Diversity in the Creative Occupations Of Greater Milwaukee:

A Labor Market Analysis

Marc V. Levine University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Center for Economic Development

September 2019

Report Prepared for Greater Together

2

Introduction Milwaukee has been, for decades, one of the most segregated metropolitan areas in

the United States, a place where racial inequality is entrenched and pervasive. These

disparities are particularly pronounced in the region’s labor market, where racial gaps in

employment, earnings, and mobility are among the widest in the nation.1

This study, prepared for the Greater Together “designing diversity” initiative,

presents the first systematic overview of racial disparities in a part of Milwaukee’s labor

market that has attracted increased attention in recent years: occupations in the “creative

sector.” After developing a working definition of creative sector occupations, we

examine three key questions. First, is employment in creative sector occupations in metro

Milwaukee marked by racial disparities and, if so, how wide are those gaps? Specifically,

are African Americans and Latinos underrepresented in Milwaukee’s creative

occupations, compared to their percentage of the overall metro area labor force? Second,

are there differences in the level of racial disparity found in different sub-sectors of

creative sector jobs? For example, are persons of color in Milwaukee more or less likely

to be underrepresented in jobs as, say, musicians or photographers, as opposed to, say,

artists or designers? Finally, the study puts Milwaukee in national perspective. We

compare the levels of racial disparity in selected creative occupations in the nation’s 50

largest metropolitan areas, including Milwaukee, by presenting an “index of

concentration” that measures the extent to which a given racial group is

“underrepresented” or “overrepresented” in a particular occupation, in relation to their

share of the metro area’s labor force. As we shall see, although racial disparities in

creative occupations are quite evident in Milwaukee, these gaps are not especially out of

line with trends in metro areas across the country. Racial disparities in creative sector

employment are indeed a common challenge in metropolitan areas across the United

States.

Before presenting our findings, a few definitional and methodological points are in

order. Although the terms “creative industries” and “creative class” have come into

common usage in recent years, there is no hard and fast definition of what occupations

constitute “creative sector” jobs (unlike, say, manufacturing, where the U.S. Bureau of

Labor Statistics (BLS) has a precise menu of occupations in the sector). Clearly, popular

3

but heavily criticized concepts such as Richard Florida’s “creative class,” which includes

so many dissimilar occupations that it totals over one-third of the U.S. labor force, are

analytically flawed.2 For this study, we have gathered data on jobs in the BLS “standard

occupational classification (SOC)” category of “arts, design, entertainment, sports, and

media occupations” (ADESM) as the closest approximation to genuinely “creative

occupations.” (See appendix for list of the occupations in this SOC). Although this

category does not encompass all jobs that could be deemed creative, and it also includes

several that seem conceptually dissimilar (e.g. “media workers,” “coaches” and

“choreographers;” “public relations specialists” and “musicians,” etc.), it is nonetheless

the best data available with which to analyze employment trends in creative occupations

in metro areas. U.S. Bureau of the Census data on employment in this occupational

category, broken down by race and ethnicity, is available on an annual basis through the

American Community Survey (ACS), and it is this data that we have used in this study.

We must also be sensitive to the limitations of the data. The ACS, like all surveys,

contains error margins. Consequently, in some metro areas with relatively small numbers

of minorities employed in the ADESM occupational category (and thus small survey

samples), there are quite large margins of error in the census estimate. In addition, when

we look at employment in some of the “sub-sector” occupations that are components of

the “arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media” sector, the error margins on the

employment estimates for blacks and Latinos are often exceptionally high – especially in

cities in which employment in those occupations is quite small. We have, therefore,

limited the analysis of sub-sectors to those with the highest employment totals and thus

more modest margins of error. Nevertheless, although this study uses the best data

available on race, ethnicity, and occupation in metro areas, in light of these substantial

margins of error, the analysis presented here must be read with caution, and conclusions

should be drawn with appropriate care.

Moreover, to further complicate matters, although our data for ADESM jobs by racial

groups is updated through 2017 (the most recent available), the only available data

breaking down employment by race in the narrower sub-sector occupations is from

2010.3 Although the 2010 data offer us a sense of the racial and ethnic disparities in the

distribution of jobs in these sub-sectors, we must be attentive to the likelihood that

4

patterns in race and occupation have changed, at least somewhat, in many metropolitan

areas over the past decade, especially in light in the demographic growth of the Latino

community in numerous metropolitan areas.4

With these caveats in mind, we now turn to the data on racial and ethnic diversity in

creative occupations in Milwaukee and the nation’s largest metropolitan areas.

Racial Disparities in Creative Occupations: Milwaukee

Tables 1 and 2 present the basic descriptive data on trends in the racial and ethnic

composition of employment in the “arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media”

occupations in metro Milwaukee over the past decade. In these tables, we have

aggregated the annual ACS employment estimates, which have substantial margins of

error, into pooled, three-year samples, which reduces the error margins. As the tables

illustrate, there has been a steady growth of diversity in Milwaukee’s labor market, both

in overall employment as well as in the creative occupations. The percentage of all jobs

in the metro area held by white non-Hispanic workers (WNH) fell from 77.9 percent in

2006-08, to 72.6 percent in 2015-17; similarly, the percentage of ADESM jobs held by

WNH workers declined from 87.1 to 84.0 percent over the past decade. Still, the raw

numbers of blacks and Latinos employed in creative occupations in Milwaukee,

measured by the ADESM sector, remains small: fewer that 2,000 (out of total metro area

employment in the sector of over 15,000).

Moreover, as Chart 1 illustrates, the racial composition of the creative sector in

Milwaukee remains considerably less diverse than the metropolitan area’s overall labor

market. For example, black workers represented 12.8 percent of the region’s workforce in

Table 1:

Employment by Race and Ethnicity in Metro Milwaukee: 2008-2017 Estimated total employment in All Occupations and in Arts, Design,

Entertainment, Sports, and Media

Year Black All Empl

Latino All Empl

WNH All Empl

Black ADESM

Latino ADESM

WNH ADESM

2006-2008 89,920 53.480 604,433 818 544 12,716 2009-2011 87,501 56,610 577,652 688 497 12,468 2012-2014 91,416 66,197 577,959 1,000 656 12,971 2015-2017 101, 443 73,658 574,822 916 995 13,294

5

Table 2:

Racial and Ethnic Breakdown of Employment in Metro Milwaukee: 2008-2017 % in All Occupations and in Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media5

Year Black %

All Occs Latino % All Occs

WNH % All Occs

Black % ADESM

Latino % ADESM

WNH% ADESM

2006-2008 11.6 6.9 77.9 5.6 3.7 87.1 2009-2011 11.6 7.5 76.9 5.0 3.6 90.9 2012-2014 11.9 8.6 75.0 6.6 4.3 85.8 2015-2017 12.8 9.3 72.6 5.8 6.3 84.0

2017; by contrast, only 5.8 percent of workers in the ADESM jobs were African-

American. One way in which economists gauge the level of diversity in a labor market is

to calculate an “index of concentration,” which measures the degree to which a group is

employed in a particular occupation at a percentage greater than, or less than, their

percentage of total employment. For example, in a stylized case, if black workers make

up, say, 25 percent of a city’s labor force, but hold 50 percent of the city’s manufacturing

jobs, we would calculate the “index of concentration” for blacks in manufacturing as 200

percent (50/25). For any occupation, then, an index of 100 means that the group is

employed roughly in proportion to their presence in the overall labor market; an index

below 100 means that the group is “underrepresented” in the occupation; and an index

over 100 means that the group is concentrated, in relation to its weight in the overall

labor force, in a given occupation. As Chart 2 shows, for black and Latino workers in

Milwaukee, the “index of concentration” for the creative sector remains well below 100;

blacks, in particular, hold jobs in the “arts, design, entertainment, sports and media”

sector at less than half their share of overall metro area employment. Latinos hold

creative sector jobs at roughly two-thirds their proportion of overall employment. By

contrast, WNH workers are “overrepresented” by almost 16 percent in creative

occupations.

These disparities can be viewed at a somewhat more granular level by examining the

racial composition of employment in sub-sectors of the ADESM occupational category.

The data are arrayed in Tables 3-4 and Charts 3-9. We caution again that the most recent

6

data for these smaller occupational categories is from 2006-10, so they are less up-to-date

than the data for the broader ADESM category, which is for 2017. And, as noted earlier,

Chart 1:

Chart 2:

5.8 6.3

84.1

12.89.3

72.6

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

Black Hispanic White

Racial Composition in Creative OccupationsCompared to Racial Breakdown of

Total Workforce in Milwaukee: 2017

Art, Design, Entertainment, Sports, Media All Workers

45.3

67.7

115.8

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

Black Hispanic White not Hispanic

Index of Concentration in Creative Occupations:Milwaukee, 2017

7

in some cases, these occupational categories are estimated to contain very small numbers

of workers. For example, in several occupations -- such as actors, dancers, entertainers,

and television/video/motion picture operators—the estimates from the EEOC survey

reveal such a low number of employees in Milwaukee (especially for racial minorities)

that the margin of error renders meaningless, for all intents and purposes, the

employment number reported, and we have omitted those. Nevertheless, viewed with

proper caution, these data give us a somewhat more granular breakdown of the racial and

ethnic composition of employment in Milwaukee’s creative sector.

Table 3:

Employment by Race and Ethnicity in Selected Creative Occupations in Metro Milwaukee: 2006-2010

Occupation Black Latino WNH %Black %Latino %WNH

Artists and related 20 35 995 1.8% 3.1% 87.3% Designers 115 265 4,415 2.4% 5.5% 90.6% Producers/Directors 35 40 425 6.9% 8.0% 84.2% Athletes, coaches and related 115 44 1,075 9.1% 3.5% 85.0% Musicians 60 35 720 7.3% 4.2% 87.8% Public relations specialists 115 30 560 16.1% 4.2% 78.3% Editors 10 15 660 1.5% 2.2% 95.5% Writers and Authors 60 10 900 6.1% 1.0% 90.9% Broadcast Engineers 50 30 310 12.8% 7.7% 79.5% Photographers 10 45 770 1.2% 5.4% 91.1%

Table 4: Index of Concentration by Race and Ethnicity in Selected

Creative Occupations in Metro Milwaukee: 2006-2010

Occupation

Black Latino WNH

Artists and related 16.2 43.7 112.1 Designers 21.6 77.5 116.3 Producers/Directors 62.2 112.7 108.1 Athletes, coaches and related 82.0 49.3 109.1 Musicians 65.8 59.2 112.7 Public relations specialists 145.1 22.5 105.7 Editors 13.5 31.0 124.6 Writers and Authors 56.0 14.1 116.7 Broadcast Engineers 115.3 108.5 102.1 Photographers 10.8 76.1 116.9

8

Unsurprisingly, these tables and charts provide, for the most part, further evidence of

racial disparities in greater Milwaukee’s creative occupations. In every sub-sector of the

“arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media” occupational group, non-Hispanic whites

hold a disproportionately greater share of jobs than their percentage of the overall

Milwaukee labor force (see Table 4); in most sub-sectors, by that same measure, blacks

and Latinos are significantly underrepresented. In an extreme case, only 1.2 percent of

Milwaukee photographers in 2006-10 were African American, although blacks

represented 11.1 percent of the metro area’s total employment (see Chart 10). Only 1.0

percent of Milwaukee’s writers and authors were Latino, although Hispanics represented

7.1 percent of the region’s overall employment (see Chart 8). Blacks were almost five

times less likely to be employed as designers in Milwaukee than would be predicted by

the percentage of blacks in the region’s total labor force (see Chart 4).

There are some creative occupations in Milwaukee in which levels of racial diversity

apparently approach or even exceed levels in the total labor force. Black employees made

up 16.1 percent of public relations specialists in Milwaukee in 2006-10, compared to 11.1

percent of total employment in the region, with an index of concentration of 145.1 (see

Table 4 and Chart 7). In the occupational category of “broadcast and sound engineering

technicians and radio operators, and media and communication equipment workers”

(broadcast engineers, for short), all groups studied here (black, Hispanic, and WNH) hold

about the same share of jobs in the sector as they do in the overall labor market,

indicating significant racial and ethnic diversity (see Chart 9). On the whole, however,

these occupations are the exception rather than the rule. Racial and ethnic minorities in

Milwaukee are far from having a firm foothold in the metro area’s creative industries.

9

Chart 3:

Chart 4:

1.8 3.1

87.3

11.17.1

77.9

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Black Latino White

Racial Composition of ArtistsCompared to Racial Breakdownof Total Workforce in Milwaukee

Artists All Workers

2.4 5.5

90.6

11.17.1

77.9

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Black Latino White

Racial Composition of DesignersCompared to Racial Breakdownof Total Workforce in Milwaukee

Designers All Workers

10

Chart 5:

Chart 6:

6.9 8.0

84.2

11.17.1

77.9

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

Black Latino White

Racial Composition of Producers and Directors Compared to Racial Breakdownof Total Workforce in Milwaukee

Producers and Directors All Workers

7.3 4.2

87.8

11.1 7.1

77.9

0102030405060708090

100

Black Latino White

Racial Composition of MusiciansCompared to Racial Breakdownof Total Workforce in Milwaukee

Musicians All Workers

11

Chart 7:

Chart 8:

16.1

4.2

78.3

11.17.1

77.9

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

Black Latino White

Racial Composition of Public Relations SpecialistsCompared to Racial Breakdownof Total Workforce in Milwaukee

Public relations specialists All Workers

6.11.0

90.9

11.1 7.1

77.9

0102030405060708090

100

Black Latino White

Racial Composition of Writer and AuthorsCompared to Racial Breakdownof Total Workforce in Milwaukee

Writers and authors All Workers

12

Chart 9:

Chart 10:

12.87.7

79.5

11.17.1

77.9

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

Black Latino White

Racial Composition of Broadcast EngineersCompared to Racial Breakdown of

Total Workforce in Milwaukee

Broadcast Engineers All Workers

1.25.4

91.1

11.17.1

77.9

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Black Latino White

Racial Composition of PhotographersCompared to Racial Breakdown of

Total Workforce in Milwaukee

Photographers All Workers

13

Racial Diversity in Creative Occupations: Milwaukee in Comparative Perspective

As we have seen, for the most part, blacks and Latinos are generally underrepresented

in Milwaukee’s creative occupations in relation to their presence in the larger regional

labor market. How do Milwaukee’s racial disparities in creative occupations stack up

against other metropolitan areas? How much better, or worse, is Milwaukee than other

metros when it comes to racial diversity in creative occupations?

To gauge which metro areas exhibit greater or lesser diversity in their creative

occupations, we have calculated an “index of concentration” in the ADESM sector for

each racial group in the nation’s largest metropolitan areas. As we have noted, an index

of concentration shows the degree to which a group is employed in a particular

occupation at a percentage greater than, or less than, their percentage of total

employment. For any group, an index under 100 reveals a presence in an occupation less

than the group’s proportion of the region’s overall employment; an index over 100

indicates a concentration of a group in a particular occupation. When comparing metro

areas, all things equal, the higher the index of concentration for blacks and Latinos, the

greater the diversity in the creative sector; the higher the index of non-Hispanic whites,

the less the diversity. (There are some caveats to this we will discuss shortly).

Charts 10-12 display the index of concentration in the “arts, design, entertainment,

sports, and media” occupational group for blacks, Latinos, and non-Hispanic whites

(WNH) in the nation’s 50 largest metropolitan areas.6 The charts show that limited

diversity in creative occupations is a national challenge. In 44 of the nation’s 50 largest

metro areas, the index of concentration for black workers in creative occupations is below

100 (see Chart 10); in 47 of the 50 largest metros, the index for Latino workers is under

100 (see Chart 11). Conversely, in every single one of the 50 largest metropolitan areas,

the index of concentration in creative occupations for WNH workers is over 100. In short,

virtually everywhere in the United States, the creative occupations do not reflect the level

of diversity in the community’s overall employment.

When we compare diversity levels in “creative” Milwaukee to those in other metros,

the results are mixed. In Milwaukee, the index of concentration in ADESM jobs for black

workers ranks 40th among the nation’s 50 largest metros; for Latinos Milwaukee, the rank

14

Chart 10:

31.5

33.5

40.5

45.0

45.9

47.1

47.3

48.1

52.2

52.7

52.8

53.1

54.5

55.9

56.0

56.6

57.3

58.3

59.0

59.4

60.0

60.3

60.5

61.0

63.6

64.2

65.7

65.9

68.5

68.7

69.6

69.7

73.5

73.7

74.4

78.4

80.4

82.5

84.2

85.2

89.5

92.2

96.3

103.2

111.5

115.1

123.9

145.8

145.9

0.0 20.0 40.0 60.0 80.0 100.0 120.0 140.0 160.0

Seattle

Buffalo

Oklahoma City

Cincinnati

Kansas City

Miami

Columbus

New York

Austin

Nashvi lle

Milwaukee

Raleigh

Tampa

Richmond

Cleveland

Detroit

Orlando

Washngton

Birmingham

New Orleans

Pittsburgh

Denver

Indianapolis

Baltimore

Boston

Atlanta

Memphis

Minneapol is

Chicago

Louisville

Virginia Beach

Philadelphia

Hartford

Charlotte

Portland

Houston

San Francisco

St. Louis

Jacksonville

Phoenix

Los Angeles

Dallas

Sacramento

Providence

San Diego

Las Vegas

Riverside

San Antonio

San Jose

Black Workers in Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, & Media:

Index of Concentration

15

Chart 11:

15.3

37.4

41.4

41.5

42.7

43.1

43.7

44.1

46.4

47.5

48.8

49.0

50.6

50.8

50.8

51.0

51.6

52.1

52.8

55.2

55.6

56.0

56.1

58.0

58.4

59.7

60.7

61.8

63.2

64.6

66.1

67.4

67.7

71.0

74.5

75.5

76.3

76.6

79.1

79.3

80.8

85.8

87.8

89.9

163.1

189.4

197.1

0.0 50.0 100.0 150.0 200.0 250.0

Raleigh

Virginia Beach

Los Angeles

Las Vegas

Chicago

Cleveland

Columbus

Oklahoma City

Kansas City

San Francisco

Richmond

Dallas

Jacksonville

San Diego

Portland

Washngton

Austin

New York

Philadelphia

Nashvi lle

San Jose

Orlando

Boston

Phoenix

Denver

Baltimore

Sal t Lake City

Riverside

Houston

Louisville

Tampa

San Antonio

Sacramento

Milwaukee

Providence

Seattle

Charlotte

Minneapol is

New Orleans

Hartford

Detroit

St. Louis

Atlanta

Miami

Cincinnati

Indianapolis

Pittsburgh

Latino Workers in Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, & Media:

Index of Concentration

16

Chart 12:

101.7

102.4

104.7

105.0

106.3

107.5

107.8

108.1

110.2

110.6

111.5

112.1

112.5

112.7

113.6

113.7

114.6

115.4

115.5

116.2

116.3

116.9

117.7

118.1

119.0

122.0

122.1

124.2

124.8

124.9

127.1

128.3

128.4

130.1

130.2

131.4

131.8

132.3

134.9

135.9

140.2

144.2

146.5

148.0

148.1

148.8

154.0

155.0

157.3

194.8

0.0 50.0 100.0 150.0 200.0 250.0

Pittsburgh

Providence

St. Louis

Indianapolis

Minneapol is

Cincinnati

Buffalo

Portland

Hartford

Louisville

Cleveland

Milwaukee

Jacksonville

Columbus

Boston

Detroit

Kansas City

Sal t Lake City

Charlotte

Birmingham

Oklahoma City

Philadelphia

Nashvi lle

Seattle

Denver

Tampa

Baltimore

Phoenix

Richmond

Virginia Beach

Sacramento

New Orleans

Atlanta

Austin

Chicago

Raleigh

San Jose

Dallas

Orlando

San Diego

Memphis

New York

Washngton

Las Vegas

San Antonio

Houston

San Francisco

Riverside

Miami

Los Angeles

White (Not Hispanic) Workers in Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, & Media:

Index of Concentration

17

is 14th. This is misleading: it is more an indicator of the very weak presence of Latinos in

creative occupations in other metros rather than a sign that Latinos have secured a

significant presence in creative occupations in Milwaukee; as Chart 11 shows, the Latino

index of concentration in ADESM jobs in Milwaukee is only 71. Finally, for WNH

workers, Milwaukee’s index of concentration in ADESM occupations ranks 39th among

the nation’s 50 largest metropolitan areas.

Although these comparative “indexes of concentration” are suggestive, any

conclusions regarding their meaning about diversity in creative occupations should be

drawn tentatively and carefully. Take, for example, the case of Los Angeles. As Chart 12

shows, the WNH index of concentration for Los Angeles is almost 200, which would

imply strong white “overrepresentation” in creative industries (and commensurate

underrepresentation of blacks and Latinos). Yet, looked at from a different optic, because

Los Angeles is one of the “creative” capitals of the United States, it is a magnet for

workers of all races and ethnicities in the arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media

occupations. Six percent of all black workers in ADESM jobs in the United States work

in Los Angeles; only New York employs more blacks in these occupations. 15% of all

Latino ADESM employees in the U.S. work in Los Angeles, far and away the largest

percentage in the country. In short, the clustering of creative workers in just a few big

metros like Los Angeles distorts somewhat the utility of the index of concentration as a

measure of comparative diversity. 43 percent of all Latino ADESM employees in the

U.S. work in just six metro areas (Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York,

and Riverside). 37% of all black ADESM employees in the country also work in just six

metros (Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York, and Washington, D.C.). In

these metro areas, even as blacks and Latinos make up a lower percentage of employees

in creative jobs than their share of overall metro area employment, there is a level of

diversity missing from cities like Milwaukee, with a much smaller “creative sector” that

does not function as a magnet drawing creative workers of all races and ethnicities from

across the country.7

Finally, Charts 13-19 array the index of concentration for selected sub-sectors of the

ADESM occupational category. We have presented the index only for the WNH group

because, in most metropolitan areas, the error margins for racial minority employment

18

estimates in these sub-sectors are too high for confidence in the accuracy of the numbers.

Nevertheless, albeit limited to non-Hispanic whites, the charts reveal the limited racial

diversity in creative occupations across the nation. In virtually all of these occupations, in

the vast majority of the nation’s largest metropolitan areas, the WNH index is above 100,

indicating a higher proportion of WNHs in the particular creative occupation than the

WNH share of overall employment. By simple arithmetic, therefore, we can infer that

workers of color are “underrepresented” in these occupations in relation to their share of

overall employment. These comparative data do not suggest that Milwaukee is among the

metros in the country with the least diversity in its creative occupations, although, as

noted above, that conclusion must be tempered by the confounding issue of geographic

clustering, which can distort indexes of concentration (see endnote 7 below). And in the

last analysis, even if Milwaukee may not be among the “least” racially diverse

metropolises in these creative jobs, that is small consolation when virtually all

metropolitan areas –Milwaukee included—manifest limited diversity in their creative

occupations.

19

Chart 13:

185.6

169.0

168.5

162.6

161.5

158.8

152.8

150.1

149.7

146.9

145.7

145.5

142.4

141.8

140.9

138.9

136.7

136.5

133.8

132.5

132.1

129.8

127.9

126.6

125.9

125.4

125.2

124.0

123.0

122.5

121.3

121.3

119.5

118.0

117.6

116.1

115.0

115.0

113.6

113.3

113.3

112.9

112.1

111.6

110.4

109.0

108.5

108.3

107.5

104.6

0.0 20.0 40.0 60.0 80.0 100.0 120.0 140.0 160.0 180.0 200.0

Los Angeles

Houston

San Jose

San Francisco

Miami

Memphis

San Antonio

Richmond

San Diego

Washngton

Riverside

New York

Las Vegas

Baltimore

Birmingham

Austin

Atlanta

Dallas

Sacramento

Phoenix

Chicago

Virginia Beach

Charlotte

Jacksonville

Raleigh

Philadelphia

New Orleans

Tampa

Seattle

Denver

Sal t Lake City

Nashvi lle

Detroit

Orlando

Oklahoma City

Indianapolis

Columbus

Kansas City

Minneapol is

Providence

Hartford

Boston

Milwaukee

Portland

Louisville

St. Louis

Buffalo

Cincinnati

Cleveland

Pittsburgh

Artists and Related Occupations:WNH Index of Concentration

20

Chart 14:

157.0151.2

145.4142.7

139.4139.2

134.9133.8133.7133.5

132.5130.6130.2

128.3127.6127.3126.9126.5

124.4123.7123.4122.7122.6121.7

120.7120.2119.5119.3118.8

117.6117.4117.3117.2116.3

114.9113.6113.2112.4112.3112.2

111.1110.9110.2109.7109.3108.4107.5107.3107.0106.3

0.0 20.0 40.0 60.0 80.0 100.0 120.0 140.0 160.0 180.0

MemphisLos Angeles

New OrleansAustin

San FranciscoHouston

DallasBirmingham

RichmondWashngton

MiamiRiverside

Virginia BeachAtlanta

CharlotteLas Vegas

ChicagoNew York

RaleighSan Diego

San JoseNashvi lle

BaltimoreOrlandoPhoenix

HartfordDetroit

PhiladelphiaDenver

ClevelandJacksonville

St. LouisOklahoma City

MilwaukeeIndianapolisKansas City

TampaColumbus

Sal t Lake CityLouisville

SacramentoBoston

Minneapol isSeattle

San AntonioPortland

CincinnatiProvidencePittsburgh

Buffalo

Designers:WNH Index of Concentration

21

Chart 15:

212.2

169.9

163.8

145.6

143.7

142.0

138.0

136.7

136.7

136.1

134.6

134.5

131.9

130.7

128.8

128.1

127.7

127.6

124.4

124.0

123.5

122.7

122.3

121.5

120.2

120.2

120.2

119.9

119.3

119.1

114.6

114.6

114.4

113.1

111.5

111.4

111.0

110.4

110.1

108.8

108.5

108.1

107.4

105.1

104.9

104.3

104.1

103.7

94.5

91.4

0.0 50.0 100.0 150.0 200.0 250.0

Los Angeles

Riverside

San Francisco

New York

Jacksonville

Raleigh

San Diego

Las Vegas

New Orleans

Dallas

Washngton

Austin

Birmingham

Baltimore

San Jose

Houston

Tampa

San Antonio

Sal t Lake City

Chicago

Orlando

Richmond

Memphis

Charlotte

Phoenix

Atlanta

Indianapolis

Denver

Oklahoma City

Seattle

Virginia Beach

Philadelphia

Columbus

Nashvi lle

St. Louis

Buffalo

Louisville

Minneapol is

Kansas City

Providence

Boston

Milwaukee

Portland

Detroit

Hartford

Pittsburgh

Miami

Cleveland

Sacramento

Cincinnati

Producers and Directors:WNH Index of Concentration

22

Chart 16:

181.5165.7

158.5156.2

148.8143.7

139.0135.5

128.1126.1126.0

120.3119.4119.0118.6117.9117.5117.0117.0116.6

115.6114.7

112.7112.7112.3111.7110.8110.7

109.1107.8107.3

105.6105.5105.1104.4104.4103.8103.8103.1102.5102.2101.3101.2101.1

100.098.5

97.297.196.2

95.0

0.0 20.0 40.0 60.0 80.0 100.0 120.0 140.0 160.0 180.0 200.0

San JoseLos AngelesSan Antonio

San FranciscoOrlando

JacksonvilleSan Diego

AustinMiami

New YorkDallas

SeattleHartford

CharlotteNashvi lle

RichmondHouston

Sal t Lake CityBirminghamSacramento

DenverLas Vegas

MilwaukeeChicago

WashngtonProvidence

MemphisTampa

LouisvilleRaleighBoston

IndianapolisSt. Louis

Oklahoma CityBuffalo

ColumbusRiverside

PittsburghNew OrleansMinneapol is

PhoenixClevelandCincinnati

Virginia BeachBaltimore

PhiladelphiaKansas City

AtlantaDetroit

Portland

Musicians:WNH Index of Concentration

23

Chart 17:

204.4

199.2

185.6

180.9

180.9

171.1

166.2

160.6

158.9

157.5

155.1

151.5

151.4

150.7

143.3

139.2

137.3

137.2

135.6

135.3

133.8

130.8

130.1

129.4

128.6

126.8

123.3

123.1

122.4

121.7

121.5

120.2

118.8

117.5

116.7

116.5

116.1

115.4

114.2

113.6

113.6

113.4

113.1

112.9

112.9

111.7

111.1

110.7

107.4

99.6

0.0 50.0 100.0 150.0 200.0 250.0

San Jose

San Antonio

Riverside

Los Angeles

Miami

San Francisco

Houston

San Diego

Las Vegas

Dallas

New York

Orlando

Washngton

Austin

New Orleans

Sacramento

Charlotte

Baltimore

Raleigh

Jacksonville

Chicago

Virginia Beach

Atlanta

Hartford

Phoenix

Denver

Oklahoma City

Philadelphia

Seattle

Tampa

Richmond

Cleveland

Columbus

Kansas City

Milwaukee

Louisville

Birmingham

Boston

Indianapolis

Memphis

Portland

Sal t Lake City

Detroit

St. Louis

Nashvi lleMinneapol is

Pittsburgh

Cincinnati

Buffalo

Providence

Writers and Authors:WNH Index of Concentration

24

Chart 18:

184.5172.3

168.8163.8

155.8150.3

144.4142.6

135.8134.9134.2

130.4128.0127.3126.4125.6125.3125.2

121.6118.9

116.7114.5113.4113.4112.9

111.3110.2109.5108.8108.2107.8

106.0104.5104.3

102.8102.3102.1

100.8100.697.196.8

94.694.394.293.3

89.982.0

80.577.5

56.1

0.0 20.0 40.0 60.0 80.0 100.0 120.0 140.0 160.0 180.0 200.0

Los AngelesMemphisSan Jose

San AntonioHouston

AustinSan DiegoRiversideCharlotte

New OrleansPhoenix

San FranciscoVirginia Beach

New YorkRichmondNashvi lle

DallasOrlandoChicago

SacramentoPortland

AtlantaHartford

Las VegasMinneapol is

Kansas CityColumbus

St. LouisSal t Lake City

PittsburghBoston

IndianapolisCincinnati

SeattleBaltimore

TampaMilwaukee

MiamiWashngton

PhiladelphiaProvidence

ClevelandLouisville

DenverDetroitBuffalo

Oklahoma CityJacksonvilleBirmingham

Raleigh

Broadcast Engineers:WNH Index of Concentration

25

Chart 19:

177.3172.3

159.8157.3

146.7142.8

141.2138.5138.4

137.3134.5134.5

132.9132.2131.7

130.1129.7129.7

127.3127.3

123.6121.3121.0120.1119.2118.5118.2117.4117.1116.9116.9

115.9114.4

113.3112.8112.7112.4111.9111.8111.4110.6110.4

109.3109.0108.2

107.0106.0105.9

103.7101.6

0.0 20.0 40.0 60.0 80.0 100.0 120.0 140.0 160.0 180.0 200.0

San JoseLos Angeles

San FranciscoSan Antonio

MiamiWashngton

HoustonAustin

PhoenixBirmingham

New OrleansDallas

AtlantaNew York

OrlandoSan Diego

ChicagoRiverside

Oklahoma CityTampa

Kansas CityCharlotte

IndianapolisMemphisBaltimore

Sal t Lake CityVirginia Beach

HartfordBuffalo

Las VegasMilwaukee

DenverProvidence

LouisvilleCleveland

PhiladelphiaColumbusNashvi lle

RaleighBoston

PortlandRichmond

Minneapol isSacramento

DetroitSeattle

JacksonvilleSt. Louis

PittsburghCincinnati

Photographers:WNH Index of Concentration

26

Segregation and Diversity in Metro Area Creative Occupations This study has presented descriptive data on racial disparities in creative occupations

in Milwaukee and the nation’s 50 largest metropolitan areas; we have not, however,

analyzed the causes of these disparities. Although such a comprehensive causal analysis

is beyond the scope of this study, we have pulled together some preliminary data on

whether there appears to be a connection between levels of segregation in metropolitan

areas and the degree to which creative occupations in those metros exhibit racial

diversity. Social scientists generally gauge community segregation with a measure known

as the “dissimilarity index” (also called the “segregation rate”). Anything above 60 on the

index is considered high segregation (over 70 is very high); 40-60 is considered

moderately high; and below 40 is considered relatively low (there is only one metro area

in the U.S. – Las Vegas—with a segregation rate below 40). In Chart 20 below, we have

calculated the average “index of concentration” in ADESM jobs for black workers in

metro areas at various levels of segregation. The chart shows what appears to be a fairly

direct connection between segregation and creative sector diversity. In the most

segregated metropolitan areas in the U.S., with segregation rates above 70, the average

“index of concentration” for African Americans in creative occupations is 56.9. This

means that in high segregation metros, on average, blacks hold ADESM jobs at just over

half their proportion of overall metro area employment. By contrast, in metros with low-

to-moderate segregation rates (below 50), the average black “index of concentration” in

ADESM jobs is 98.8, meaning that in these lower segregation regions, blacks hold

creative sector jobs at about the same level as their share of overall metro area

employment.

This correlation does not prove, of course, that segregation is the primary cause of

racial disparities in creative occupations. Many other factors --such as education, cultural

traditions, or growth rates and opportunities in other local industries, to name just a

few—would require analysis as causal variables. But, extensive research has identified

reducing segregation as a crucial step to alleviating racial inequality in a wide range of

areas such student achievement, income inequality, concentrated poverty, and structural

joblessness. It is certainly plausible, in addition to ameliorating conditions in all those

crucial areas, that changing Milwaukee’s status as the nation’s most segregated

27

metropolitan area would also yield the additional benefit of expanding racial equity in the

region’s creative industries.

Chart 20:

Conclusion This study of racial disparities in the creative occupations of Milwaukee and the

nation’s largest metropolitan areas yields three main conclusions:

First, African American and Latino workers are underrepresented, in relation to their

presence in overall regional employment, in Greater Milwaukee’s creative occupations.

These disparities appear in both the larger occupational category of “arts, design,

entertainment, sports, and media” (ADESM), as well as in most of the occupations that

are components of the ADESM category.

Second, there are racial disparities in creative occupations in cities across the country.

In all of the nation’s 50 largest metropolitan areas, except for a handful of cases, blacks

and Latinos are underrepresented in creative occupations, while non-Hispanic whites

hold a disproportionate share of ADESM jobs, relative to their percentage of the overall

56.963.5

76.2

98.8

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

70+ 60-69 50-59 under 50

AVER

AGE C

OMPO

SITE

INDE

X RA

NK

SEGREGATION LEVEL

Segregation and "Diversity Index" Rank:African Americans in ADEMS Occupations

28

labor force. Milwaukee ranks particularly poorly among the largest metros in the degree

to which blacks hold ADESM jobs, but overall, Milwaukee’s racial disparities are more

or less in line with the national patterns. The problem, of course, is that racial minorities

are underrepresented in creative occupations almost everywhere.

Third, the data suggest a correlation exists between diversity in the creative sector of

a metropolitan area and racial segregation in the region. The more segregated a metro

area, the lower the likelihood that racial minorities are employed in creative occupations

proportionate to their percentage of the labor force. This preliminary finding suggests that

reducing residential segregation in Milwaukee, in addition to improving racial equity in

areas like income, employment, and schooling, may also help open more creative sector

occupations to minority workers.

In raw numbers, how much growth in African American and Latinx employment in

Milwaukee’s creative occupations would be necessary to eliminate racial disparities in

employment in those jobs? As Table 5 shows, based on 2015-17 pooled employment data

from the Census Bureau ACS survey, it would take an estimated increase of around 1,600

blacks and Latinx employed in Milwaukee’s ADESM occupations for the workforce in

those jobs to mirror the share of racial minorities in Milwaukee’s overall workforce. (See

endnote 8 on how we arrived at this estimate). In percentage terms, it would take an

estimated increase of 83 percent in minority employment in ADESM jobs for there to be

the same level of racial diversity found in the overall workforce.8

Table 5: Estimates of employment increases required to achieve racial

parity in creative occupations in Greater Milwaukee

All Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media Occupations (ADESM)

Group Current ADESM Employment

Parity ADESM Employment

Targeted Increase in ADESM Employment

Targeted Increase as % of Current Employment

Black 916 2,027 1,111 121.2% Latinx 995 1,473 478 48.0% Total 1,911 3,500 1,589 83.2%

29

Appendix

Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media Occupations (Major Group) This major group comprises the following occupations: Art Directors ; Craft Artists ; Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators ; Multimedia Artists and Animators ; Artists and Related Workers, All Other ; Commercial and Industrial Designers ; Fashion Designers ; Floral Designers ; Graphic Designers ; Interior Designers ; Merchandise Displayers and Window Trimmers ; Set and Exhibit Designers ; Designers, All Other ; Actors ; Producers and Directors ; Athletes and Sports Competitors ; Coaches and Scouts ; Umpires, Referees, and Other Sports Officials ; Dancers ; Choreographers ; Music Directors and Composers ; Musicians and Singers ; Entertainers and Performers, Sports and Related Workers, All Other ; Radio and Television Announcers ; Public Address System and Other Announcers; Broadcast News Analysts ; Reporters and Correspondents ; Public Relations Specialists ; Editors ; Technical Writers ; Writers and Authors ; Interpreters and Translators ; Media and Communication Workers, All Other ; Audio and Video Equipment Technicians ;Broadcast Technicians ; Radio Operators ; Sound Engineering Technicians ; Photographers ; Camera Operators, Television, Video, and Motion Picture ; Film and Video Editors ; Media and Communication Equipment Workers, All Other

30

Endnotes 1See, among others: Marc V. Levine, Race and Nonemployment in Urban America Since the 1970s (Milwaukee: UWM Center for Economic Development, forthcoming 2019); Marc V. Levine, Perspectives on the Current State of the Milwaukee Economy (Milwaukee: UWM Center for Economic Development, UWM Digital Commons, 2013). Access at: https://dc.uwm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1013&context=ced_pubs; Marc V. Levine, Race and Male Employment in the Wake of the Great Recession: Black Male Employment Rates in Milwaukee and Nation’s Largest Metro Areas, 2010 (Milwaukee: UWM Center for Economic Development, UWM Digital Commons, 2012). Access at: https://dc.uwm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1019&context=ced_pubs; Marc V. Levine, Latino Milwaukee: A Statistical Portrait (Milwaukee: UWM Center for Economic Development, UWM Digital Commons, 2016). Access at: https://dc.uwm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1004&context=ced_pubs; and Raj Chetty et al, “The Opportunity Atlas: Mapping the Childhood Roots of Social Mobility,” (Harvard University: Opportunity Insights, 2018). Accessed at: https://opportunityinsights.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/atlas_paper.pdf 2 Richard Florida, The Rise of the Creative Class (New York: Basic Books, 2002). Among the many critiques of Florida’s concept, see Alec MacGillis, “The Ruse of the Creative Class,” The American Prospect, December 18, 2009 (accessed at: http://prospect.org/article/ruse-creative-class-0); and Marc V. Levine, “La «classe créative» et la prosperité urbaine: mythes et réalités,” in R. Tremblay and D-G Tremblay (eds), La classe créative selon Richard Florida: Un paradigm urbain plausible? (Quebec: Les presses de l’Université du Québec, 2010), pp. 87-112. 3 This data is from the 2006-10 Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) survey, based on pooled, 5-year ACS data. The EEOC does not have a regularly scheduled released of a new survey of occupations by race and ethnicity for the nation’s metropolitan areas, and has provided no indication on when one might be forthcoming. 4See Levine, Latino Milwaukee, pp. 15-22; 112. 5The percentages for groups in this table –and others like it in this report—do not add up to 100 percent, as we have only included black, Hispanic, and non-Hispanic white workers; smaller groups, such as “Asian” or “Pacific Islander,” as well as small groups reporting multiple races or ethnicities, are not analyzed here. 6These data are drawn from the ACS 2017 one year estimates (as opposed to earlier tables for Milwaukee which pooled ACS estimates for 2015-17). This is why the index of concentration for various groups in Milwaukee are slightly different in these charts than the calculations reported earlier. 7Labor market analysts often use a measure called “location quotients” (LQ) to gauge the geographic concentration of particular industries or occupations. It is calculated by dividing the proportion of a region’s employment in an industry or occupation by the proportion of the nation’s employment in the same industry or occupation. Thus, if the percentage of a city’s employment in ADESM jobs were exactly the same as the percentage nationally, the LQ would be 1.0. In a city in which ADESM jobs were concentrated, the LQ would be above 1.0. In Los Angeles, the LQ for black workers in ADESM occupations is 2.83; for Latino workers, the LQ is 1.37; and for WNH workers it is 3.38. These LQs bespeak Los Angeles’ status as a hub of creative occupations, for all racial and ethnic groups (but especially for non-Hispanic whites). By contrast, the LQ for black workers in ADESM occupations in Milwaukee is 0.78; for Latino workers it is 1.09; and for WNH workers in creative occupations, it is 0.91 – all modest LQs that confirm Milwaukee’s peripheral place in the nation’s creative industries. 8As noted, these estimates are derived first by calculating current ADESM employment in metro Milwaukee, by race, from the U.S. Bureau of the Census, American Community Survey, pooled 2015-17

31

data. Then, we calculated how many blacks and Latinx would be employed in ADESM if they were employed at the same percentage as their share of metro area total employment. For example, in 2015-17, blacks constituted 5.8% of metro Milwaukee ADESM employment, compared to 12.8% of total employment. Thus, the parity ADESM number for blacks (2,027) is calculated as 12.8% of total ADESM employment (15,224). Similarly, in 2015-17 Latinx workers constituted 6.3% of Milwaukee’s ADESM employment, compared to 9.3% of total employment. Thus, the parity ADESM number for Latinx (1,473) is calculated as 9.3% of total ADESM employment (15,224). A note of caution: The parity targets for workers of color are calculated the basis of the most recent employment by occupation data (2015-17). If, for example, total ADESM employment is higher in 2019 and going forward (a likely possibility), then the parity target for Black and Latinx employment in those subsequent years would also be higher.