DASHBOARD
URBAN AGENDA – ECONOMIC MOBILITY – MEDIAN HOUSEHOLD INCOME
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2023 BASELINE NEUTRAL
Over the past decade, median incomes for Black and Brown households in Cleveland and Cuyahoga County have lost ground compared to White households.
Local Median Incomes for Black and Hispanic Households Lag State and National Levels
Median income for Black households in Cleveland was just $27,629 in 2022, roughly half that of the $53,676 for White households in Cleveland. Black households in Cuyahoga County also had incomes roughly half that of White households ($38,709 vs. $74,493). Median incomes for Hispanic/Latino households were $37,423 in Cleveland and $52,831 for the county overall. Racial and ethnic income disparities in Cleveland and Cuyahoga County are considerably worse than earnings gaps seen across the state and nation.
$27,629 Avg. Annual Income
CLEVELAND VS OHIO
The median income for Black households in Ohio was 52% higher than that of Black households in Cleveland.
$42,072 Avg. Annual Income
MINDING THE GAP
$ 4,000.00
Amount higher median incomes for Black and Hispanic households in Cleveland would need to be in order simply to meet state “average” for disparity.
A five-year goal of the Urban Agenda and its partners is to support strategies and actions so that income disparities among Black and Hispanic households in Cleveland and Cuyahoga County are no greater than those seen for the state overall. Based on 2022 numbers, median incomes for Black and Hispanic households in Cleveland would need to be $4,000 higher for the level of disparity locally to be on par with that seen at the state level. Median incomes for Black and Brown households would need to be roughly $5,200 higher in Cuyahoga County.
2030 MEDIAN HOUSEHOLD INCOME GOALS
Increases of roughly 6% annually over the next 5 years
$4,000 more is the number that would have been needed to be on par in 2022. But incomes are not stagnant. Since 2000, median wages have increased for all workers by roughly 3.26% annually, although the “average” is not uniform. To narrow the gaps and meet the Urban Agenda’s 5-year benchmarks, median incomes for Black and Hispanic/Latino households locally would need to increase by nearly double the rate of their White counterparts. Increases of roughly 6% annually over the next 5 years would bring the median income of Black households in Cleveland to $37,390 and median income of Hispanic/Latino households to $49,395, compared to an expected $63,015 in 2030 for White households where median incomes continued to increase at the more typical 3.26% annually.
MEDIAN HOUSEHOLD INCOME KEY DRIVERS OF INTEREST
MEDIAN HOUSEHOLD INCOME DISPARITIES
Gaps in household incomes between people of color and their White neighbors are wider in Cleveland and Cuyahoga County than for the state and nation overall. Indeed, the disparities seen across Ohio and for the U.S. as a whole are large and unacceptable, but they loom even larger here at home. For the nation as a whole, Hispanic/Latino households had earnings about 82% that of White households; in Cleveland and Cuyahoga County, median incomes for Hispanic/Latino households were just 70% that of White households.
FALLING BEHIND
People of color in Cleveland and Cuyahoga County are not the only ones falling behind their state and national peers. White households in Cleveland had a median income just two-thirds that of White households in the nation as a whole. Hispanic/Latino households in Cleveland had incomes that were less than half that of the national median for White households. Median income for Black households in Cleveland was a mere one-third of the national median for White households.
Disparities Compared to U.S. White Median Household Income, 2022
CLEVELAND
CUYAHOGA COUNTY
OHIO
UNITED STATES
2030 MEDIAN INCOME DISPARITIES BENCHMARKS
The Urban Agenda has set a five-year benchmark for narrowing racial and ethnic disparities in Cleveland and Cuyahoga County to be no greater than that seen for Ohio overall. That would mean raising median incomes for Black households in Cleveland and Cuyahoga County to no less than 59% that of White households locally, and increasing median incomes for Hispanic/Latino households to no less than 78% that of White households.
POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS
This initial phase of the Urban Agenda Dashboard provides baseline data, largely drawn from the 2022 American Community Survey, for median income, poverty and wealth for Black, Hispanic/Latino and White residents of Cleveland and Cuyahoga County, as well as state and U.S. figures for comparison. We include a series of driver indicators that can reasonably be assumed to help “move the needle” on the three Economic Mobility objectives. This collection of indicators may expand or contract somewhat as the real work of effecting meaningful population-level change unfolds. Policy recommendations and changes to current practices necessary to achieve lasting change will emerge from the collective nature of this Urban Agenda process.
EMPLOYMENT
WORKING-AGE EMPLOYMENT-TO-POPULATION DISPARITIES
Clevelanders of color have a lower connection to the workplace than their White counterparts. The share of working-age Black Clevelanders employed was 56% in 2022, and the share of Hispanic/Latino Clevelanders ages 16-64 who were working was 66%. That compares to 73% of working-age White Clevelanders.
EMPLOYMENT-to-POPULATION 2030 BENCHMARKS
Support efforts to increase employment among working-age Clevelanders of color to align with state employment-population ratios. Based on 2022 population and employment levels, this would mean helping nearly 9,400 more Black Clevelanders and nearly 1,400 additional Hispanic/Latino Clevelanders find gainful employment.
FULL-TIME BUT LOW-PAY EMPLOYMENT DISPARITIES
Too many people of color, particularly women, are working hard but for little reward. Among Black women working full-time in Cleveland, one-third earned less than $30,000 a year. This was more than twice the share of White Cleveland women working full-time for low pay. Given that women account for 56% of Black employment in Cleveland and that more than 27% of all Black households in Cleveland are families headed by single women (compared to less than 10% of White households), such a concentration of low-pay employment among Black women workers can be assumed to have an outsized effect on Cleveland’s median income and the financial stability of its families.
It’s worth noting that nearly 29% of Black men, and 18% of White men, in Cleveland who worked full-time earned less than $30,000 annually. That is substantially higher rates of low-pay employment than seen among their respective peers in the county, state and nation overall.
FULL-TIME BUT LOW-PAY EMPLOYMENT 2030 BENCHMARKS
Focus on building career ladders to help workers who are already laboring full-time rise beyond low-wage jobs. Specific emphasis should be on connecting Black women in Cleveland to better-paying full-time work. Bringing Cleveland numbers more in line with the 26.4% of Black women in Ohio working full-time for low pay would mean, based on 2022 employment and population levels, helping some 1,400 Black women already working full-time attain higher wages.
PRIME WORKING-AGE MALE EMPLOYMENT DISPARITIES
Among men ages 25 to 54, Black and Hispanic/Latino Clevelanders are far less likely to be employed than their counterparts around the state and nation. Just 64% of Black men in Cleveland of prime working age, and 73% of Hispanic/Latino men, were working in 2022. That compares to 80% of similarly aged White men in Cleveland, a rate itself considerably below their counterparts in the county, state, and nation overall.
PRIME WORKING-AGE MALE EMPLOYMENT 2030 BENCHMARKS
Close the employment gap for prime working-age men of color in Cleveland to be more in line with Ohio employment-to-population ratios of 0.71 for Black men and 0.85 for Hispanic/Latino men. That would mean 3,100 more men of color in their prime working years employed in Cleveland, based on 2022 population and employment levels.
UNDEREMPLOYMENT DISPARITIES
Underemployment describes workers who want full-time, year-round jobs but must settle for part-time or temporary positions. Although many workers do choose part-time work because of the flexibility it allows for personal responsibilities or priorities, large numbers of workers find a full-time, steady job elusive. In Cleveland, only a third of Black males ages 16 and older are working full-time, compared to nearly half of similarly aged White men. At the county level, full-time work for men of color is 10 percentage points or more below that of their White counterparts.
UNDEREMPLOYMENT 2030 BENCHMARKS
If the 16.7 percentage point difference in full-time employment between Black and White men in Cleveland was more in line with the 12.3 percentage point difference for the state overall, that would mean over 2,500 more Black male Clevelanders employed full time, and presumably enjoying not only increased pay but the access to health care and other benefits and the greater stability that may come with full-time work.
EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT DISPARITIES
Higher educational attainment tends to be associated with higher wages and lower unemployment rates. Higher educational attainment may also signal to prospective employers who are considering locating in a particular community information about potential workforce skills and quality of place. So educational attainment is a driver indicator for this Urban Agenda because of its association with wages and future jobs. Yet, nearly 1 in 3 Hispanic/Latino adults and nearly 1 in 5 Black adults in Cleveland have not finished high school or earned a GED. Those rates of low educational attainment are substantially higher than for adults of color in the county, state and nation overall. In terms of higher educational attainment, Black and Hispanic/Latino adults are far less likely to have earned a bachelor’s degree or higher than their peers in the county, state and nation overall. White adults living in Cleveland, on the other hand, are more likely to be highly educated than their state peers and nearly equal to their national peers. Bachelor’s degree completion among White adults in Cuyahoga County actually far exceeds the national rate.
EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT 2030 BENCHMARKS
The educational attainment figures cited are for adults age 25 and over. Increasing education levels among older adults who have been out of the classroom for years and are likely well along their career paths is difficult. Certainly, education and retraining for individual workers may be warranted in the event of job disruptions or to qualify for certain job opportunities. But moving the needle on population-level educational attainment levels will most likely come from focusing on young adults and children, continuing to reduce the number of high school dropouts, combining educational offerings with career awareness and, for those pursuing a college path, providing support for completion in a timely fashion.
COLLEGE PERSISTENCE DISPARITIES
About a quarter of Black adults began a college program but left without completing a four-year, or even two-year, degree. This finding is consistent at the local, state and national levels. About 18% of Hispanic and White adults in Cleveland started but failed to finish college, a rate also relatively consistent across the other three geographies of interest. Data from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center show large differences in outcomes for Ohio students who enrolled in college in 2016. Fewer than half of all Black students in Ohio who enrolled in college in 2016 had graduated by 2022, compared to three-quarters of their White peers. Black students were more than twice as likely to have dropped out. “Some college” affords little of the pay benefits associated with degree completion, and it comes at substantial cost, both in terms of coursework and living expenses as well as opportunity costs stemming from potential forgone wages. This means many students who heed the advice to enroll in college classes find themselves worse off financially if they fail to earn a degree. This harsh truth falls particularly hard on students of color.
Outcomes for Ohio Students Who Enrolled in College 2016
COLLEGE PERSISTENCE 2030 BENCHMARKS
Provide students at all grade levels practical guidance on postsecondary education, complete with understanding of costs and challenges as well as expected benefits. Focus on plugging gaps in financial support and providing mentoring to help students of color succeed in earning a degree and in a more timely fashion. Help connect motivated Northeast Ohio adults with college credits to programs such as the Ohio College Comeback Compact to get more learners back into formal education or job training programs that pay off in better employment and wage prospects.
ON-THE-JOB-LEARNING DISPARITIES
Provide students at all grade levels practical guidance on postsecondary education, complete with understanding of costs and challenges as well as expected benefits. Focus on plugging gaps in financial support and providing mentoring to help students of color succeed in earning a degree and in a more timely fashion. Help connect motivated Northeast Ohio adults with college credits to programs such as the Ohio College Comeback Compact to get more learners back into formal education or job training programs that pay off in better employment and wage prospects.
ON-THE-JOB-LEARNING 2030 BENCHMARKS
Provide students at all grade levels practical guidance on postsecondary education, complete with understanding of costs and challenges as well as expected benefits. Focus on plugging gaps in financial support and providing mentoring to help students of color succeed in earning a degree and in a more timely fashion. Help connect motivated Northeast Ohio adults with college credits to programs such as the Ohio College Comeback Compact to get more learners back into formal education or job training programs that pay off in better employment and wage prospects.
LITERACY AND NUMERACY DISPARITIES
Much has been written of the school-to-prison pipeline, detailing the negative prospects associated with low literacy and numeracy. Ohio School Report Card data for the 2022-2023 academic year show that only 32% of third graders enrolled in the Cleveland Metropolitan School District scored proficient or above in reading. Among CMSD eighth graders, only 31.5% scored proficient or better in reading and 20.2% in math. Although proficiency averages were far higher for the county and state, nearly 82% of Black third graders in Cuyahoga County and more than 70% of Hispanic/Latino ones were enrolled in districts performing below the state average in reading. That compares to just 22.6% of White third graders. Findings were similar for eighth-grade reading and math proficiency.
LITERACY AND NUMERACY 2030 BENCHMARKS
Provide students at all grade levels practical guidance on postsecondary education, complete with understanding of costs and challenges as well as expected benefits. Focus on plugging gaps in financial support and providing mentoring to help students of color succeed in earning a degree and in a more timely fashion. Help connect motivated Northeast Ohio adults with college credits to programs such as the Ohio College Comeback Compact to get more learners back into formal education or job training programs that pay off in better employment and wage prospects.
HIGH SCHOOL SUCCESS DISPARITIES
Low reading and math proficiency scores in grade school would portend a lack of high school success. The four-year graduation rate for CMSD students in 2022 was far below county and state averages, and more than 1 of every 5 students who began a CMSD high school in fall 2017 failed to graduate by summer 2022.
HIGH SCHOOL SUCCESS 2030 BENCHMARKS
Make high school completion among Cleveland’s and Cuyahoga County’s Black and Hispanic/Latino youth a top priority. Work to bring high school graduation rates among Black and Hispanic students in Cleveland and Cuyahoga County in line with the 90% rate for their White classmates statewide. Historically, decent-paying jobs in factories were plentiful for workers without high school diplomas, but that is no longer the case. In Cleveland, the pay gap in 2022 between those who had earned no higher than a high school diploma vs. those without a high school diploma was more than $3,600. Those with less than a high school diploma earned just $25,100, on average. For Cuyahoga County, the gap was even wider, at nearly $8,600.
DIGITAL ACCESS DISPARITIES
Among Cleveland residents school-age and older living in Black households, nearly 14% had either no computer or no access to high-speed internet, according to the 2022 ACS. This was a dramatic improvement over 2019 ACS findings of 35.7% of Black residents surveyed lacking a computer or lacking broadband access. This level of digital divide contributed to Cleveland being named the “worst-connected” big city in the country. The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the ramifications of this digital divide when disease mitigation strategies moved education, work and health care activities online. Federal dollars in the form of COVID relief funds went directly toward expanding access and subsidizing costs. Clearly, these investments helped bring about such rapid improvement in narrowing the divide. For example, among Black Clevelanders in households with a computer, the share who also had access to high-speed internet grew from 70.3% in 2019 to 92.1% in 2022. However, Black households in Cleveland are still far more likely to lack access to high-speed internet than their White and Hispanic/Latino neighbors. Black households in Cleveland are also a third more likely to be digitally disconnected than Black households in Cuyahoga County, Ohio and the nation overall. The gains in narrowing the digital divide in the wake of COVID may prove to be fleeting. In May 2024, the federal government announced it was ending the Affordability Connectivity Program, which had helped provide internet access for low-income Americans.
DIGITAL ACCESS 2030 BENCHMARKS
Reduce the share of digitally disconnected Black and Hispanic/Latino households in Cleveland to no greater than the rate for their peers throughout Cuyahoga County. That would mean preserving the access gains made during the pandemic and connecting an additional 6,100 Black residents in Cleveland and nearly 1,000 Hispanic residents.