Connor supports DCFPI’s policy team with supplementary research, fact-checking, and statistical analysis using US Census Bureau American Community Survey and Bureau of Labor Statistics Current Population Survey data. Before joining DCFPI, Connor worked at the United Planning Organization, where he developed a passion for developing progressive solutions to the District’s most immediate crises, including racial inequities, affordable housing, and criminal justice reform. At DCFPI, he continues to utilize his skillset to support underserved communities across the District. Connor received his Bachelor of Science in Economics from George Washington University.
Fewer Black women are participating in DC’s labor force since 2024, meaning they are no longer working or actively looking for work, according to DC Fiscal Policy Institute (DCFPI) analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data.
The perennial conversation around affordability in DC stems not just from high prices, but also from household incomes that are insufficient to cover costs—a situation that is particularly acute for Black households.
By every measure, such as median income, poverty rate, and homeownership, older Black residents are significantly worse off than older white residents.
The revenue the District has collected for the Local Fund budget—primarily made up of income, sales, and property taxes—as a share of the economy has waned over time.
By broad measures, the District of Columbia’s economy has often looked strong, but those gauges miss massive differences in wellbeing by race and ethnicity that are chronic. While some residents have high-paying, high-powered jobs and extreme wealth, many other residents struggle to find employment or earn enough to afford DC’s high cost of living. And, in a jurisdiction that is majority people of color, Black and Latino residents have worse economic outcomes than white residents by every measure.
Between 2023 and 2024, DC’s child poverty rate increased by 11.2 percentage points to reach 28.1 percent, the largest year-to-year increase in the past decade
Income inequality and racial inequity persisted in 2024, according to new data from the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS), while the rate of poverty rose. DC once again tied with New York for the highest levels of income inequality in the nation except for Puerto Rico.
There is a continued need to improve nutritional options for residents in DOC facilities. Specifically, to dedicate funding for the full implementation of Section 32 of Secure DC, also known as “Fresh Starts,” in the FY 2026 budget.
Between 2021 and 2023, more than 30,000 District households did not have access to nutritious meals on a regular basis due to lack of adequate funds. Funding the “Give SNAP a Raise” Act would improve food security for 1 in 5 District residents.
An estimated 44.7 percent of District renters are “rent burdened,” meaning they pay more than 30 percent of their gross income to rent according to one-year estimates from the US Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS). Rent burden among renters of color in DC is even higher.
DC’s progress on alleviating child poverty stalled in 2023, according to the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS), and remains closely linked to race, place, and age due to systemic inequities stretching back before America’s founding.
