In St. Louis, according to a new study by Apartment List, the gap between the white homeownership rate and black households have increased. Per The Riverfront Times, in St. Louis the rate for black households is 33 percent which is substantially lower than the 71.1 percent of white households. In the last fifteen years, the gap increased by 0.4 percent.

Standing at 26.7 percent, St. Louis is the 12th largest gap in the nation's 50 largest metro areas which include Rochester, New York, Hartford, Connecticut, Pittsburgh and Buffalo, New York, which tops the list.

The data chart below even details how white homeowners are not the only ethnic group that has surpassed the black homeowners' rate in some cities:

The author of the census data urged that provisions be made to provide minorities with more opportunities to own homes in these areas.

"With these trends in mind, and with the country growing more diverse every day, it’s increasingly important to prioritize policies aimed at promoting homeownership among minority and low-income Americans to lessen inequality," the author wrote.

For example, an emphasis on increasing diversity and integration at the neighborhood level has been shown to benefit poor and minority households. There is also a strong need for increased construction of affordable entry-level homes across the country.

This troubling data shows that despite the country's diversity growth, there is a massive racial divide in major cities and states across the nation.