The U.S. Census Bureau reports that in 2010 the median income for non-Hispanic white households in 2010 was $54,620. This means that 50 percent of these American households had incomes above this level and 50 percent earned below this level. The median income figures shows how well the family “in the middle” is doing financially.
The median income of black households in the United States in 2010 was $32,068. This is only 58.7 percent of the median income of non-Hispanic white households. For more than 40 years, the median household income of blacks has hovered at close to 60 percent of the median income of non-Hispanic white households.
In fact, the gap grew slightly larger from 2009 to 2010. Non-Hispanic white household income dropped by 1.3 percent in 2010. But the drop for black households was 3.2 percent.
This large and stagnant income gap between black and white families remains for African Americans a major barrier to equal access to higher education in this country.
