How Black adults define personal and financial success, and the pressures they feel to achieve their goals
Pew Research Center conducted this study to explore Black Americans’ views on personal and financial success in the United States and their current assessments of their financial situation.
We surveyed 4,736 U.S. adults who identify as Black and non-Hispanic, multiracial Black and non-Hispanic, or Black and Hispanic. The survey was conducted from Sept. 12 to Sept. 24, 2023, and includes 1,755 Black adults on the Center’s American Trends Panel (ATP) and 2,981 Black adults on Ipsos’ KnowledgePanel.
Respondents on both panels are recruited through national, random sampling of residential addresses. Recruiting panelists by mail ensures that nearly all U.S. Black adults have a chance of selection. This gives us confidence that any sample can represent the whole population (see our Methods 101 explainer on random sampling). For more information on this survey, refer to its methodology and questionnaire.
The terms Black Americans and Black adults are used interchangeably throughout this report to refer to U.S. adults who self-identify as Black, either alone or in combination with other races or Hispanic identity.
Throughout this report, Black, non-Hispanic respondents are those who identify as single-race Black and say they have no Hispanic background. Black Hispanic respondents are those who identify as Black and say they…
