Leaving the 'Hood: Residential Mobility between Black, White, and Integrated Neighborhoods

Abstract

We use data from the [U.S.] Panel Study of Income Dynamics to explore patterns and determinants of residential mobility between census tracts with varying racial composition. Among both blacks and whites age home ownership being married and having children are all inversely related to the probability of moving from the tract of origin. Conditional on moving higher socioeconomic status increases the likelihood of moving to a `whiter tract.... Blacks exhibit low rates of moving into white tracts but high rates of moving out while the reverse mobility streams dominate among whites. (EXCERPT)