Neighborhood Racial and Ethnic Diversity and Residential Segregation in Large Urban Areas in the U.S., 1980-2010

Abstract

Racial and ethnic neighborhood diversity and residential segregation among whites, African-Americans, Latinos, and Asians and Pacific Islanders are measured for 59 large urban areas in the United States from 1980 to 2010. Neighborhood diversity is defined as the average of diversity in census tracts. Neighborhood diversity increased dramatically from 1980 to 2010 for nearly all urban areas. It was significantly higher in areas in the South and West and in areas that were growing more rapidly. Residential segregation is defined as the relative difference between neighborhood diversity and the maximum possible for the urban area given the distribution of the population across the racial and ethnic groups. Segregation declined over the period considered and was lowest in urban areas in the West.