The colorof wealthlos angeles
Our partners
The Color of Wealth Los Angeles study includes asset and debt information on a number of disaggregated groups, thereby improving understanding of disparities in income and wealth. These groups include the following in Los Angeles: Mexicans, Latinos (including Puerto Ricans, Cubans, Salvadorans, Central Americans, and Europeans), Asian Indians, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Filipino, and Vietnamese communities. Among African Americans, data are disaggregated by nativity—U.S. black descendants and recent immigrants from the African continent.
Wealth matters for building an equitable and prosperous Los Angeles region. Despite the importance of wealth for economic security and mobility, wealth is rarely the target of policy solutions. And that needs to change.
How unequal is wealth in Los Angeles?
Assets: A major driver of wealth inequality in Los Angeles
Assets are key to understanding not only peoples’ current wealth, but their ability to hold onto and grow their resources. Someone who has a large store of liquid assets is better able to weather financial shocks and emergencies. People who own their homes and own stock are better able to grow their wealth. Significant racial disparities exist when considering total assets, liquid assets, stock ownership and homeownership.
Assets and financial well-being: African Black
- Select a race/ethnicity
Los Angeles
Median
Total assets
$152K
Median
Liquid assets
$60K
Percent with
Liquid assets
89%
Percent who
Own stock
18%
Percent who
Own their homes
43%
Debts: A look at inequality
Debt can be an important barrier to a family’s ability to build wealth. For instance, higher education can lead to both higher earnings and burdensome student loan debt.
Debts: African Black
- Select a race/ethnicity
Los Angeles
Percent with
Student loans
14%
Percent with
Medical debt
3%
Percent with
Unsecured debt
81%
Financial institutions and services
Being banked, or having a checking account or savings account, is critical for everyday financial efficacy. Given the minimum account value requirements to avoid fees at most banks, rather than using a bank for financial transactions, many (in low-wealth and/or communities of color) may use alternative financial institutions, which charge higher rate transaction fees than banks for cashier’s checks, money orders, or wiring money.
For instance, the study found that Mexicans, US blacks, and Vietnamese are far less likely to own checking accounts than White and Japanese households.
Financial Services, Access and Quality: African Black
- Select a race/ethnicity
Los Angeles
Percent with
Bank accounts
80%
Percent with
Payday lending usage
0%
About and credits
About the project
The Color of Wealth Los Angeles study includes asset and debt information on a number of disaggregated groups, thereby improving understanding of disparities in income and wealth. These groups include the following in Los Angeles: Mexicans, Latinos (including Puerto Ricans, Cubans, Salvadorans, Central Americans, and Europeans), Asian Indians, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Filipino, and Vietnamese communities. Among African Americans, data are disaggregated by nativity—U.S. black descendants and recent immigrants from the African continent.
Methodology & data collection
A telephone survey was conducted in the Los Angeles MSA (including Los Angeles and Orange counties). Various sampling techniques were used to locate and identify an ethnically plural sample consisting of the specifically defined ethnic groups. The techniques included the following: directory-listed landline samples targeted to census tracts where specific ethnic groups were known to reside; cell phone random digit dialing samples drawn from rate centers that covered the targeted ethnic group zip codes; samples drawn from targeted zip codes on the basis of billing address; and the use of surname-based lists targeting specific national origin groups. A total of 733 surveys were completed for the Los Angeles MSA.
Credits & thanks
This project was made possible by the generous support of the Ford Foundation’s Building Economic Security Over a Lifetime (BESOL) initiative. We would like to thank the Samuel Dubois Cook Center on Social Equity at Duke University, UCLA’s Center for Neighborhood Knowledge, the Insight Center for Community and Economic Development, and the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. The University of Virginia’s Center for Survey Research led the survey data collection. Graphicacy worked with the Institute team to visualize the data from the Color of Wealth Los Angeles study.