The Top 25 U.S. Cities Where Latinas Are Finding Financial Success

Race and gender bias are a reality for Latinas across the United States. While the wealth gap is widespread, some cities create a better environment for Latinas’ economic growth than others.

Using data from the U.S. Census Department’s American Community Survey, MoneyGeek conducted a study to identify locations that offer Latinas the most opportunities for financial success — as well as those that fall short.

Known for its quality of life, Gilbert, AZ ranked as the number one city for Latinas to thrive. According to Data USA, the Latino community is the second-largest ethnic group in this city, and Latinas represent 26.4% of Gilbert’s university graduates. With a high median income and decreasing poverty rates, it’s no surprise this booming city is an excellent place for Latinas to advance.

Close behind Gilbert is Washington, DC, where 92% of the Latina population counts with health insurance and access to public transportation.

Up next is Torrance, CA — Latinas in this medium-sized city have the highest adjusted income in the country. Common trends among the top-ranked cities include gainful employment and higher levels of education.

Unlike cities with high education rates and significant Latino populations, the places where Latinas struggle have lower income levels. In Grand Rapids, MI, the local Equal Pay Day for Latinas is 11/9/2021 — almost eight months after Torrance’s date of 3/25/2021.

Places like Worcester, MA, are in line with state-wide statistics. According to a report from the Gastón Institute, Massachusetts is the state with the most significant economic gaps between Latinos and non-Latino whites. Data also indicates that the cities where Latinas struggle most have lower education levels, higher cost of crime per capita and few Latino-owned businesses.

Latinas represent more than 12 million of the workers in the United States and contribute $4.2 billion to the country’s GDP. They are expected to make up one-third of the United States’ female population by 2060 but only make $0.55 for every dollar that a white male earns. This makes it increasingly difficult for Latinas to turn income into wealth and creates a retirement crisis for this group of women.

Job loss vulnerability, higher unemployment rates and significant wage gaps put Latinas in a precarious financial position. As the Economic Policy Institute points out, this is especially true for single parents who have less money in savings and spend more than 30% of their income on rent. And with limited financial literacy, many Latinas are unable to overcome their economic challenges.

Undocumented Latinas experience additional challenges — they tend to earn lower wages and face the constant threat of deportation. Their immigration status prevents them from participating in the banking system or using credit cards. With no access to healthcare, the burden of aging migrant parents often falls on their U.S.-born children and makes financial growth even more challenging for Latinos as a whole.

Lack of infrastructure, access to healthcare and a supportive financial foundation are some of the common challenges that affect Latina’s economic success. Our panel of experts shares valuable insights and their own perspectives on the subject.

As an underserved community, it’s important for Latinas to create more opportunities for themselves. The following tips can help Latinas leverage their resources and take a strategic approach toward their financial growth:

To rank the cities where Latinas are doing best financially, MoneyGeek analyzed data from the American Community Survey, MoneyGeek’s Safest Cities and Safest Small Cities and Towns studies and the Bureau of Economic Analysis. MoneyGeek started with over 600 places in America with populations of 65,000 or more. Places without granular data about Latinas or lacking other data points for the analysis were removed to get to the final set of 143 cities.

The ranking was based on eight factors: safety, Hispanic population, educational attainment, poverty rates, income, employment, health insurance and homeownership. Each factor was weighted equally. Each factor in the study was scaled to a score between 0 and 1. The factors were calculated as follows:

Safety (half weight): Safety was based on the per capita cost of crime calculated in MoneyGeek’s Safest Cities series. The cost of crime was logged to adjust the distribution.

Hispanic Population (full weight): Representing an available community of Hispanic individuals, communities with Hispanic populations either below 30,000 or representing less than 10% of the city’s population, the city was removed from the analysis.

Educational Attainment (double weight): This metric equally comprises two metrics.

• High School Diploma Gap (50%): The difference in percentage points of the rate of Hispanic high school diploma achievement compared to the national rate of white high school diploma achievement.

• Higher Education Diploma Gap (50%): The difference in percentage points of the rate of Hispanic bachelor degree or greater educational attainment compared to the national rate of white bachelor degree or greater educational attainment.

Poverty Rate (double weight): The percentage point difference of the city’s rate of Latinas earning at or above the poverty level and the rate of all other women living above the poverty level nationally.

Income (double weight): This factor equally comprises two metrics.

• Local Income Gap (25%): The ratio of Hispanic female median income as a percentage of the local median income of white males.
• National Income Gap (75%): The ratio of Hispanic female median income adjusted for purchasing power as a percentage of the national median income of white males.

Employment (full weight): The difference in percentage points between the Hispanic female employment rate and the white male employment rate in the locality.

Health Insurance (full weight): The difference in percentage points between the rate of Latinas ages 18–64 that have health insurance and the rate of health insurance for all other races nationally.

Latina Homeownership (double weight): This factor comprises three metrics.

• Local Owner-Occupied Gap (25%): The difference between the Hispanic household owner occupation rate and the owner occupation rate of all other races in the locality.
• National Owner-Occupied Gap (25%): The difference between the Hispanic household owner occupation rate in the locality and the owner occupation rate of all other races nationally.
• Latina Income to Home Value (50%): The ratio of Latina median income to local median home value.

Transportation (full weight): This factor is the percentage of workers that take public transportation.

Cost of Living (full weight): This factor adjusts for the cost of living in a city.

Hispanic Owned Business (full weight): The log-scaled percentage of businesses that are Hispanic-owned.

The data points presented are defined as follows:

• Rank: Rank in the overall analysis, with a lower rank indicating a higher overall score.
• Final Score: This is the weighted score incorporating the factors defined in the study Methodology.
• Hispanic or Latino Population: The size of the population identifying as Hispanic or Latino.
• Median Latina Adjusted Income: The median income for Latinas in the city adjusted for purchasing power.
• Cost of Crime per Capita: The societal costs of crime on a per capita basis as described in the Methodology.
• % Latinas Above Poverty Level: The percentage of the Latina female population at or above the poverty level.
• Local Latina's Equal Pay Day: Calculated as the percentage greater the median full-time white male income in the locality than the median full-time Latina income. It is assumed that the income ratio calculated is the same in 2020 as the 2019 data set shows.
• Latina Homeownership Score: This is the Latina Homeownership factor defined in the Methodology.