AUSTIN, Texas — A new report details the racial divide in Austin when it comes to wealth.
- Austin grew by 500,000 in 30 years
- 65% of growth includes minorities
- White families earn more
Austin Community Foundation and JP Morgan Chase hosted a public forum on the report at Huston-Tillotson University Thursday. One key highlight is the city grew by about 500,000 people over 30 years. Roughly 65 percent of that population includes minorities, but the new numbers show that white families are earning more.
While the area's median income for white households is $72,341, it was only $40,004 for black households. Latino families are at $44,239, while Asian households are at the top of the list with a median income of $78,629.
Researchers say the income gap is becoming wider and now it is up to civic leaders to come up with solutions to reverse those trends.
"Hopefully this can be used to galvanize around a strategy how to really equitably distribute the resources that are coming with this rapid economic development here so that African-American and Latino communities can prosper like many other communities that are here,” said Jeremy Greer of Prosperity Now. "About 30 percent of Latino and African American communities have zero net worth. The ability to purchase [a home] is really difficult, and home purchasing is really the principal way in which people build wealth."
Building and Community Lenders of Texas, or BCL, set a goal of making $12 million available to Texas businesses this fiscal year. Already, the nonprofit has helped more than 500 families become homeowners, as well as offered them courses on home buying and down payment assistance.
"There's a focus on homeownership and getting folks into homes," said Brian Marshall. "There's a focus on access to capital for business growth."
Prosperity Now, JP Morgan Chase, and Austin Community Foundation conducted the study. Over the course of several months they looked at public data at the city level to make the report.