JULY ,

. Million Black Men Are in the

Upper Class
by Wendy Wang, @WENDYRWANG W. Bradford Wilcox, @WILCOXNMP Ronald B. Mincy

Highlights
Slightly more than one-in- ve (or about . million) black men ages to have made it into
the upper-third of the income distribution.
Black men who have a college degree, a full-time job, or a spouse are much more likely than
their peers to end up in the upper-income bracket as y-something men.

The racial news in America has been sobering in recent years. From Trayvon Martin to Walter
Scott, from Ferguson to Charlottesville, one incident a er another has cast a pall over race
relations in the nation. In fact, the share of Americans who consider racism a big problem has
almost doubled (http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/ / / /views-of-racism-as-a-major-
problem-increase-sharply-especially-among-democrats/)in the last decade. Meanwhile, recent
research (https://www.brookings.edu/research/the-inheritance-of-black-poverty-its-all-about-
the-men/) on race—including Raj Chetty and colleagues’ new study (http://www.equality-of-
opportunity.org/assets/documents/race_paper.pdf) showing that black boys’ chance of moving up
the economic ladder are much lower than white boys—only makes the picture look worse.

But the negative news about race in general and black men, in particular, is not the whole story.
Our new report, Black Men Making It In America, (https://www.aei.org/publication/black-men-
making-it-in-america-the-engines-of-economic-success-for-black-men-in-america/) nds that
despite the burdens they face—from residential segregation to workplace discrimination to over
incarceration—more than one-half of black men have made it into the middle or upper class as
adults. is means that millions of black men are ourishing nancially in America.

But how many black men have made it, speci cally, into the American upper class? In a new
analysis of Census data, we nd that slightly more than one-in- ve (or about . million) black
men ages to have made it into the upper-third of the income distribution.

Notes: Based on adults ages to . Income refers to total family income adjusted by family size.

In fact, black men have made marked progress over the last half-century in reaching the upper
ranks of the income ladder. e share of black men who are in the upper-income bracket rose
from in to in , according to our analysis. Moreover, poverty among black men
has dropped dramatically over the same time, with the share of black men in poverty falling
(https://www.aei.org/wp-content/uploads/ / /BlackMenMakingItInAmerica-
Final_ .pdf) from to since .
What is Fueling eir Success?

Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth ( ) that tracks black men from
their teenage years to midlife, we nd that a majority of upper-income black men in their ies
today are from humble roots. For example, were lower-income when they were teenagers or
young adults. And about half of them grew up outside of an intact, two-parent family. Yet, these
men made it into the upper class despite the challenges they faced through thirty-plus years of
life. What paths did they take to the top?

We identi ed three major factors that are linked to the nancial success of black men in midlife
today: education, work, and marriage. Black men who have a college degree, a full-time job, or a
spouse are much more likely than their peers to end up in the upper-income bracket as y-
something men.

About half of black men with a bachelor’s or higher degree have made it to the top income by age
, compared with only of high school graduates and of black men with some college
education. And more than -in- married black men (regardless of whether they are in their rst
marriage or not) are in the upper-income group, compared with only of never-married black
men. In a multivariate analysis that includes a range of factors, education, work, and marriage are
highly predictive of black men’s economic success.

Moreover, a number of early life experiences are associated with black men’s elevated odds of
being nancially successful. Black men who served in the military or attended church regularly as
young adults are more likely to have made it to the upper class by age . e impact of military
experience on black men’s success seems to work through its links with black men’s work and
marital status. at is, black men who served in the military early in life are more likely to be
working full time and to be married later in life.

Having a sense of personal agency also is linked to black men’s success. Black men who believed at
a young age that they were mostly responsible for their lives rather than outside forces (measured
by a locus of control scale) are more likely to ourish later in life.
Notes: Based on adults born between and . Income refers to total family income adjusted by family
size.

Our story is not entirely positive. Clearly, the racial gap in success is large, with African American
men being about percentage points less likely to reach the upper class today compared to white
and Asian men. One reason that’s the case is that black men were more likely to have contact with
the criminal justice system. In our analyses, early contact with the criminal justice system hurt
black men’s chance of being nancially successful many years later. A er holding education, work,
and marriage constant, black men’s contact with the criminal justice system reduced their chance
of making it to the upper class by about .

However, focusing only on the negative side of the story for black men has its limitations. First, it
renders millions of successful black men, and the paths they have taken to the American Dream,
invisible. Second, it can lead to a sense of hopelessness for young black men. As Ian Rowe, the
CEO of a charter school network in New York City has noted (https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=wI IdM cIMg), with so much talk of “black failure” today, black boys may start to feel “why
even bother when the odds are stacked against you?”
In order to engender hope for the next generation of young black Americans, we need to spotlight
the many positive stories of successful black men that are out there and identify the routes that
these men have taken to rise up the economic ladder. is is especially the case since the majority
of black men who made it to the upper class in their mid- ies came from lower-income
households when they were to years old.

To those ends, our new research indicates that one-in- ve black men have made it into the upper
class, and it suggests that education, work, marriage, and military service provide paths that help
black men achieve the American Dream.

Wendy Wang is director of research at the Institute for Family Studies and a former senior researcher
at Pew Research Center. W. Bradford Wilcox is a senior fellow at the Institute for Family Studies, a
visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, and the director of the National Marriage
Project at the University of Virginia. Ronald B. Mincy is Maurice V. Russell Professor of Social Policy
and Social Work Practice at Columbia University and a co-principal investigator of the Fragile
Families and Child Wellbeing Study.

Institute for Family Studies

P.O. Box Charlottesville, VA info@ifstudies.org . .

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