Many Of Chicago's Wealthy African-Americans Are Moving To The South: Report
By Kate Shepherd in News on Sep 25, 2015 8:15PM
There's been an exodus of wealthy blacks from Chicago to the South, according to Nielsen's new study, "Increasingly Affluent, Educated and Diverse: African-American Consumers, the Untold Story" . That's bleak job opportunities in Chicago are encouraging young and educated African-Americans to move South, the study says.
Chicago has fallen out of the top 10 cities with the most black households making $100,000 or more. The city fell from #7 in 2000 to #21 in 2015 with only 2.1 percent of black households in that income bracket, according to Nielsen. Chicago and Detroit, which also fell out of the top 10, have been replaced with southern cities that include Baton Rouge, La., Columbus, Ga. and Augusta-Aiken, Ga.-S.C., according to the Tribune.
Almost the entire top 10 list is south of the Mason-Dixon line. Washington, D.C. came in at #1 with 7.2 percent followed by Baltimore at 5.1 percent, Norfolk, Va. with 3.9 percent and Atlanta with 3.6 percent.
Chicago and Detroit still are among the cities with the most affluent African-Americans, based on numbers alone. But young, educated African-Americans are continuing to the head to the South for job opportunities, Brookings Institution demographer William Frey told the Tribune.
"In the last 25 years, blacks have been leaving the North, as jobs are not as plentiful as they once were, and the South is more palatable to blacks because of civil rights changes," he said.
The unemployment rate for blacks in Chicago was an astounding 20 percent in 2014, according to census data. The city's overall rate is just 6.1 percent. But there's also good news in the study: African-American incomes are rising and higher-income African-Americans outspend the total population on future-oriented products such as insurance policies, pensions and retirement savings.