Within the streets of Columbia, there is a gap among people — a rift that some community leaders say needs urgent attention.
"Houston, we have a problem," said Reuutasha Belcher-Harris, the economic director for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in Columbia.
2023 data from the Columbia Community Trend Manual, released in 2025, shows the economic division between Black residents and other racial groups has gotten wider over the past five years. The manual lists information most recently available at the time of publication.
"I don't call it a gap at this point," Belcher-Harris said. "I call it a division."
The Data
Twelve percent of Columbia's population is Black. When it comes to median household income the group falls at the bottom among racial groups.
In 2023, the median household income for Black households was $44,600, compared to the overall median of $64,500. The median household income for Asian households is nearly $79,000, the highest earning group. That's a gap of more than $34,000.
The income gap between the lowest earning income group and highest earning income group has gotten wider over the past five years, increasing by $11,100 between 2019 and 2023.
The median household income of Black residents in Columbia is just about $5,000 above what's considered a livable wage for one adult with no children in the city.
The poverty rate among Black adults in Columbia is nearly double the rates for Missouri and the United States. While 36% of all Black adults are in poverty in Columbia, 18% of all Black adults across Missouri are in poverty, and 21% of all Black adults in the United States are in poverty.
While 13% of all children in Columbia are in poverty, 44% of them are Black.
The poverty levels for both Black children and adults are the highest among all racial groups in the city.
While the poverty rates for the white, Hispanic and Asian population have decreased over the past five years, the rate has increased for Black residents by 0.9%.
The Reaction
The Rev. Marcus Richardson with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference said he first noticed these disparities in the city's Community Trends Manual and brought them to the attention of the city council.
"I threw the question right back at them," Richardson said. "What are we going to do, right?"
Richardson has worked with the SCLC for over a decade and has advocated for the rights and well-being of Black people in Columbia along the way.
"You can see the kind of disparities going on," Richardson said. "I deal with the poverty levels."
Richardson pointed to economics as a driving force that affects other aspects of life.
"If my economics isn't right in the home, I can't get anything else right," Richardson said. "It affects your crime rates. It affects your health care. It affects your mental status or mental health."
Richardson was joined by Belcher-Harris, who echoed his sentiments and call to action.
"Hope is to me, a word when you're not certain," Belcher-Harris said. "I'm at a point where we are demanding change. We are demanding help. We are demanding understanding. We are demanding resources. We are demanding answers. We are demanding: Where do we go? Where do we go?"
Columbia City Council has been aware of the widening economic gap, but one council member said it's something that'll take time to fix.
"This is going to be an ongoing issue," said Nick Foster, a Fourth Ward council member. "It's going to be an ongoing challenge for a number of years."
Foster said he's glad Richardson and other members within the SCLC are getting the word out on the economic division.
"One of the biggest barriers we face is a lack of awareness about the realities that we face in the community," Foster said.
He said actionable solutions are not feasible right away and involve giving back.
"In some cases, it means that we're going to have to provide more resources for others in our community who've been disadvantaged previously," Foster said.
The SCLC, however, is ready to take action now.
"We will start with City Council," Belcher-Harris said. "We'll give them a deadline of 90 days for some type of plan. If it can't be done with what we're asking, then we'll just take it to the next step and head to Jeff City."
The People
Despite her age, Ka'Muria Johnson has already made some life-altering decisions.
Since college was too expensive for her, she made the jump to working a job right out of high school.
"I didn't come from a very rich background," Johnson said. "I live in low-income housing right now."
The 18-year-old spent her childhood in a single-parent home.
In attempt to move up the economic ladder, Johnson enlisted help from a local job training program, Job Point.
"I did my research and applied, Johnson said. "It was actually a quick process."
The program gives those enrolled in the curriculum an education and job training. They also provide internship opportunities.
For Johnson, her path was highway maintenance.
"Basically, we would dig holes out of the streets that needed to be repaired," Johnson said.
After the internship with the city of Columbia, Johnson graduated from the Job Point program. Now she is looking for jobs with the program's help.
While Job Point provides ways for people in Columbia to find jobs and move up the economic ladder, those within the SCLC say more needs to be done.
"We're going to speak up," Belcher-Harris said. "We're going to continue to speak up and do our part."
Foster said the Columbia City Council will release a separate report on the widening economic division between Black residents and other racial groups at a later date.
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