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10 States With the Smallest Black Population — and Why
Aug 29, 2025
These 10 states have the lowest Black populations. The Blackest States in America: https://youtu.be/Kd6Q0yq8BrI?si=GjKwAXdswzUCjJuE Subscribe to our channel so you don't miss any future videos! Check out the books we love and recommend in our Black Excellence Book Club: https://www.blackexcellence.com/store/ Some links are affiliate links, which means we earn a very tiny commission if you make a purchase. __________________________________________________________ Sharing interesting and noteworthy stories in Black culture. All content provided by Black Excellence Media, LLC is for entertainment purposes only. None of the information or advice provided is to replace professional advice. Website: https://blackexcellence.com
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Quick, think of the blackest states in
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America. What comes to mind? Georgia,
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New York, or Illinois, maybe? Now, let's
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do the opposite. Can you name the top 10
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least black states in America? Well,
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today we're going to take a look at the
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10 states that have the smallest black
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population in America. Watch the whole
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video and let me know in the comments if
0:19
you get at least a couple of them right.
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Hi, my name is Jared and welcome to
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Black Excellence, where we celebrate all
0:24
the ways black people pursue excellence
0:26
in their everyday lives. If you're
0:28
searching for ways to fuel your own
0:30
journey of excellence with content on
0:32
where to live, where to travel,
0:33
lifestyle trends, and unconventional
0:35
ways to do it all, you know what to do.
0:37
Hit that subscribe button and join the
0:39
circle of excellence. I'm going to do
0:41
things a little different in this video
0:43
and start with the least black state in
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America and give you the nine other ones
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after that. This story starts in the
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high plains and northern Rockies.
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Wyoming has the smallest black
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population in the country with about
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7,048 black residents in 2023, roughly
0:59
1% of the state. That small number
1:02
actually makes kind of historical sense.
1:04
Wyoming settler bloom in the late 19th
1:07
century clustered around ranching, rail,
1:10
and mining camps. Industries that drew
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immigrants from Europe and in smaller
1:14
numbers black railroad porters and
1:16
soldiers posted to western forts. But
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the state sat far from the major
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industrial magnets of the great
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migration when some 6 million black
1:25
Americans moved from the south to the
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northern and western cities between the
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1910s and 1970s. Without a large city or
1:33
a heavy manufacturing base, Wyoming
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never accumulated the critical mass that
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produces multi-generational
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communities and chain migration. Today's
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picture is a thin but real thread of
1:44
black Wyoming spread across energy towns
1:47
and university life in Laramie and
1:49
Cheyenne. A presence that persists more
1:51
about individual choice than by
1:54
historical momentum. Just to the north,
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Montana counts around 7,270
2:00
black residents, also just about 1%.
2:02
Gold rushes and railroad building
2:04
brought a few early black homesteaders
2:07
and entrepreneurs to the Montana
2:09
territory. But the state's economy
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settled into a pattern of just copper
2:13
ranching and timber. Without the
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factories that pulled black southerners
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toward Chicago, Detroit, or Cleveland.
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Even during World War II, when defense
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production reshaped the West, Montana
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didn't see the same migration surge as
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shipyard hubs on the Pacific coast.
2:28
Today, black Montanians are most visible
2:30
in university towns like Missoula and
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Bosezeman and also in Billings, where
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newer residents from other states are
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drawn by the outdoor work, healthc care,
2:39
and the allure of just open space. The
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small absolute numbers keeps communities
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thin, but it's been inching up alongside
2:47
the state's recent population growth. In
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New England, Vermont's pastoral valleys
2:51
and small towns are home to about 10,445
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black residents, roughly just 2%.
2:58
Vermont's 19th century anti-slavery
3:01
politics produced notable abolitionist
3:04
and underground railroad safe houses.
3:06
Yet, the state remained sparsely
3:08
populated and overwhelmingly white.
3:10
Vermont lacked the dense industrial
3:13
cities that anchored black settlement
3:14
elsewhere in the Northeast. The 21st
3:17
century has brought a modest
3:18
diversification through universities,
3:20
health systems, and remote work
3:22
transplants, especially around
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Burlington, and that growth is real, but
3:27
the baseline still is tiny. So, the
3:30
absolute population remains among the
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smallest in the country. And now into
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the interior Northwest brings us into
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Idaho with about 19,766
3:40
black residents near 1% again. Boise's
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tech adjacent economy and state house
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jobs have attracted newcomers, as have
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Mountain West affordability pitches
3:51
during the pandemic era. But Idaho's
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historical settlement looked more like a
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North European homesteading story than a
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Sunbelt boomtown narrative. As a result,
4:00
the state never became a stop on the
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great migration's rail map. And its
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black population today is a new growth
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phenomenon rather than a deeprooted one.
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So the number remains small and most
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black Idahoans live in Boise metro or
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near university centers like Moscow or
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Pocutello. Before we move forward, I
4:18
just want to add this note for
4:20
comparison. We've done a video on the
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blackest states in America. I'll leave a
4:24
link in the description below. The
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number one blackest state in America is
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about 38% black. So when you hear these
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percentages 1 and 2% in already small
4:34
states, you can see how low those
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numbers are. Now on to the northern
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plains, a place where I've never heard
4:40
about anybody traveling to. We're headed
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to South Dakota, which has around 24,076
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black residents, about 3%. Which is a
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lot more than I would have ever thought.
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Are they just like trying to get to
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Canada, but then we're headed up there
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and they were like, "Oh, this is not too
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bad. I'll stay here." If you're from
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South Dakota and you actually found your
5:00
way to this video, please make sure you
5:03
like and tell me what your experience is
5:05
in South Dakota, cuz I I've never heard
5:07
about anybody going there, white or
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black. The state's demography has long
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been shaped by Lakota, Dakota, and
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Nakota nations, and a farm and ranch
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economy that kept town small and far
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apart. When black South Dotans did
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settle, it was often connected to
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military or to service and healthc care
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work in Sou Falls and Rapid City. The
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low starting point is an inheritance of
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geography and industry. The great
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migration since streamed towards rail
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hubs and factories, not towards a
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sparsely populated prairie with few
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large employers. Even so, recent growth
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in Sou Falls has nudged the numbers
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upwards with each estimate cycle. Now,
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this one does surprise me, and it should
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surprise you, and that's Alaska. We
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should probably make it illegal for
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black people to be in Alaska. There's no
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way the melanin in our skin is any good
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for anybody living in Alaska. But if
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you're in Alaska and you love it, let me
6:00
know. And when I say surprise people,
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meaning there's any black people here at
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all. But despite the big military
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footprint, it still has about 26,911
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black residents. Roughly 4% small in
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absolute terms, but in my head, not
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small at all. Any of you actually met
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anybody from Alaska? I don't think I
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know anybody. I know people who have
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went up to Alaska, worked, and came
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back, but I don't think I've met in my
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whole life one person from Alaska, like
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born and raised in Alaska. The black
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presence grew alongside the armed
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forces. Troops posted at Elmondorf, Fort
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Wayne, Ellison, and Coast Guard stations
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seated communities in Anchorage and
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Fairbanks, and a share of service
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members stayed to work in logistics,
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oil, and public sector jobs after
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discharge. Alaska's distance from the
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lower 48 and its extreme climate set
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natural limits on migration. But the
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state's black history runs well over a
6:58
century through military service,
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entrepreneurship, and arts, giving
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Alaska a distinct story that's bigger
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than its raw account. Like, did you know
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Alaska passed anti-discrimination laws
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against blacks 20 years before the rest
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of the United States did? I think it was
7:14
in 1945. Now, back to the lower 48. New
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Hampshire lists about 28,784
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black residents, around 2%. Like
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Vermont, the Grand Estates Mills once
7:26
drew immigrant labor, but the black
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share never rose sharply because the big
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20th century migrations flowed towards
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massive metro areas rather than towards
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small cities like Manchester and Nshawa.
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In recent years, the Boston spillover
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economy, tech corridors, and the
7:43
university system have brought more
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racial diversity, but the absolute
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number remains among the lowest because
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the state is small and the historical
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base was thin in the first place. Now we
7:54
have North Dakota turbocharged by late
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2000's. Oil still counts about 29,447
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black residents, roughly just 4%. Before
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the massive oil and natural gas boom
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that happened in North Dakota, also
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known as the Backan boom, the black
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population was tiny, reflecting a
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century of farm settlement patterns and
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the absence of large manufacturing
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centers. Oil patch jobs, logistics, and
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service industries have since
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diversified the population.
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concentrating newcomers in Bismar,
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Fargo, and Williston. Yet, the
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remoteness of energy fields, severe
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winters, and cyclical employment means
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that long-term settlement lags behind
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boom time inflows, keeping the absolute
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count low compared with even modestsized
8:38
states elsewhere. Another small New
8:41
England state, Maine, reports about
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29,857
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black residents, around 2%. Portland's
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port and paper mills once define its
8:50
economy. The modern picture though
8:52
features healthcare, tourism, and a
8:54
notable refugee and immigrant presence,
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especially from Somalia and other
8:59
African nations, which has grown the
9:01
black community more quickly in the past
9:03
decades. Even so, Maine's physical size,
9:06
rural character, and distance from major
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black population centers in the
9:10
Mid-Atlantic keep the numbers modest.
9:13
Its contemporary black population is a
9:15
mosaic of longtime mariners, recent
9:17
domestic movers, and newer arrivals
9:20
building businesses and cultural
9:21
institutions in Portland and Lewon.
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Rounding out the 10 is Hawaii with about
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31,398
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black residents, near again 2%. The
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island's racial story has always been
9:35
different. Native Hawaiian, Japanese,
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Filipino, Chinese, Portuguese, and other
9:40
communities formed around plantation
9:42
labor and Pacific migration. The black
9:45
population, while small in number, has
9:47
been sustained in part by the US
9:49
military's long presence around Honolulu
9:52
and more recent mobile professionals and
9:54
creatives. The community is concentrated
9:57
on Aahu and is a visible part of the
9:59
arts, education, and hospitality
10:02
sectors, even as its share of the
10:04
statewide population remains one of the
10:06
lowest in the country. So, those are the
10:08
top 10 states with the smallest numbers
10:10
of black residents today. But numbers on
10:12
the table don't tell the whole story, so
10:14
it's worth stepping back to examine the
10:16
history that made this map. From roughly
10:19
1910 to 1970, the great migration
10:22
resorted America's black population,
10:24
pulling millions out of the rural south
10:26
and into the nation's industrial cities.
10:28
The flows ran heavily along rail lines
10:31
and towards wartime and post-war
10:33
factories, Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland,
10:36
Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, New York, and
10:38
later to west coast hubs like Los
10:40
Angeles and Oakland. States without big
10:43
urban anchors or wartime industries
10:45
think the northern Rockies and the
10:47
Dakotas were largely bypassed by those
10:50
streams. The result is exactly what you
10:52
see today. Extremely small, absolute
10:55
numbers in states far from those
10:57
historic destinations. Each of these
10:59
states also show how 21st century
11:01
mobility is reshaping small bases in
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different ways. In Wyoming, Montana, and
11:06
Idaho, university towns and outdoor
11:08
economy metros have drawn a trickle of
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new residents from across the country,
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including black professionals and
11:15
students who value smaller cities and
11:18
ready access to the mountains. In the
11:20
Dakotas, energy and agricultural
11:22
logistics have brought workers who
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sometimes arrive for a contract but stay
11:26
after building community. In northern
11:29
New England, spillover from greater
11:30
Boston and a wave of immigrants and
11:33
refugees have diversified once
11:35
homogeneous towns. In Alaska and Hawaii,
11:38
long-standing military posts continue to
11:41
knit families into local life. And some
11:43
departing service members choose to make
11:45
these states home. So, let me know if
11:48
you guess any of these states correctly.
11:50
If you live in any of them, especially
11:52
Alaska, leave a shout out in the
11:54
comments to the black community in that
11:57
state and let me know what other
11:58
location-based videos you want me to do
12:00
next. I'm always looking for your
12:02
feedback. That's it for this video.
12:04
We'll see you on the next one.
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