AUSTIN, Texas - According to a new study from Wallethub.com, Texas ranks fifth across all 50 states and the District of Columbia when it comes to state economies with the most racial equality.
Texas ranked fifth in the nation with a score of 76.60. New Mexico ranked first with a score of 79.92, following by Alaska (77.67), Arizona (77.30), and Hawaii (77.19). Wisconsin (44.30) and the District of Columbia (16.00) were ranked dead last, at 50 and 51 respectively.
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Texas also has the third-lowest poverty rate gap between white and Black people.
"Racial inequality has been brought into the spotlight once more in recent weeks, as protests against police brutality and racism have erupted across the U.S. in response to the death of George Floyd. However, it’s not just in policing where discrimination rears its head," wrote financial writer Adam McCann.
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In order to find determine the findings, Wallethub compared the economies across eight relevant metrics:
- Median Annual Household Income
- Labor-Force Participation Rate
- Unemployment Rate
- Homeownership Rate
- Poverty Rate
- Homeless Rate
- Share of Unsheltered Homeless
- Share of Executives
Wallethub graded each metric on a 100-point scale with a score of 100 representing the most equality. The study determined equality by subtracting the values attributed to whites and blacks for a given metric, using on the most recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
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If in some states black people scored as high as or better than white people on a given metric, all such states were awarded the maximum number of points. Finally, Wallethub determined each state's weighted average across all metrics to calculate its total score and used the resulting scores to rank-order the states.
Below are the ranks via an interactive map from Wallethub:
This story was reported from Austin, Texas.