Philadelphia’s Shifting Racial Mix
Philadelphia lost more than 30,000 Black residents from 2010 to 2020, the largest 10-year decline in census records. The number of white residents also fell, but by the smallest amount since the 1940s. The city’s population growth since 2010 was spurred by strong gains among Hispanic residents (+27%) and Asians (+39%). The two groups combined now make up nearly a quarter of the city’s population.
1,692,637
Asian
6.3%
Other groups
2.4%
White
1,600,000
Hispanic
Black
42.2%
12.3%
White
36.9%
2010
1,400,000
Since 1930, Philadelphia has lost nearly 1.2 million white residents.
1,200,000
Asian
8.3%
Other groups
4.3%
Black
38.3%
1,000,000
Hispanic
14.9%
Black
613,835
White
34.3%
800,000
2020
653,791
600,000
White
550,828
The 1790 census listed 2,099 free and 373 enslaved Black residents.
400,000
Black
200,000
Others
439,134
0
1800
1850
1900
1950
2000
SOURCES: U.S. Census Bureau; National Historical Geographic Information System
JOHN DUCHNESKIE / Staff Artist
Philadelphia’s Shifting Racial Mix
Philadelphia lost more than 30,000 Black residents from 2010 to 2020, the largest 10-year decline in census records. The number of white residents also fell, but by the smallest amount since the 1940s. The city’s population growth since 2010 was spurred by strong gains among Hispanic residents (+27%) and Asians (+39%). The two groups combined now make up nearly a quarter of the city’s population.
Asian
6.3%
Other groups
2.4%
1,692,637
White
Hispanic
Black
42.2%
12.3%
1,600,000
White
36.9%
2010
1,400,000
Other
groups
4.3%
Since 1930, Philadelphia has lost nearly 1.2 million white residents.
Asian
8.3%
1,200,000
Black
38.3%
Hispanic
1,000,000
14.9%
Black
613,835
White
34.3%
2020
800,000
653,791
600,000
White
550,828
The 1790 census listed 2,099 free and 373 enslaved Black residents.
400,000
Black
200,000
Others
439,134
0
1800
1850
1900
1950
2000
SOURCES: U.S. Census Bureau; National Historical Geographic Information System
JOHN DUCHNESKIE / Staff Artist
Philadelphia’s Shifting
Racial Mix
Philadelphia lost more than 30,000 Black residents from 2010 to 2020, the largest 10-year decline in census records. The number of white residents also fell, but by the smallest amount since the 1940s. The city’s population growth since 2010 was spurred by strong gains among Hispanic residents (+27%) and Asians (+39%). The two groups combined now make up nearly a quarter of the city’s population.
1,692,637
Since 1930, Philadelphia has lost nearly 1.2 million white residents.
White
1,600,000
1,400,000
1,200,000
1,000,000
Black
613,835
The 1790 census listed 2,099 free and 373 enslaved Black residents.
800,000
653,791
600,000
White
550,828
400,000
Black
200,000
Others
439,134
0
1800
1850
1900
1950
2000
Other
groups
4.3%
Asian
6.3%
Other
groups
2.4%
Asian
8.3%
Black
38.3%
Hispanic
Hispanic
Black
42.2%
12.3%
14.9%
White
36.9%
White
34.3%
2010
2020
SOURCES: U.S. Census Bureau; National Historical Geographic
Information System
JOHN DUCHNESKIE / Staff Artist
