The 10 Best States for Racial Equality in Unemployment

The U.S. unemployment rate soared during the COVID-19 pandemic, hitting a high of 14.7% in April 2020, but has since fallen back to rates similar to pre-pandemic numbers. About 6.5 million people in the country’s labor force were unemployed as of October 2023, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, equating to an unemployment rate of 3.9%.

Between 2017 and 2021 – accounting for trends both before and during the pandemic – about 5.5% of the American workforce was unemployed, based on a U.S. News analysis of data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. Yet that rate varied among different racial and ethnic groups: While unemployment exceeded 9% for American Indian and Alaska Native people and for Black individuals, rates were much lower – at less than 5% – for white and Asian individuals.

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Breaking down the data further shows how gaps between racial and ethnic groups can persist and vary at the state level. As part of the Racial Equality in America project, U.S. News compared the unemployment rates for racial and ethnic groups in a state to the rate of the state’s overall population, calculating the average disparity between the two categories. States were ranked based on the size of their disparity, with higher values resulting in a worse ranking for racial equality in unemployment rates. Disparities in unemployment rates are reflected as an average absolute percentage-point difference.

As an example, unemployment rates in both Ohio and Maryland were close to the national mark of 5.5%. In Ohio, however, unemployment rates for Black people (10.5%) and multiracial people (9.2%) were much higher than the state average, while rates for Asian people (3.9%) and white people (4.4%) were notably lower – giving the state a broad range that indicates a higher level of disparity. In Maryland, assessable racial and ethnic groups had more similar rates of unemployment, and smaller gaps between group rates and the overall rate on average amounted to a lower level of disparity.

These are the 10 best states for racial equality in unemployment rates as assessed by U.S. News. Learn more about the Racial Equality in America project in our methodology.