Black Wealth in Norfolk

This map shows the relationship between neighborhood race and poverty. On the left, the darker blue neighborhoods have majority Black residents. The darker red neighborhoods have majority White residents.

Using the swipe tool you can see how poverty is concentrated to majority Black neighborhoods.

Or click on any neighborhood to see more statistics.

This chart shows the relationship between Black households in a neighborhood and poverty rates.

The red dots represent neighborhoods in Norfolk. Each dot shows the percentage of Black households in the neighborhood (along the bottom) and the percentage of households living below the poverty line in that neighborhood (up the left side).

The blue line shows the general trend in the data. From the chart, you can see that as the percentage of Black households increases, the percentage of households living below the poverty line tends to also increase.

This means neighborhoods with a higher proportion of Black households usually have more people living in poverty. The proportion dramatically increases in neighborhoods over 80% Black.

This chart shows the relationship between neighborhood race and neighborhood median wealth.

The red dots represent neighborhoods in Norfolk. Each dot shows the percentage of Black households in the neighborhood (along the bottom) and the median net worth of that neighborhood (up the left side).

From the chart, you can see that as the percentage of Black households increases, the median net worth tends to decrease.

This means neighborhoods with a higher proportion of Black households usually have a lower median net worth.

Child poverty is high across Norfolk. 25% of all children under 18, live below the poverty line.

That's the second highest youth poverty rate in the region, just behind Portsmouth at 25.3% youth poverty.

This chart shows the disparities in home ownership by race across Norfolk.

Despite comprising half of the city's households, African Americans account for just 25% of Norfolk's home owners, compared to 62% for White households.

African Americans account for 50% of the city's renters.

You are 33% more likely to be a renter in Norfolk if you’re black.

That number has changed little since 2010, when Black home ownership was 28% and White home ownership was 64% .

This chart shows the relationship between neighborhood race and median home value.

As neighborhoods become more Black, median home values in those neighborhoods tends to decline.

Specifically, for each 1% increase in the percentage of Black households, the median home value tends decreases by $2272

Black households also carry more debt when it comes to housing than White households. Mortgages rates are vastly different.

In this chart blue bars represent the percentage of homeowners within each racial group who have a mortgage. The red line indicates the percentage of homeowners without a mortgage, showing the inverse relationship between the two.

A higher percentage of Black Pacific Islander, and Hispanic homeowners have mortgages compared to White and Asian homeowners.

24% of White homeowners do not have a mortgage, compared to just 16% of Black homeowners.

Majority Black neighborhoods have almost double the amount of unemployment than majority White neighborhoods.

In predominantly Black neighborhoods, the average unemployment rate is approximately 9.77%.

While in predominantly White neighborhoods, the average unemployment rate is approximately 5.15%.

This map shows the relationship between neighborhood race and poverty. On the left, the darker blue neighborhoods have majority Black residents. The darker red neighborhoods have majority White residents.

Using the swipe tool you can see the unemployment rates in is majority Black neighborhoods. Click on neighborhood to see more stats.

Despite poverty and unemployment being double for African Americans. Black workers work the same amount of hours as White workers.

In majority Black neighborhoods, the average is 37.79 hours per week, while in predominantly White neighborhoods, it's 41.11 hours per week.

This indicates a significant disparity where predominantly Black neighborhoods face much higher unemployment rates despite working nearly as many hours as predominantly White neighborhoods. This could be because fewer African American workers are working two or more jobs that pay lower than White employees, such as in the service industry.

This chart shows the relationship between a neighborhood's majority race, poverty rate, and average hours worked.

The bottom represents the percentage of the Black population in the neighborhood. The left axis shows the poverty rate within each neighborhood. The color of the dots represents the number of hours worked in that neighborhood.

In some neighborhoods, such as Calvert Square (where the red arrow points to), the average hours worked is close to 40, yet the poverty rate is over 70%.

Educational disparities exist across the secondary and post-secondary landscape.

95.7% of White individuals are high school graduates compared to 87.6% of Black individuals.

That gap widens among White and Black women, with around 9% more White women graduating high school than Black women.

Across Hampton Roads, Norfolk has the highest percentage of African Americans that do not complete high school, around 12.6%

When it comes to college, White individuals are nearly twice as likely to have a bachelor's degree or compared to Black individuals.

40.8% of White residents have a bachelor's degree or higher. While 21.1% of African Americans have a bachelor's degree or higher.

The disparities between health insurance are pronounced between Whites and African Americans in Norfolk.

This disparity is most pronounced among the 19 - 44 age group.

Across Norfolk, the Black population is 45% more likely to be uninsured compared to their White counterparts.

Younger and older age groups tend to have higher insurance rates. The data indicates insurance gaps are most pronounced in the young to middle-aged adult population, especially among African American young adults.