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What explains neighborhood sorting by income and race?

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  • Aliprantis, Dionissi
  • Carroll, Daniel R.
  • Young, Eric R.

Abstract

Why do Black households live in neighborhoods with much lower socioeconomic status (SES) than the neighborhoods of white households with similar incomes? The explanation is not wealth. High-income, high-wealth Black households live in neighborhoods with similar SES as low-income, low-wealth white households. Instead, we provide evidence that many Black households prefer low-SES neighborhoods with Black residents to high-SES neighborhoods without Black residents. The variety of neighborhood SES available in a metro’s Black neighborhoods, which is typically low, drives the neighborhood SES of Black households.

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  • Aliprantis, Dionissi & Carroll, Daniel R. & Young, Eric R., 2024. "What explains neighborhood sorting by income and race?," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:juecon:v:141:y:2024:i:c:s0094119022000845
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jue.2022.103508
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    Cited by:

    1. bunten, devin michelle & Fu, Ellen & Rolheiser, Lyndsey & Severen, Christopher, 2024. "The Problem Has Existed over Endless Years: Racialized Difference in Commuting, 1980–2019," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    2. Victoria Gregory & Julian Kozlowski & Hannah Rubinton, 2022. "The Impact of Racial Segregation on College Attainment in Spatial Equilibrium," Working Papers 2022-036, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, revised 27 Nov 2024.
    3. Dionissi Aliprantis & Hal Martin & Kristen Tauber, 2020. "What Determines the Success of Housing Mobility Programs?," Working Papers 20-36R, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, revised 19 Oct 2022.
    4. Dionissi Aliprantis & Daniel R. Carroll, 2019. "What Is Behind the Persistence of the Racial Wealth Gap?," Economic Commentary, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, issue February.
    5. Peter Christensen & Ignacio Sarmiento-Barbieri & Christopher Timmins, 2022. "Housing Discrimination and the Toxics Exposure Gap in the United States: Evidence from the Rental Market," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 104(4), pages 807-818, October.
    6. Alex W. Bartik & Evan Mast, 2021. "Black Suburbanization: Causes and Consequences of a Transformation of American Cities," Upjohn Working Papers 21-355, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
    7. Dionissi Aliprantis & Daniel R. Carroll & Eric Young, 2019. "The Dynamics of the Racial Wealth Gap," Working Papers 19-18R, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, revised 29 Nov 2022.
    8. Dionissi Aliprantis & Hal Martin, 2020. "Neighborhood Sorting Obscures Neighborhood Effects in the Opportunity Atlas," Working Papers 20-37, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Neighborhood; Income; Wealth; Race; Homophily;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J18 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Public Policy
    • R11 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Regional Economic Activity: Growth, Development, Environmental Issues, and Changes
    • R23 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Regional Migration; Regional Labor Markets; Population

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