Neighborhoods that are segregated by race and ethnicity perpetuate exclusion and prevent people of different races and ethnicities from building the social ties that foster mutual respect, dignity, and belonging.
Evidence on the Relationship between Racial Diversity and Upward Mobility Outcomes
As of December 2021, researchers have documented the following connections between this predictor and upward mobility. Asterisk (*) indicates primary reference.
- Racial segregation and income segregation by race increase rates of concentrated poverty (Quillian 2012).
- A long history of racial discrimination in the US and discriminatory practices such as redlining have resulted in economic hardships and high levels of residential segregation for Black people. The high concentration of Black people in neighborhoods with extremely limited resources greatly affects their chances for social and economic success (Massey and Denton 1993).
- Middle-class Black people are more likely to live in areas with higher rates of poverty and fewer college graduates than middle-class white people. Black residents of lower-poverty neighborhoods are more likely to move to higher-poverty neighborhoods, whereas the opposite is true for white residents of lower-poverty neighborhoods. Some of this is because of discrepancies in wealth (Quick and Kahlenberg 2019).
- Racial segregation in neighborhoods, schools, and social networks limits the ability of young Black people to develop the human capital necessary to achieve strong financial outcomes in adulthood (Hardaway and Mcloyd 2009*).
- High levels of racial segregation are strongly associated with wealth gaps. White families hold 10 times the wealth of Black families and more than 8 times the wealth of Latinx families. Black entrepreneurs have less access to capital and are therefore more likely to use personal savings as financing (Loh, Coes, and Buthe 2020).
- Home values are substantially lower in predominantly Black neighborhoods than in neighborhoods with few or no Black residents. Home values also see price premiums in more exclusive, predominantly white neighborhoods (Loh, Coes, and Buthe 2020).
- Estimates based on data from Chicago show that if Black-white geographic racial segregation were reduced, annual income for Black people would increase by $2,455 per person, 83,000 more adults would complete bachelor's degrees (22 percent of whom would be Black), and the homicide rate would be 30 percent lower (Acs et al. 2017).
- A meta-analysis of articles that examined the effect of racial segregation on birth outcomes for Black and white mothers found that Black mothers were at increased risk for preterm births. Qualitative studies support the evidence that Black mothers who are exposed to more racial segregation are more likely to have adverse birth outcomes (Mehra, Boyd, and Ickovics 2017).
- Racial residential segregation is associated with lower life expectancy. Using mortality data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, researchers found that when compared with their white counterparts, Black men and Black women had a 14 percent and 9 percent lower probability of survival, respectively, from ages 35 to 75. Bringing the overall Black socioeconomic status level to match the overall white socioeconomic status level and eliminating racial residential segregation would close the Black-white survival gap (Popescu et al. 2018).
- High levels of residential racial segregation are associated with worse self-reported health for Black residents (Subramanian, Acevedo-Garcia, and Osypuk 2005).
- Card and Rothstein (2007) show that high levels of racial segregation in both schools and neighborhoods are associated with worse education outcomes for Black students.
- A move from a highly segregated city to an integrated city closes 25 percent of the Black–white gap in SAT scores.
- The negative effect of neighborhood-level segregation is stronger than the negative effect of school-level segregation.
- Logan, Minca, and Adar (2012) conducted a national-level study on inequalities in school performance and found that Black, Hispanic, and Native American children, on average, attend schools at the 35th to 45th percentile of performance in the state. In contrast, white and Asian children, on average, attend schools at the 60th percentile of performance. Moreover, this difference is evident during elementary school and persists through higher grades. The authors highlight that this points to the differences in the “geography of opportunity.”
Promising Local Policy Interventions
Research from both Urban and others in the field suggests the following policies could help communities improve this predictor. These suggestions are not exhaustive, and communities should work with residents and leaders to identify solutions that are best suited to their local contexts.
- Reforming zoning policies to allow for more diverse, high-density, mixed-income communities. (This may also improve the Housing Affordability and School Economic Diversity predictors.)
- Expanding affordable housing in resource-rich neighborhoods. (This may also improve the Economic Inclusion predictor.)
- Reducing housing discrimination in the private market, including by enacting source-of-income laws and funding fair housing organizations.
- Narrowing racial homeownership gaps, including by creating affordable homeownership opportunities for households of color. (This may also improve the Housing Affordability and Wealth-Building Opportunities predictors.)
- Enforcing fair housing laws. (This may also improve the Economic Inclusion predictor.)
Mobility Dimensions Engaged
- Power and autonomy
- Dignity and belonging