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The color
of wealth
washington dc

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Overview
Wealth
Assets
Debts
Financial Services
About

The Color of Wealth in the Nation’s Capital (Washington, D.C.) report explored racial and ethnic differences in wealth, focusing on Black families in Washington, D.C., and showed, through a chronicle of history in the city, how discrimination and systemic racism have contributed to today’s wealth gap in the nation’s capital. The 2007–09 Great Recession and housing crisis erased approximately half of Black and Latino households’ wealth, while Asians suffered the largest absolute loss in wealth. Asian and Latino households tended to live in geographic areas that were hit hardest by the housing crisis.

Wealth matters for building an equitable and prosperous Washington, D.C. region. Many studies focus on income– the amount of money people make in a certain period of time– for instance, your paycheck. Wealth, however, represents the store of resources you own. It is wealth that determines your ability to weather emergencies, move to a nice neighborhood, and make investments that enable you to grow your wealth.

How unequal is wealth in the nation's capital?

Asian Indian, Korean, Vietnamese, White, and Chinese families had household wealth values that were greater than the median net worth in the D.C. area. Conversely, African Black, US Black and Latino families had household wealth values that were much lower than the median value.
D.C.’s wealth gaps are primarily driven by assets – specifically, the outsized accumulation of assets by White and Asian families. Accounting for all asset categories, US Black, African Black and Latino household median asset values were much lower than for other groups. Korean, Vietnamese, and Asian Indian households had the highest median values and were higher values than for Whites.

Assets: A major driver of inequality in the nation's capital

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

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Washington D.C.

Median

Total assets

$7K

Median

Liquid assets

$2.1K

Percent with

Liquid assets

85%

Percent who

Own stock

15%

Percent who

Own their homes

46%

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.

In D.C., higher percentages of U.S. Black and African Black families hold student loan, medical, and unsecured debt. Conversely, lower percentages of Korean and White families hold these debts.

Debts: African Black

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Washington D.C.

Percent with

Student loans

55%

Percent with

Medical debt

8%

Percent with

Unsecured debt

74%

Financial institutions and services

Compared to White households, fewer US born Black households owned checking or savings accounts in the region. African Black and Latino households were also less likely than Whites to have checking accounts. Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, and Asian Indian households were more likely to have checking accounts than Whites.

Financial Services, Access and Quality: African Black

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Washington D.C.

Percent with

Bank accounts

85%

Percent with

Payday lending usage

3%

About and credits

About the project

The Color of Wealth in the Nation’s Capital (Washington, D.C.) report explored racial and ethnic differences in net worth, focusing on Black families in Washington, D.C., and showed, through a chronicle of history in the city, how discrimination and systemic racism have contributed to today’s wealth gap in the nation’s capital. The 2007–09 Great Recession and housing crisis erased approximately half of Black and Latino households’ wealth, while Asians suffered the largest absolute loss in wealth. Asian and Latino households tended to live in geographic areas that were hit hardest by the housing crisis.

Methodology & data collection

The Color of Wealth in the Nation’s Capital data was collected via a phone survey in 2014, in the DC metropolitan area (including parts of Alexandria and Arlington County, Virginia, as well as Frederick and Montgomery Counties in Maryland). Various sampling techniques were used to locate and identify an ethnically plural sample of 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 based on billing address; and the use of surname-based lists targeting specific national origin groups. For this study, 600 surveys were completed in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area.

Credits & thanks

This project was made possible by the generous support of the Ford Foundation’s Building Economic Security Over a Lifetime (BESOL) initiative and the Annie E. Casey Foundation. We would like to thank the Samuel Dubois Cook Center on Social Equity at Duke University and the Insight Center for Community and Economic Development.The University of Virginia Center for Survey Research led the survey data collection. Graphicacy worked with the Institute team to visualize the data from the Color of Wealth in the Nation’s Capital study.

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