Black Homeownership In America: How Atlanta Ranks

ATLANTA -- The city known as a Black Mecca has a poor track record when it comes to the number of African-American homeowners. A new study by LendingTree ranked Atlanta No. 7 among U.S. cities with the lowest percentage of black homeowners.

The homeownership rate among white Americans is 73.2 percent, according to the latest Residential Vacancies and Homeownership quarterly report from the U.S. Census Bureau, significantly higher than the homeownership rates for all other racial groups. The lowest among these is the black homeownership rate, at 41.1 percent.

The LendingTree study focuses on homeownership trends among black Americans. Its analysis found black Americans tend to own a disproportionately low number of homes relative to their overall population.

Here's how Atlanta ranked:

• In Atlanta, 33.10% of the population is black and only 24.83% are homeowners
• The median household income among black Americans in Atlanta is $47,202.
• The cities with the lowest percentages of black homeowners? Memphis, New Orleans, Milwaukee, Baltimore, Virginia Beach, Detroit, and Atlanta

The study, which can be found here, found Americans who identify as black make up an average 15% of the population in each of the metropolitan areas featured in the study, but only own an average of about 10% of owner-occupied homes.

Here are the nation's top 10 cities for black homeownership:

• San Jose, CA
• Los Angeles
• Salt Lake City
• Portland, OR
• Riverside, CA
• Austin, Texas
• San Diego
• Providence, RI
• Denver, CO

In Memphis, the worst city for black homeownership, African Americans own the smallest percentage of homes relative to their overall population, although they make up nearly half (47%) of the total population and are the city's largest racial group.

Homeowners who identify as black own the largest percentage of homes relative to their total population in San Jose, Calif. Black Americans account for only 2.33% of San Jose’s overall population. The percentage of homes owned by black homeowners is nearly 1.5%, which is still a disproportionately small percentage.

Across the metropolitan areas featured in our study, the average median household income for black Americans is $41,571, more than $30,000 below the average median household income for white Americans. It’s also nearly $6,000 less than the incomes of Americans who identify as Native American or Alaskan Native.