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Texas ranks No. 2 in nation for racial progress, according to annual study
With Martin Luther King Jr. Day approaching and racial tension continuing to grow around the country, WalletHub has revisited its annual report on racial progress — and Texas is doing well.
It scores second in the country behind Wyoming, a little jump up from 2017 when the Lone Star State was ranked No. 4.
This year, WalletHub increased its key indicators from 16 to 22. It looked at everything from median annual income to standardized test scores to voter turnout, all in an effort to measure the gaps between blacks and whites in the 50 states and the District of Columbia.
To get its second-place ranking, Texas scored high in three of the four main categories: education (No. 4), social and civic engagement (No. 7), and health (again No. 7). For the fourth category, employment and wealth, we still scored a respectable No. 14.
Texas also slid into the top five for racial integration, lowest poverty rate gap, and lowest voter turnout gap (for the 2016 presidential election). We tied for the lowest gap overall in the percentage of adults (age 25 and older) with at least a high school diploma.
Places that need improvement include the standardized test gap (No. 14), change in the unemployment rate gap (No. 15), and change in the labor-force participation rate gap (No. 30).