Twin Cities Metro Area Stands to Gain by Addressing Racial Disparities

Metropolitan Council analyses of U.S. Census American Community Survey (ACS) show a consistent finding: while the Twin Cities area continues to rank highly among U.S. metro areas for impressive employment and homeownership rates and low poverty rate, it also has the nation’s largest disparities between white residents and residents of color in these measures.

Despite gains among some groups on some measures, there have been no notable changes in the overall pattern of these racial and ethnic disparities, a testament to their persistence in the Twin Cities metro.

Further, this lack of substantive progress is unique: other metros have shown that they are closing gaps while the Twin Cities region falls behind.

“Our analyses show if we brought outcomes of people of color up to the levels of white residents by 2040, we would have 181,000 fewer people living in poverty, nearly 187,000 more homeowners, 80,000 more people holding jobs and $35.5 billion more earned in taxable income,” said Libby Starling. “These factors affect the region’s livability, prosperity and well-being for everyone.”

The Council’s Research staff have published an interactive data visualization that includes the most recent (2017) ACS data.