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Still Large, but Narrowing: The Sizable Decline in Racial Neighborhood Inequality in Metropolitan America, 1980–2010

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  • Glenn Firebaugh

    (The Pennsylvania State University)

  • Chad R. Farrell

    (University of Alaska–Anchorage)

Abstract

Although residential segregation is known to have declined for some racial groups in America, much less is known about change in the relative socioeconomic quality of the neighborhoods where different racial and ethnic groups live. Using census data for 1980–2010, we find that the neighborhoods where whites and minorities reside have become more alike in terms of neighborhood poverty and median income, largely because whites now live in poorer neighborhoods and because African Americans live in less-poor neighborhoods. The narrowing of black-white neighborhood inequality since 1980 has been sizable, far exceeding the narrowing of Hispanic-white neighborhood inequality; nonetheless, despite blacks’ relative gains, the disparity in black-white neighborhood economic conditions remains very large. Asian Americans, on the other hand, now reside in neighborhoods that are economically similar to the neighborhoods where whites reside. Regression analyses reveal that racial neighborhood inequality declined the most in U.S. metropolitan areas where racial residential segregation declined the most.

Suggested Citation

  • Glenn Firebaugh & Chad R. Farrell, 2016. "Still Large, but Narrowing: The Sizable Decline in Racial Neighborhood Inequality in Metropolitan America, 1980–2010," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 53(1), pages 139-164, February.
  • Handle: RePEc:spr:demogr:v:53:y:2016:i:1:d:10.1007_s13524-015-0447-5
    DOI: 10.1007/s13524-015-0447-5
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    4. Meyer, Oanh L. & Besser, Lilah & Mitsova, Diana & Booker, Michaela & Luu, Elaine & Tobias, Michele & Farias, Sarah Tomaszewski & Mungas, Dan & DeCarli, Charles & Whitmer, Rachel A., 2021. "Neighborhood racial/ethnic segregation and cognitive decline in older adults," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 284(C).
    5. Robert J Sampson, 2019. "Neighbourhood effects and beyond: Explaining the paradoxes of inequality in the changing American metropolis," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 56(1), pages 3-32, January.
    6. Paul E. Carrillo & Jonathan L. Rothbaum, 2022. "Counterfactual dissimilarity: Can changes in demographics and income explain increased racial integration in US cities?," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 62(1), pages 21-56, January.
    7. Erin York Cornwell & Matthew Hall, 2017. "Neighborhood Problems across the Rural-Urban Continuum: Geographic Trends and Racial and Ethnic Disparities," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 672(1), pages 238-256, July.
    8. Samantha Friedman & Recai M. Yucel & Colleen E. Wynn & Joseph R. Gibbons, 2019. "Muslim–Non-Muslim Locational Attainment in Philadelphia: A New Fault Line in Residential Inequality?," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 56(4), pages 1327-1348, August.
    9. Ying Huang & Scott J. South & Amy Spring & Kyle Crowder, 2021. "Life-Course Exposure to Neighborhood Poverty and Migration Between Poor and Non-poor Neighborhoods," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 40(3), pages 401-429, June.
    10. Ying Huang & Scott J. South & Amy Spring, 2017. "Racial Differences in Neighborhood Attainment: The Contributions of Interneighborhood Migration and In Situ Change," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 54(5), pages 1819-1843, October.

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