Michigan’s Economy Gets a Failing Grade for Racial Equality

George Floyd's death has prompted the nation to stop and take a good hard look at how far we have (or have not) come in the area of racial equality. As we examine Michigan's economy, we discover that the Mitten State has a lot of work to do in order to achieve racial equality.

In order to determine which states have the most racial equality in terms of employment and wealth, WalletHub used several key metrics to compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Michigan ranked near the bottom, at #46 out of 51.

The differences between black Americans and white Americans in the areas of annual income, unemployment rate, and homeownership rates were compared in order to determine the rankings.

Breaking down Michigan's failing grade further, we scored in the bottom half of the rankings i n the following areas:

39th – Median Annual Income
42nd – Labor-Force Participation Rate
49th – Unemployment Rate
37th – Homeownership Rate
42nd – Poverty Rate
37th – Homeless Rate

New Mexico, Arizona, Alaska, Hawaii, and Texas are the states with the most racial equality.

Hawaii scored the highest in a few key areas; losest median annual income gap, lowest labor force participation rate gap, and lowest poverty rate gap.

The results were based on data provided by the US Census Bureau, US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the US Department of Housing and Urban Development.

For the methodology used to determine the rankings, please click here.