The 2025 State of Black Women in California Report: From Data to Action
- Nov 11
- 2 min read
Black women are an essential part of California’s progress — leading classrooms, businesses, and movements that keep our communities strong. Yet, as the 2025 State of Black Women in California Report makes clear, we continue to face barriers that limit opportunity and threaten well-being.
Today, the California Black Women’s Collective Empowerment Institute releases this year’s report — the most comprehensive look yet at how Black women are faring across the state. The findings reveal what many of us already know: that brilliance and resilience are not enough when the systems around us remain unequal.
The report shows that Black women make up just 6.6% of California’s female population, yet remain overrepresented in poverty, housing instability, and health disparities. We earn about 60 cents for every dollar paid to white men, and many of us spend half our income on housing or childcare. Black women are the backbone of California’s care economy — teaching, nursing, caregiving — yet we remain underpaid and under-promoted.
These are not just statistics; they are lived experiences. They represent mothers choosing between rent and medication, young women carrying student debt they can’t repay because of pay inequity, and professionals still being “the only one in the room” despite decades of progress.
But the story does not end there — because Black women are also leading California’s path forward.
From record-breaking voter turnout to surging entrepreneurship, we continue to drive innovation, culture, and policy. Through programs like SheWorks California, The Holly J. Mitchell Girls Empowerment Leadership Institute, and Supporting Our Sisters, the Collective is transforming data into tangible action — helping women gain skills, access jobs, build confidence, and lead their communities.
Our report is both a mirror and a map. It reflects the realities we face and charts the path to what must change:
Fair pay that closes the gap for working women and mothers.
Affordable housing and childcare that allow families to thrive.
Health equity that saves lives and prevents loss.
Leadership pipelines that ensure representation matches contribution.
We know the road to equity is long, but we also know what happens when we move together. Every policy win, every new program, and every data point we publish is a reminder that change is possible — and it’s happening because Black women are demanding it.
The 2025 State of Black Women in California Report is a call to act — not in sympathy, but in solidarity. Policymakers, philanthropists, and everyday Californians all have a role to play in building systems that see and support us.
When Black women rise, families rise. Communities rise. California rises.
Check out the report here: