Home ownership in Spokane County has followed a consistantly disturbing pattern. While two-thirds of White families are able to own homes, most families of color do not. In the most recent census reports, 67% of White families were homeowners compared to only 48% of Asian American families, 44% of Black families; 43% of Latinos, and 41% of Indigenous families. The chart below tells the story
The disadvantage that families of color face is made clearer when we consider income. In the chart below we compare White and Black homeownership at different family income levels using the most recent census data. At every income level, White families are more likely to own homes than Black families. There were too few Black families in the top income sample to report, but for families earning $100,000-150,000 there is a 14% ownership gap which grows larger at more modest income levels. For those earning between $50,000 and $75,000, 64% of Whites were owners compared with only 31% of Blacks. Here we see the effects of multigeneration wealth building. At current prices new buyers with modest incomes are shut out of homeownership unless they are converting homes long held in the family or other sources of wealth.
The most recent years shown here is an average of 2021 and 2022 from annual American Community Surveys (ACS). The 2-year average improves the reliability of these calculations, all of which are based on samples of the full population (2% for 2021-22 and 1970; 5% in other years). Because these are samples, it is unwise to report very small populations. For that reason the Black upper income category is left blank.
Households as defined by the Census Bureau can include single individuals or a group of roommates as well as actual families. The race of the household follows the self-identified race of the person designated "head of household." Homes in these calculations include condos as well as houses and ownership can mean buying with a mortgage or owning outright (which is most likely for White homeowners).
Race categories in these calculations treat Latino as an exclusive category. Thus the labels Black, White, Indigenous, and Asian do not include anyone who indicated Hispanic/Latino heritage. The category Asian, always complicated, includes Pacific Islanders, South Asians, and East Asians. These charts do not include persons who answered with two or more race categories. Only in recent census surveys was this an option and in this six decade report and charts, we were not able to include them.
Sources: These statistics are calculated from weighted samples of U.S. Census data produced by the Minnesota Population Center's IPUMS USA: Steven Ruggles, Sarah Flood, Ronald Goeken, Megan Schouweiler and Matthew Sobek. IPUMS USA: Version 12.0 [dataset]. Minneapolis, MN: IPUMS, 2022. https://doi.org/10.18128/D010.V12.0. The following samples: 1960 5%, 1970 1% Metro FM1 and F2, 1980 5% State, 1990 5% State, 2000 5%, 2010 10%, 2021-2022 ACS 2yr.