As noted in the last post, the racial disparities between blacks and whites in Rochester, NY are part of a larger pattern found throughout the greater Rust Belt. The Great Lakes region, stretching from Minnesota to through Upstate New York, has much higher levels of African-American poverty than the country as a whole, and a higher black-to-white poverty ratio than most parts of the country.

But what about the disparity between whites and Hispanics? How does the Rochester region compare to the rest of the country?

ACT Rochester recently released a report, titled “Hard Facts,” that examined racial disparities in the Rochester region. The report’s findings were stark and troublesome. Across a broad range of different indicators (including health, education, income, and life expectancy), black and Hispanic residents in the Rochester region fare far worse than whites. And the Rochester region has greater disparities, and worse outcomes, than New York State and the United States.

But in contrast to prior reports issued by ACT Rochester that explored poverty in the Rochester region (with a particular focus on the City of Rochester), this study did not identify or assess any comparison geographies. I decided to analyze American Community Survey poverty data, and compare the Rochester region to other communities with at least 10,000 black residents. If one looks at the rate of African-American poverty in the Rochester region relative to other Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA) in the United States, a clear pattern emerges.