The Texas Black population is estimated at 4,259,839 people, the largest Black population among states. Black Texans make up 14.1% of everyone who lives in the state, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey 5-year estimates for 2020–2024.
The headline figure counts everyone who identifies as Black, either alone or in combination with one or more other races. By that broad measure, the Black population in Texas is estimated at 4,259,839. A narrower measure, people who identify as Black alone and with no other race, puts the population at 3,692,993.
Texas as a whole is home to an estimated 30,188,424 people, so Black residents account for 14.1% of the state's population. That share is a direct way to see how present the community is in the state's overall makeup.
Another way to look at concentration is the location quotient, which compares the community's share of the local population with its share of the national population. For Black residents of Texas, the location quotient is 0.98. In plain terms, the Black population is very slightly less concentrated in Texas than it is in the nation as a whole, though the difference is small and the two are close.
The state's size also matters on a national scale. Texas is home to 8.8% of the entire Black population of the United States, by the same alone-or-in-combination measure.
Table of Contents
Compared with other states
When states are ranked by the size of their Black population, Texas ranks 1st, placing it at the 100th percentile. A percentile shows the share of states with a smaller Black population than Texas, so a top position here means no other state has a larger estimated Black population.
Concentration tells a different story from size. Ranked by the Black share of each state's population, Texas comes in 19th among states, which places it at the 64th percentile. That means Texas has a higher Black share than a majority of states, while a number of other states have a higher share even though their Black populations are smaller in absolute terms.
Together, these rankings show a state where the Black population is the largest in the country by number, while its share of the state's residents sits above the middle of the range among states.
Income, poverty, homeownership and education
The figures in this section describe a narrower group than the population totals above. They are measured among people who identify as Black alone, or among households headed by a Black-alone householder, and each is compared with the same group nationwide rather than with all Americans.
The median household income for Black householders in Texas is $60,084. The median is the midpoint of household incomes: the income at the middle when all households are lined up from lowest to highest. Compared with the national median for Black householders, the Texas figure has a ratio of 1.09, meaning the median household income of Black householders in Texas is above the national median for Black householders.
The poverty rate, the share of people living below the federal poverty level, is 18.9% for Black residents of Texas. That is 2.3 percentage points lower than the poverty rate for Black residents nationwide.
The homeownership rate measures the share of Black-headed households that own the home they live in, rather than renting. In Texas, that rate is 41.5%, which is 2.5 percentage points lower than the homeownership rate for Black householders across the nation.
Education figures look at adults who have earned at least a bachelor's degree. Among Black adults in Texas, 29.5% hold a bachelor's degree or higher. That is 4.1 percentage points higher than the rate for Black adults nationwide.
Taken side by side, the Texas figures show a median household income above the national median for the community, a poverty rate below the community's national rate, a bachelor's degree rate above it, and a homeownership rate below it.
The portrait in brief
The Black population in Texas is the largest of any state, with a share of the state's residents close to the community's national share. Its income and education measures sit above the community's national figures, its poverty rate sits below, and its homeownership rate is below the national rate for Black householders.
