Racial Neighborhood Inequality in the United States, 1980-2010

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This research project will examine economic differences in the neighborhoods where whites, blacks, Hispanics, and Asians live in the U.S. Although it is commonly believed that blacks and Hispanics generally live in neighborhoods where poverty rates are higher than they are in the neighborhoods where whites and Asians live, very little research has tracked the change in racial disparities in neighborhood conditions over time. In prior research, this project's investigators found that racial differences in neighborhood economic conditions have diminished in the U.S. Since 1980 the decline in racial neighborhood inequality has been much faster than the decline in racial residential segregation. Because prior research on neighborhoods has focused on change in the residential segregation of different racial and ethnic groups, the trend in racial neighborhood inequality has been largely overlooked, and its causes are unknown. The objective of this project is to account for the decline in racial neighborhood inequality by investigating why it has declined faster in some metropolitan areas than in others. The investigators theorize that this largely-unnoticed decline in racial neighborhood inequality is attributable to the rising importance of income and the declining importance of race as factors influencing where people reside. This theory will be tested using census data for all U.S. metropolitan areas (comprising 80 percent of the total U.S. population) in 1980, 1990, 2000, and 2010.As a general rule, high-income neighborhoods have good schools, reliable social services, low crime rates, and green space. Low-income neighborhoods are characterized by the opposite. As a result, racial inequality at the neighborhood level likely serves as the wellspring for many other types of racial disparities in American society. In contrast to the large number of studies examining the racial segregation of neighborhoods, no studies have employed the most statistically appropriate methods for investigating racial inequality in neighborhood income environments. This project will provide new insights and information regarding which groups are converging with respect to neighborhood economic environments and why they are doing so. The project therefore will enhance basic understanding of one of the most crucial axes of racial inequality in America today. Project findings will be useful for policymakers, the informed public, and other scholars examining this and related topics. The project also will provide valuable education and training opportunities for graduate students.