Escaping Distressed Neighborhoods: Individual, Community, and Metropolitan Influences

Abstract

This article links longitudinal data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics with information on respondents' census tracts to examine patterns of annual residential mobility between poor and nonpoor neighborhoods. Education and marriage increase the likelihood of leaving poor tracts, while age, home ownership, and receiving public assistance reduce it. Blacks are substantially less likely than whites to escape poor tracts and substantially more likely to move into them, even after socioeconomic status is controlled. Residential segregation by race and poverty status and the supply of new housing in the metropolis also influence the likelihood of moving between distressed and nondistressed neighborhoods.