Residential segregation of blacks by income group: Evidence from Oakland

Abstract

This paper presents evidence on variation in segregation levels experienced by economic subgroups of blacks in Oakland, California and its surrounding county. The central finding is that in this area, one of the most racially integrated in the USA, higher-income blacks exhibit a substantially higher level of integration with whites than do lower-income blacks. In addition, higher income blacks made more progress toward integration in the 1970s. In the 1980s, however, inequality among blacks declined somewhat as lower middle-income blacks experienced the greatest gains in integration. By 1990, very-high income blacks in Oakland had achieved full integration with whites. While important from a descriptive standpoint, results of this study do not constitute evidence that increased black incomes would eliminate residential segregation. The continued significance of race, even for high-income blacks, is underscored by the finding that their exposure to whites is significantly lower than expected, given the disproportionate presence of whites among high-income households.

Influence of Race on Household Residential Utility

“…This finding supports Miller and Quigley's (1990) and Hansen's (1996) findings that social class and family structure are not sufficient to explain racial preferences and segregation.…”

“…They highlight the Bay Area's racially and economically diverse population as a characteristic that makes the region particularly suitable for segregation and preference analysis, an endorsement that supports the use of Bay Area data for this study. Similarly, Hansen (1996) studied a portion of the Bay Area (Oakland, CA) and found that social class (income) differences alone are not sufficient to explain the racial segregation in that multiethnic locality, while Clark and Ware (1997) found that increases in income and education among blacks between 1980 and 1990 led to slight increases in residential integration in Southern California.…”

“…The findings of this research and related studies are influenced by the extent and character of racial segregation in the particular metropolitan area being studied. It has been noted by many researchers that the racial and social class diversity of the region makes the region particularly suited for the analysis (Massey and Fong 1990;Miller and Quigley 1990;Hansen 1996). The fact that Massey and Denton (1993) find the San Francisco region as one of moderate segregation adds to the relevance of the results because the results from a region with particularly high or particularly low segregation would likely be less applicable to other regions.…”

“…For this reason, the San Francisco metropolitan area has been recognized by other researchers as a particularly good setting for multiethnic racial preference and segregation analysis (Massey and Fong 1990;Miller and Quigley 1990;Hansen 1996). Specifically, it is one of the few metropolitan areas in the United States with roughly equal numbers of the major ethnic groups; Hispanics make up 15.3 percent of the population, Asians make up 14.7 percent of the population, and blacks make up 8.6 percent.…”

The Future (History) of Socioeconomic Measurement and Implications for Improving Health Outcomes Among African Americans

“…Measures of these social phenomena also are derived from ecological levels, usually the Census. These measures explicitly combine information about the distribution of groups and neighborhoods to rate levels of segregation and other social experiences (e.g., isolation) (25,70,(72)(73)(74).…”