Black Mayors
The year 2017 marked the 50th anniversary of the election of the first black mayor of a big U.S city. In 1967, Carl Stokes was elected mayor of Cleveland and Richard Hatcher was elected mayor of Gary, IN. The following year Kenneth Gibson was elected mayor of Newark in 1970. Of the 100 largest cities in the country, 39 have had elected black mayors. In 2018, 57.1% of black mayors served in cities (over 40,000) that did not have a black majority population.
By 2018, that number has dropped to 40.6%. Perhaps the introduction and prevalence of the Black mayor has helped America become more comfortable with Black politicians in positions of major leadership. In 2018 there were about 32 Black Mayors of cities with populations of more than 40,000 according to our estimates (need confirmation).
Two of America’s newest cities are majority Black (89% or more) and located in Suburban Atlanta. They are made up of formerly unincorporated Black communities many of which are middle-class ho decided to take local control of their own fate from the county governments who governed them. The city of Stonecreast for example is 93% Black and has a median income above $60,000 annually.
Black Mayors of Cities with 40,000-plus Population
| Majority Black Cities | Mayor Name | % Black | City Population |
| Baltimore, MD | Bernard Young | 63.0% | 611,648 |
| Atlanta, GA | Keisha Lance Bottoms | 52.4% | 486,290 |
| Newark, NJ | Ras J. Baraka | 50.2% | 285,154 |
| Baton Rouge, LA | Sharon Weston Broome | 55.2% | 225,374 |
| Birmingham, AL | Randall L. Woodfin | 73.4% | 210,710 |
| Montgomery, AL | Steven Reed | 60.6 | 198,525 |
| Augusta, GA | Hardie Davis, Jr. | 56.7% | 196,899 |
| Shreveport, LA | Bernard Young | 56.3% | 192,036 |
| Jackson, MS | Chokwe Antar Lumumba | 85.6% | 166,965 |
| Miami Gardens, FL | Oliver G. Gilbert III | 73.3% | 113,750 |
| Flint, MI | Sheldon Neeley | 54.3% | 96,448 |
| South Fulton, GA | William “Bill” Edwards | 89.5% | 95,158 |
| Gary, IN | Jerome Prince | 84.8% | 80,294 |
| Albany, GA | Bo Dorough | 72.3% | 73,179 |
| Mt. Vernon, NY | Shawyn Patterson-Howard | 65.0% | 68,703 |
| East Orange, NJ | Ted R. Green | 88.6% | 64,270 |
| Irvington, NJ | Tony Vauss | 86.5% | 54,865 |
| Stonecrest, GA | Jason Lary, Sr. | 93.7% | 54,471 |
| DeSoto, TX | Curtistene Smith McCowan | 69.7% | 53,568 |
| Monroe, LA | James Mayo | 63.9% | 48,371 |
| Pine Bluff, AR | Shirley Washington | 76.6% | 42,984 |
Population figures from 2017-19 US Census
Black Mayors of non-Black Majority Cities
| Non-Majority Black Cities | Mayor Name | % Black | City Population |
| Chicago, IL | Lori Lightfoot | 17% | 2,705,988 |
| Dallas, TX | Eric Johnson | 24% | 1,343,573 |
| San Francisco, CA | London Breed | 5.2% | 881,549 |
| Charlotte, NC | Vi Alexander Lyles | 31.1% | 859,035 |
| Denver, CO | Michael Hancock | 9.4% | 727,211 |
| Washington, DC | Muriel Bowser | 48.3% | 693,972 |
| Stockton, CA | Michael Tubbs | 11.8% | 312,697 |
| St. Paul, MN | Melvin Carter | 15.7% | 306,621 |
| Plano, TX | Harry LaRosiliere | 8% | 286,143 |
| Buffalo, NY | Byron W. Brown | 37.3% | 258,612 |
| Norfolk, VA | Kenneth Alexander | 42.2% | 244,703 |
| Richmond, VA | Levar Stoney | 48.3% | 227,032 |
| Rochester, NY | Lovely Ann Warren | 40.9% | 208,046 |
| Little Rock, AR | Frank Scott Jr. | 23% | 197,868 |
| Tallahassee, FL | Andrew Gillum | 35.3% | 191,049 |
| Columbia, SC | Stephen K. Benjamin | 41.1% | 133,114 |
| Inglewood, CA | James T. Butts | 42.9% | 110,598 |
| Rialto, CA | Deborah Robertson | 12.2% | 103,526 |
| Compton, CA | Aja Brown | 31.1% | 97,612 |
| Youngstown, OH | Jamael Tito Brown | 43.7% | 64,604 |
Population figures from 2017 US Census