Best cities for minorities found in the former Confederacy, not progressive East or West: Report

The best cities for racial minorities isn’t New York or San Francisco, with their progressive politics and robust welfare packages, but in the Sun Belt — where less regulations, greater individual independence and housing opportunities reign.

Ironically, of the top 15 cities for African-Americans, as rated by median household income, self-employment, housing affordability and population growth, 13 are in the former Confederacy, according to an analysis by Joel Kotkin’s Center for Opportunity and Urbanism, published last year.

“The data also show a strong contrast between America’s luxury cities, such as New York, San Francisco or Boston, where high costs have significantly reduced opportunities for middle and working class households, and “opportunity cities,” often located in less costly portions of the country like Texas or the South but that have also sustained more rapid and broadly based economic growth,” Mr. Kotkin wrote in his report.

More