The Black population in California is estimated at 2,847,957 people who identify as Black, either alone or in combination with another group. That is 7.2% of everyone who lives in the state, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey 5-year estimates for 2020–2024. Among states, California has the 5th-largest Black population.
The broadest measure of the California Black population counts everyone who reports Black ancestry or racial identity, including people who also report one or more other races. By that measure, the estimate is 2,847,957 people. A narrower measure counts only people who identify as Black and no other race, sometimes called Black alone. That group is estimated at 2,134,516 people.
California as a whole has an estimated 39,287,377 residents. The Black population, measured the broader way, makes up 7.2% of that total.
Another way to look at concentration is the location quotient. It compares the community's share of a state's population with its share of the national population. California's location quotient for the Black population is 0.50, which means Black residents make up a smaller share of the population in California than they do in the nation as a whole. In other words, the community is less concentrated in California than across the United States.
Even so, because California has so many residents overall, the state is home to a notable portion of the country's Black population. An estimated 5.9% of all people nationwide who identify as Black, alone or in combination, live in California.
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Compared with other states
When states are ranked by the size of their Black population, California ranks 5th. That places it at the 92nd percentile, meaning its Black population is larger than in 92% of states, or in plainer terms, larger than in most of them.
The picture is different when states are ranked by concentration, that is, by the Black population's share of each state's total population. On that measure California ranks 32nd among states, at the 38th percentile. A percentile here describes the share of states with a lower concentration than California.
Taken together, the two rankings show a state with a large Black population in absolute terms but a share of the state's total population that sits below the middle of the range among states.
Income, poverty, homeownership and education
The economic and education figures in this section describe a narrower group than the population figures above. They are measured among people who identify as Black alone, or among households headed by a Black alone householder, rather than everyone who identifies as Black in combination with another group. Each rate is also compared with the same group nationwide, not with all Americans.
Median household income is the midpoint of household incomes: the income level that splits households into a higher-earning group and a lower-earning group of equal size. For households headed by a Black householder in California, the median household income is estimated at $69,282. That is above the national median for Black households, with a ratio to the national figure of 1.26.
The poverty rate is the share of people whose household income falls below the federal poverty level. Among Black Californians, the poverty rate is estimated at 19.2%. That is 2.0 percentage points lower than the poverty rate for Black residents nationwide.
The homeownership rate is the share of households that own the home they live in rather than rent it. Among households headed by a Black householder in California, the homeownership rate is estimated at 35.7%. That is 8.3 percentage points lower than the homeownership rate for Black householders across the nation.
Education is measured as the share of adults who hold at least a bachelor's degree. Among Black adults in California, that share is estimated at 30.2%. That is 4.7 percentage points higher than the rate for Black adults nationwide.
These comparisons describe how Black Californians compare with Black residents of the United States as a whole. They do not compare Black Californians with other Californians or with the overall national population.
The overall picture
California is home to one of the larger Black populations among states, though the community makes up a smaller share of the state's residents than it does nationally. Compared with Black residents across the nation, Black Californians have a higher median household income, a lower poverty rate, a higher share of adults with a bachelor's degree, and a lower homeownership rate.
