According to the 2018 United States Census estimates, the United States population is approximately 14.6% Black or African American, which equals 47.8 million people. The Black-only population is 13.4%. Since 1980, the Black immigrant population has increased fivefold.
Between 1500 and 1820, 12.5 million African men, women, and children were taken from Africa and sold to various slave trades around the world. About 410,000 were brought to the United States, mostly landing in ports in Charleston, Baltimore, and other parts of Maryland, Virginia, and New Orleans. The first U.S. Census in 1790 accounted for 757,208 African Americas, 92% of which were slaves. The 1860 Census counted 4,441,830 African Americas, 89% of which were slaves. This was the last Census during slavery. By 1900 the Black population was 8 million, and then rose rapidly over the next century or so to hit 42 million in 2010.
States with the Highest Black Population
Roughly 55% of the Black population lives in the south and southeast regions of the United States. A majority of the top ten states are located in this region. The rest of the Black population is split into 18% in the Midwest, 17% in the Northeast, and 10% in the West.
Texas has the highest Black population in the United States of 3,936,669, about 14% of Texas's total population. Texas is the second-most diverse state in the U.S. Following Texas is Florida with 3,867,495 (18%), New York with 3,763,977 (19%), and Georgia with 3,549,349 (34%).
The state with the highest relative population of Black Americans in the United States is the District of Columbia with 48%, followed by Mississippi with 39%, Georgia and Louisiana with 34% each, and Maryland with 33%.
States with the Lowest Black Population
Wyoming has the lowest Black population of 11,306 (2%), followed by Montana with 12,007 (1%), and Vermont with 12,936 (2%).
Twelve states have a Black population comprising less than 5% of their total population. Wyoming and Idaho's Black population comprise only 1% of their respective populations; Wyoming, Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire, and Utah's are only 2%; South Dakota, New Mexico, and Oregon's are 3%; and North Dakota and Hawaii's are 4%.