The pandemic has further exposed deeply ingrained inequities in our communities. A first-of-its-kind data and policy tool has launched to provide further insights into challenges and opportunities when it comes to advancing racial and economic equity.

The National Equity Atlas serves as a detailed report card for racial and economic equity. The project is funded by several funders including three CMF members: Ford Foundation, the JPMorgan Chase Foundation and the W. K. Kellogg Foundation.

The Atlas provides a detailed look at state-level data and from America’s 100 largest cities and 150 largest metro areas—including data from the city of Detroit and metro area, as well as Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo metro areas.

As CMF members continue to leverage partnerships and innovative approaches to advance racial and economic equity work, the data shows areas of growth and opportunities for our state, along with examples of CMF member and stakeholder efforts to support equity in these areas:

Demographics

• Michigan has become more diverse, raising its diversity score from a 0.54 to a 0.85 between 1980 and 2017.

• In the last 40 years, Michigan’s person of color population has risen from 14% to 26%.

Economic vitality

• Michigan’s median hourly wage decreased between 1980 and 2017, with wages for white people falling from $28 per hour to $22 per hour and wages for people of color falling from $26 per hour to $18 per hour.

• The state’s overall poverty rate rose from 10% in 1980 to 16% in 2017, with 32% of the state’s people of color living in poverty.

To help address this ongoing issue, the Michigan League for Public Policy (MLPP) has advocated for increasing and expanding the earned income tax credit across the state to keep more money into families’ pockets.

Readiness

• Overall, educational obtainment is up across the state with increases in the number of students with some college coursework completed, an associate’s degree, a bachelor’s degree or an advanced degree between 1990 and 2017 and a decrease in the amount of people without a high school diploma.

• The number of young people ages 16 to 24 who are not in school or working has dropped by 15%.

Last year Governor Gretchen Whitmer established Sixty by 30, a goal for Michigan to increase the number of working-age adults with a skill certificate or college degree from 45% to 60% by 2030.

Many CMF members are supporting educational attainment through various innovative scholarship models and programs.

Connectedness

• Michigan’s high housing burden rates—meaning a Michigander’s housing costs more than 30% of their income—rose from 38% for white people and 53% for people of color in 1990 to 47% for white people and 55% for people of color.

As one example of members working to address these issues in their communities, CMF reported earlier this year that Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation (TRHT) Kalamazoo, hosted by the Kalamazoo Community Foundation, collaborated on a city ordinance to address structural racism in the city’s housing.

Connectedness

• The state’s air pollution index fell from 50 in 2000 to 20 in 2017, but people of color are more likely to live in more polluted areas.

Many CMF members are engaged in environmentally centered initiatives. The Fred A. and Barbara M. Erb Family Foundation, for example, continues to focus on environmental health, justice and sustainable development, including reducing lead exposure levels in and around Detroit and improving air quality to combat asthma.

Economic Benefits

• Statewide, Michigan renters have seen an increase in disposable income, totaling $2.88 billion in 2017 compared to $1.75 billion in 2000.

• The Atlas estimates that, with increased efforts to advance racial income equity, the current average income for people of color ($26,754) could increase to $38,914.

Nationally, racial inequities continue to grow. Atlas data shows that failing to address these inequities now will lead to greater preparedness for the future.

“At a time when Black, Latinx, Native American and Pacific Islander communities are the hardest hit by another recession, it is imperative that leaders at all levels recognize that targeted, race-conscious strategies are necessary to bring about an inclusive recovery,” National Equity Atlas staff shared. “Doing so will create tremendous benefits that cascade up and out to the advantage of an entire community.”

Want more?

Learn more about the National Equity Atlas.

See Atlas data by city, region or state, as well as national data.