Cincinnati City Assessment

Major City Assessment
In the city of Cincinnati, the racial demographics have changed considerably since the 1980s. In 1980, 33% of the population was black, 65% was white, and 2% were other (Hispanic, Asian-American). In 1990, the population was 60% white, 38% black and 2% other. In 2000, the population was 53% white, 43% black and 4% other. The inner city had been the primary residence of the majority of the black population in 1980 but by 2000, half that population had migrated to the surrounding suburbs (uptown, the western plateau, Northside and the east side) of the city due to gentrification of the inner city. Throughout that time, the total population decline from 385,500 in 1980 to 331,300 in 2000. The 2010 census reveal a further decline to 296,950. There are five districts in Cincinnati. District One consists of Downtown, Mt. Adams, Over-the-Rhine, Pendleton, Queensgate, and West End. District Two consists of California, Columbia-Tusculum, East End, East Walnut Hills, Evanston, Hyde Park, Kennedy Heights, Linwood, Madisonville, Mt. Lookout, Mt. Washington, Oakley and Pleasant Ridge. District Three consists of East Price Hill, East Westwood, Riverside, West Price Hill, and Westwood. District Four consists of Avondale, Bond Hill, Carthage, Corryville, Mt. Auburn, Walnut Hills and Paddock Hills. District Five consists of Camp Washington, Clifton, College Hill, Mt. Airy, Spring Grove and Northside. The three-year ACS estimates for 2008-2010 consist of 34% of the black population living District Three and Four and the rest living in District Five.
The total population was 296, 950 according to the ACS 2008-2010. 146,435 were white, 133,039 were black, 5480 were Asian, and 8,300 were Hispanic. The population by age was 22,000 under the age of 5; 18,000 between the ages of 5 and 9; 16,000 between the ages of 10 and 14; 28,000 between the ages of 15 and 20; 50,000 between the ages of 21 and 29; 42,000 between the ages of 30 and 39; 36,000 between the ages of 41 and 49; and 74,000 ages 50 and up. Thus, it is fairly balanced between old and young. Sex by age by citizenship status is relatively evenly divided between the two genders with 154,000 males to 142,000 females. Citizenship status of voting sits at 167,000, with 90,000 non-partisan, 20,000 Republican and 55,000 Democratic. 86,000 females vote compared to 76,000 males. 67,000 are black compared to 80,000 white and 2000 Asian and 3000 Hispanic. Geographic mobility is relatively difficult as there are 81,500 renter occupied homes out of a total 133,500 housing units in the city, which means the majority of persons in the city are renters.
The number of married voters was 31,100 or 18.65%. Single voters counted 122,700 and 13,000 were in a non-traditional relationship. Blacks have a much lower median household income than whites: whites have a $62k median household income while blacks have only a $28.7k median household income. Hispanics have a $45k median household income and Asians have the highest at $75k median household income. This finding is not surprising in light of the fact that 14.4% of black females in Cincinnati lack a high school diploma and 16% of black males lack a high school diploma while only 8.2% of white females and 9.2% of white males in the city lack a high school diploma. However, 22.5% of Hispanic women and 32.6% of Hispanic men lack high school diplomas, and yet their median household income was nearly double that of the median household income for the black population. This indicates that the small number of Hispanics in the city are likely to work more than blacks or at least report more earnings. Asians have the highest percentage of college graduates in the city with 58.3% of Asian females earning a college degree and 69% of Asian men earning a college degree, compared to 32% of white women and 33.8% of white men. Only 18% of black women and 16% of black men in the city earn a college degree. The median earnings by educational attainments shows that men with a bachelor’s degree earn $66k while men without a high school diploma average only $24.6k annually. For women it is only $15.3k. This suggests that the more education a person has, the more likely that person is to earn more—though Hispanics are obviously the outliers here, though they are typically found in labor jobs, such as cleaning or construction. 46%
31.8% percent of blacks are on food stamps in the city compared to only 16% of Hispanics on foods stamps and only 8.8% of whites. This indicates that blacks are more willing to receive subsidies from the government. Of 133,420 households, only 31,000 are husband-wife households. 25,400 are female only householders with no husband present and 71,000 are nonfamily households with 57,000 householders living alone. 259,700 persons speak only English in the household, while 8,000 speak Spanish. 60,000 people live in poverty in the city. 29,000 have no vehicle. 56,600 have 1 vehicle. 33,500 have 2 vehicles. 9,500 have 3 vehicles. 132,600 commute to work, 107,000 of them in a car, truck or van. 94,000 of them drive alone and only 12,000 carpool. 12,800 take public transportation (bus or trolley). 7000 walk to work. These figures indicate that there is a great deal of poverty in the city, that the black population relies on food stamps far more than any other population in the city, that blacks have the least amount of education and that they live in the poorest areas.
40% of black males over the age of 16 are not employed while 36% of black females are not employed in the city. 23% of white males are not working while 31% of white women are not employed. 23% of male Hispanics are not working and 36% of female Hispanics are not working. Black males collect the most unemployment at 11% while white males who collect are 4.6% and white females are 3.9%. Hispanic males who collect are 5.3% compared to just 2.6% Hispanic females. These figures show there is a very high percentage of blacks who are not employed and thus it should not be a surprise that the black population receives more federal and state subsidies than any other ethnic group in the city. They also earn the least amount of money and have the least amount of education. Moreover, their long-time places of residence have been bought out and gentrified, causing them to have to move.
This explains the migration of the population over the years, as the majority of blacks lived in the inner city (Over-the-Rhine) which has since been gentrified, starting in 2000, forcing many in the area to move to surrounding districts, such as Walnut Hills. Most of the whites who have better incomes live in the east side of town, in Oakley and Columbia-Tusculum, where there are not many blacks or Hispanics living at all. There is not much racial mixture among the populaces, as most populations are fairly well segregated rather than integrated. The only real integration that remains is in the inner city where affordable housing still exists for some of the black population, though many blocks have been converted into upscale residences for white residents who want to live in the city. The gentrification process has been used to help the city increase its tax revenues, undoubtedly, as there is not going to be much tax revenue collected from a population that is not bringing in any money. However, the problem of housing this population once it has moved persists.

Works Cited
Census.gov. Quick Facts, 2018.
https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/cincinnaticityohio/PST045217
City of Cincinnati. SNA Boundary Changes Citywide. City of Cincinnati, 2012.
https://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/planning/linkservid/B4323A96-0FDE-C8F2-D90A5A899AD316BF/showMeta/0/
Maloney, Michael and Christopher Auffrey. Patterns for five census decades, fifth ed.,
2013. http://socialareasofcincinnati.org/files/FifthEdition/SASBook.pdf
Statistical Atlas. The Cincinnati Area. Statistical Atlas, 2018.
https://statisticalatlas.com/metro-area/Ohio/Cincinnati/Race-and-Ethnicity