Income Among Asians Growing the Most in OK, Blacks the Least

• Joe Wertz
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  Joe Wertz was a reporter and managing editor for StateImpact Oklahoma from 2011-2019. He reported on energy and environment issues for national NPR audiences and other national outlets. He previously worked as a managing editor, assistant editor and staff reporter at several major Oklahoma newspapers and studied journalism at the University of Central Oklahoma.

Taking a look at Census figures, the Tulsa World has filed a report on the income gap between white and most non-white households, which is growing in Oklahoma and around the country.

The gap is widest between black and white households, the paper’s Curtis Killman writes.

The gap in the median income between those two groups in Oklahoma increased from $11,565 in 1999 to $17,488.

The gap in Tulsa County is bigger than elsewhere in the state.

The trend could indicate that minorities have been hit harder by the recession, the World reported.

“Being able to find a job, being able to find a job that pays enough is particularly a challenge for African-Americans in this state, and higher incarceration rates make that even more difficult,” Kate Richey, a policy analyst for the Oklahoma Policy Institute, which advocates for the poor, told the paper.

According to the World’s analysis of state Census data from 1999-2010, this is how the state’s income growth breaks down among households:

Asian: 46 percent
American Indian: 32 percent
White: 30 percent
Hispanic: 23 percent
Black: 20 percent