Urban Indian America

No One Definitionj

It's difficult to accurately define "urban Indian" and hence many go under-represented in crucial data and statistics. This makes it difficult to understand the troubles they have and how services can be improved.

Demographics

In 2000, there were 4.3 million people who identified as American Indian and Alaska Native alone or in combination. 61% of these Native people did not reside on reservations or other native lands, up from 38% in 1970.

Mobile Population

Urban Indians exhibit higher rates of mobility than non-Natives. Among America's ten largest metropolitan centers, those with the highest number of Native people include; New York, Los Angeles, Phoenix and Chicago.

High Risk

Compared to the general population, urban Indians have: 38% higher rates of accidental deaths, 54% higher rates of diabetes, 126% higher rates of liver disease and cirrhosis, and 178% higher rates of alcohol-related deaths.

Infant Risks

Urban Indian women have considerably lower rates of prenatal care and higher rates of infant mortality than even their reservation counterparts within the same state.

High Poverty

The poverty rate of urban Indians is 20.3% compared to 12.7% for the general urban population. Unemployment is 1.7 times higher and urban Indians are 1.7 times less likely to have a high school diploma.

Housing Issues

Urban Indians are more likely to be homeless than non-Indians, homeownership rates are more than 15% lower, and homes they do occupy are 1.8 times as likely to lack basic services like plumbing.

High Rate of Abuse

Off-reservation Native children are involved in 5.7 child abuse and neglect cases per 1,000 children per year in comparison to a rate of 4.2 per 1,000 per year for the total U.S. population.