A new report from the Data Center is shedding disturbing light on income and wealth disparities in the New Orleans metro area, showing that on average white households have an astounding 13 times more net worth than their Black counterparts and nine times that of Latinx households.

The study, “Profile of Wealth in the New Orleans Metro,” is a first of its kind attempt to quantify wealth disparities within a local population, a key set of data the Center notes has long been unavailable to academics and policymakers.

The study is an outgrowth of the SEE CHANGE project the Center has undertaken with the Louisiana Urban League. In a press release on the report, the Center notes that while that initiative is aimed at reducing and ultimately eliminating the wealth gap between the races, “there was no local, disaggregated data on wealth to inform this effort. This is true, not only for New Orleans, but just about everywhere across the country as well.”

According to the study, the estimated median net worth of white households in the metro area is $185,000. All other racial groups are significantly lower: Black households median net worth stands at just $14,000 while Latinx households have median net worth of $21,000.