Most African American cities in New York research summary. We used Saturday Night Science to analyze New York’s most recent Census data to determine the cities with the largest Black population, based on the percentage of Black residents.
The city with the largest African American population in New York is Mount Vernon (56.9% Black); the least is New Square (0.0%). Statewide, New York is 13.4% Black — the 13th blackest state in the country.
Roughly 42 million people identifying as Black or African American live in the United States, about 12% of the total population. In New York, the Black population is 2,661,771, at 13.4% of the state total.
We broke down the most recent Census data to determine the cities in New York with the largest African American population in 2026.
#1 most African American in New York
Located in
Westchester County, New York
Mount Vernon is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States. It is an inner suburb of New York City, immediately to the north of the borough of the Bronx. As of the 2010 census, Mount Vernon had a population of 67,292.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#2 most African American in New York
Located in
Nassau County, New York
Hempstead is one of the three towns in Nassau County, New York, United States, occupying the southwestern part of the county, in the western half of Long Island. Twenty-two incorporated villages are completely or partially within the town. Hempstead’s combined population was 759,757 at the 2010 Census, the majority of the population of the county and by far the most of any town in New York. Also, a village named Hempstead is within the Town.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#3 most African American in New York
Located in
Monroe County, New York
Rochester is a city on the southern shore of Lake Ontario in Western New York. Rochester is the third most populous city in New York state with over 210,000 residents, and its metropolitan area has a population of nearly 1.1 million people.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#4 most African American in New York
Located in
Nassau County, New York
Freeport is a village in the town of Hempstead, Nassau County, New York, USA, on the South Shore of Long Island. The population was 43,713 at the 2010 census. A settlement since the 1640s, it was once an oystering community and later a resort popular with the New York City theater community. It is now primarily a bedroom suburb but retains a modest commercial waterfront and some light industry.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#5 most African American in New York
Located in
Erie County, New York
Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York and the 8most populous city in the United States. As of July 2016, the population was 256,902, a slight decrease from the 2010 census. It is the principal municipality of the Buffalo-Niagara Falls metropolitan area, a region with 1,134,210 residents in the MSA and 1,213,668 in the CSA. The city serves as the county seat of Erie County. The city also is a major gateway for commerce and travel at the Canada-United States border, forming part of the bi-national Buffalo Niagara Region.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#6 most African American in New York
Located in
Dutchess County, New York
Poughkeepsie, officially the City of Poughkeepsie, is a city in the state of New York, United States, which is the county seat of Dutchess County. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 32,736. Poughkeepsie is in the Hudson Valley midway between New York City and Albany, and is part of the New York metropolitan area. The name derives from a word in the Wappinger language, roughly U-puku-ipi-sing, meaning “the reed-covered lodge by the little-water place,” referring to a spring or stream feeding into the Hudson River south of the present downtown area.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#7 most African American in New York
Located in
Rockland County, New York
Spring Valley is a village in the towns of Ramapo and Clarkstown in Rockland County, New York, United States. It is located north of Chestnut Ridge, east of Airmont and Monsey, south of Hillcrest, and west of Nanuet. The population was 31,347 at the 2010 census, making it the 2nd most populous community in Rockland County, after New City.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#8 most African American in New York
Located in
Nassau County, New York
Valley Stream is a village in Nassau County, New York, United States. The population in the Village of Valley Stream was 37,511 at the 2010 census.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#9 most African American in New York
Located in
Onondaga County, New York
Syracuse is a city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, in the United States. It is the largest U.S. city with the name “Syracuse”, and is the fifth most populous city in the state of New York following New York City, Buffalo Rochester and Yonkers. At the 2010 census, the city population was 145,252, and its metropolitan area had a population of 662,577. It is the economic and educational hub of Central New York, a region with over one million inhabitants. Syracuse is also well-provided with convention sites, with a downtown convention complex. Syracuse was named after the original Greek city Syracuse, a city on the eastern coast of the Italian island of Sicily.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#10 most African American in New York
Located in
Albany County, New York
Albany AWL-b-nee) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York and the seat of Albany County. Roughly 150 miles north of New York City, Albany developed on the west bank of the Hudson River, about 10 miles south of its confluence with the Mohawk River. The population of the City of Albany was 97,856 according to the 2010 census. Albany constitutes the economic and cultural core of the Capital District of New York State, which comprises the Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY Metropolitan Statistical Area, including the nearby cities and suburbs of Troy, Schenectady, and Saratoga Springs. With a 2013 Census-estimated population of 1.1 million the Capital District is the third-most populous metropolitan region in the state and 38th in the United States.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is New York’s statewide median.
On the map
Where New York’s Black communities live
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: How We Determined The Cities In New York With The Largest Black Population For 2026
We still believe in the accuracy of data — especially from the Census. So that’s where we went to get the race breakdown across New York.
That leads us to the Census’s most recently available data, the 2020-2024 American Community Survey data from the US Census.
Specifically, we looked at table B03002: Hispanic OR LATINO ORIGIN BY RACE. Here are the category names as defined by the Census:
- Hispanic or Latino
- White alone*
- Black or African American alone*
- American Indian and Alaska Native alone*
- Asian alone*
- Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone*
- Some other race alone*
- Two or more races*
Our particular column of interest was the number of people who identified as Black or African American.
We limited our analysis to non-CDPs with a population greater than 5,000 people in New York. That left us with 162 cities.
We then calculated the percentage of residents that are Black or African American. The percentages ranked from 56.9% to 0.0%.
Finally, we ranked each city based on the percentage of the Black population, with a higher score being more Black than a lower score. Mount Vernon took the distinction of being the most Black, while New Square was the least African American city.
We updated this article for 2026. This is our eleventh time ranking the cities in New York with the largest African American population.
The full plate
African American Population By City In New York
Click any column to sort. Search by city name.
| Rank | City | Population | African American Population | % African American |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mount Vernon | 72,427 | 41,219 | 56.9% |
| 2 | Hempstead | 58,801 | 25,373 | 43.2% |
| 3 | Rochester | 208,772 | 72,342 | 34.7% |
| 4 | Freeport | 44,088 | 14,349 | 32.5% |
| 5 | Buffalo | 276,854 | 86,532 | 31.3% |
| 6 | Poughkeepsie | 31,958 | 9,584 | 30.0% |
| 7 | Spring Valley | 33,192 | 9,503 | 28.6% |
| 8 | Valley Stream | 40,315 | 10,403 | 25.8% |
| 9 | Syracuse | 146,384 | 37,600 | 25.7% |
| 10 | Albany | 100,492 | 24,671 | 24.6% |
| 11 | Monticello | 7,279 | 1,785 | 24.5% |
| 12 | Newburgh | 28,519 | 6,972 | 24.4% |
| 13 | Middletown | 30,289 | 6,548 | 21.6% |
| 14 | New York | 8,483,844 | 1,730,658 | 20.4% |
| 15 | Schenectady | 68,847 | 12,865 | 18.7% |
| 16 | New Rochelle | 82,769 | 15,089 | 18.2% |
| 17 | Nyack | 7,393 | 1,344 | 18.2% |
| 18 | Niagara Falls | 47,987 | 8,565 | 17.8% |
| 19 | Westbury | 15,808 | 2,560 | 16.2% |
| 20 | Suffern | 11,441 | 1,832 | 16.0% |
| 21 | West Haverstraw | 10,711 | 1,712 | 16.0% |
| 22 | Troy | 51,033 | 7,914 | 15.5% |
| 23 | Utica | 64,217 | 9,865 | 15.4% |
| 24 | Lackawanna | 19,753 | 3,006 | 15.2% |
| 25 | Elmira | 26,257 | 3,879 | 14.8% |
| 26 | Yonkers | 209,978 | 30,732 | 14.6% |
| 27 | Haverstraw | 12,325 | 1,704 | 13.8% |
| 28 | Monroe | 9,515 | 1,287 | 13.5% |
| 29 | Peekskill | 25,625 | 3,427 | 13.4% |
| 30 | Binghamton | 47,151 | 6,125 | 13.0% |
| 31 | Walden | 6,868 | 886 | 12.9% |
| 32 | Hudson | 5,865 | 750 | 12.8% |
| 33 | Kingston | 23,911 | 3,033 | 12.7% |
| 34 | White Plains | 60,666 | 7,508 | 12.4% |
| 35 | Woodbury | 11,334 | 1,388 | 12.2% |
| 36 | Ossining | 26,950 | 2,880 | 10.7% |
| 37 | Lockport | 20,610 | 2,138 | 10.4% |
| 38 | Endicott | 13,387 | 1,354 | 10.1% |
| 39 | Watervliet | 10,287 | 966 | 9.4% |
| 40 | New Hempstead | 5,472 | 513 | 9.4% |
| 41 | Beacon | 14,834 | 1,312 | 8.8% |
| 42 | Geneva | 12,512 | 1,083 | 8.7% |
| 43 | Washingtonville | 5,707 | 481 | 8.4% |
| 44 | Brockport | 7,277 | 599 | 8.2% |
| 45 | Chestnut Ridge | 10,557 | 855 | 8.1% |
| 46 | Rensselaer | 9,287 | 747 | 8.0% |
| 47 | Port Chester | 31,102 | 2,467 | 7.9% |
| 48 | Lynbrook | 20,325 | 1,563 | 7.7% |
| 49 | Port Jervis | 8,652 | 654 | 7.6% |
| 50 | Cohoes | 18,159 | 1,358 | 7.5% |
| 51 | Johnson City | 14,940 | 1,113 | 7.4% |
| 52 | Pelham | 7,305 | 538 | 7.4% |
| 53 | Wappingers Falls | 5,761 | 421 | 7.3% |
| 54 | Webster | 5,718 | 407 | 7.1% |
| 55 | Mount Kisco | 10,737 | 757 | 7.1% |
| 56 | New Paltz | 8,314 | 582 | 7.0% |
| 57 | Auburn | 26,285 | 1,736 | 6.6% |
| 58 | Patchogue | 12,396 | 810 | 6.5% |
| 59 | Ogdensburg | 9,455 | 611 | 6.5% |
| 60 | Albion | 5,506 | 348 | 6.3% |
| 61 | Oneonta | 15,045 | 859 | 5.7% |
| 62 | Canton | 7,167 | 400 | 5.6% |
| 63 | Geneseo | 7,701 | 420 | 5.5% |
| 64 | Ithaca | 32,814 | 1,773 | 5.4% |
| 65 | Amsterdam | 18,166 | 962 | 5.3% |
| 66 | Batavia | 15,097 | 778 | 5.2% |
| 67 | Kenmore | 15,044 | 767 | 5.1% |
| 68 | Tarr | 11,784 | 596 | 5.1% |
| 69 | Rockville Centre | 25,765 | 1,250 | 4.9% |
| 70 | Mamaroneck | 19,826 | 951 | 4.8% |
| 71 | Tuckahoe | 6,973 | 333 | 4.8% |
| 72 | Potsdam | 8,427 | 397 | 4.7% |
| 73 | Lindenhurst | 27,142 | 1,262 | 4.6% |
| 74 | Watertown | 24,375 | 1,106 | 4.5% |
| 75 | Colonie | 7,702 | 338 | 4.4% |
| 76 | Rome | 31,795 | 1,384 | 4.4% |
| 77 | Glen Cove | 28,112 | 1,212 | 4.3% |
| 78 | Newark | 8,991 | 381 | 4.2% |
| 79 | Malverne | 8,477 | 354 | 4.2% |
| 80 | Fredonia | 9,467 | 388 | 4.1% |
| 81 | Solvay | 6,544 | 256 | 3.9% |
| 82 | Jamestown | 28,188 | 1,094 | 3.9% |
| 83 | Dunkirk | 12,549 | 476 | 3.8% |
| 84 | Harrison | 29,961 | 1,135 | 3.8% |
| 85 | East Rockaway | 10,077 | 381 | 3.8% |
| 86 | Hornell | 8,152 | 291 | 3.6% |
| 87 | Glens Falls | 14,609 | 502 | 3.4% |
| 88 | Pelham Manor | 5,644 | 193 | 3.4% |
| 89 | Sleepy Hollow | 10,887 | 363 | 3.3% |
| 90 | Amityville | 9,588 | 314 | 3.3% |
| 91 | East Rochester | 6,218 | 202 | 3.2% |
| 92 | Plattsburgh | 19,830 | 634 | 3.2% |
| 93 | Airmont | 10,205 | 325 | 3.2% |
| 94 | North Syracuse | 6,693 | 213 | 3.2% |
| 95 | Olean | 13,738 | 416 | 3.0% |
| 96 | Great Neck | 11,087 | 329 | 3.0% |
| 97 | Cortland | 17,450 | 504 | 2.9% |
| 98 | Horseheads | 6,449 | 184 | 2.9% |
| 99 | Farmingdale | 8,474 | 240 | 2.8% |
| 100 | Long Beach | 34,756 | 902 | 2.6% |
Source: U.S. Census ACS 2020-2024. 162 cities with more than 5,000 residents.
Summary
Summary: Black Populations Across New York
If you’re looking for a breakdown of African American populations across New York according to the most recent data, this is an accurate list.
The blackest cities in New York are Mount Vernon, Hempstead, Rochester, Freeport, Buffalo, Poughkeepsie, Spring Valley, Valley Stream, Syracuse, and Albany. Not sold on New York? Take the two-minute Find Your Place quiz and see which state actually fits you.
