Martin Luther King Jr. Day Report: North Carolina Ranks 8th in U.S. Racial Progress

By
Steve
-
1301
Black Lives Matter billboard erected next to large Confederate flag in North Carolina

With Martin Luther King Jr. Day around the corner and about half of Americans saying the U.S. hasn’t done enough to give black people equal rights to white people, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released its report on 2021’s States with the Most Racial Progress.

To measure America’s progress in harmonizing racial groups, the site measured the gaps between black people and white people across 21 key indicators of equality and integration in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The data set ranges from median annual household income to standardized-test scores to voter turnout.

This report examines the differences between only black people and white people in light of the high-profile police-brutality incidents that sparked the Black Lives Matter movement. We released this report ahead of the holiday honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who played a prominent role in the Civil Rights Movement to end segregation and discrimination against black people.

States with the Most Racial Progress

Overall Rank  State Total Score  ‘Employment & Wealth’  ‘Education’  ‘Social & Civic Engagement’  ‘Health’ 
1 Wyoming 73.23 6 1 2 N/A
2 Texas 67.93 15 4 7 2
3 Mississippi 65.38 1 12 28 8
4 Georgia 64.15 2 19 8 29
5 New Jersey 63.68 8 9 15 9
6 Idaho 62.59 25 5 1 4
7 Florida 62.52 14 2 23 16
8 North Carolina 61.93 5 17 21 11
9 New Mexico 61.79 17 6 6 46
10 South Carolina 61.08 3 32 16 23
11 Maryland 60.49 13 25 11 19
12 Connecticut 59.80 7 29 26 15
13 Alabama 59.52 4 35 20 21
14 California 59.18 23 3 43 6
15 Massachusetts 58.97 16 42 5 26
16 Louisiana 58.92 10 36 27 7
17 Delaware 58.89 12 16 17 35
18 Arkansas 58.27 9 31 22 24
19 Rhode Island 58.03 19 26 29 13
20 Oregon 57.14 36 7 3 27
21 Arizona 56.89 24 14 25 22
22 Virginia 56.66 20 30 19 32
23 Montana 55.87 28 20 9 N/A
24 Tennessee 55.15 18 34 38 20
25 Oklahoma 54.43 30 18 14 33
26 New York 54.11 22 41 12 34
27 Utah 53.51 38 10 4 45
28 Illinois 53.50 29 33 32 12
29 Kentucky 53.45 32 38 13 17
30 Alaska 52.94 26 15 41 30
31 Washington 52.45 34 11 31 18
32 Kansas 51.27 35 22 18 40
33 Hawaii 51.27 21 43 24 43
34 Missouri 51.20 27 28 33 36
35 Pennsylvania 50.12 37 24 48 14
36 Colorado 49.95 33 40 35 5
37 Michigan 49.65 43 8 37 25
38 Nevada 48.67 44 13 10 39
39 North Dakota 47.71 11 50 51 1
40 Indiana 46.58 46 27 39 28
41 Ohio 46.54 42 37 42 31
42 New Hampshire 46.23 39 49 34 3
43 Nebraska 43.10 40 39 40 44
44 District of Columbia 42.73 51 23 30 10
45 Minnesota 42.70 49 21 44 37
46 Maine 41.98 45 45 47 N/A
47 West Virginia 40.82 41 46 46 42
48 Wisconsin 40.57 47 47 36 41
49 South Dakota 40.01 31 51 50 47
50 Vermont 39.42 48 44 45 N/A
51 Iowa 33.38 50 48 49 38