similar characteristics, including various types of American cities, suburbs, and rural counties. This approach enables us to examine which environments offer Black residents the best quality of life and which have gotten closer to the goal of creating more equitable outcomes. The results show substantial differences in overall outcomes for Black residents across community profiles—as well as substantial gaps between Black and White residents in virtually every county. We find that America’s suburbs and exurbs currently seem to have the nation’s best balance of positive overall Black outcomes and parity. But even here, large disparities persist. Effectively, there is nowhere in the United States where outcomes for Black residents equal those of their White neighbors. Moreover, most places close to parity are small rural counties where outcomes are poor for all residents, regardless of race.