Racial and Ethnic Differences in the Distribution of Urban-Suburban Poverty in U.S. Metropolitan Areas, 1980-2000

Aaron J. Howell, University of Cincinnati

In this paper, we use data from the National Change Database (NCDB) and Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) techniques to estimate levels and determinants of poverty suburbanization for non-Hispanic blacks, non-Hispanic whites, and Asians and Hispanics of all races in 2000, as well as change from 1980 to 2000. For whites and Asians, the supply of suburban housing, relative to the central city, is positively associated with the suburbanization of the poor in 2000. For Blacks and Hispanics, the supply of affordable housing in the suburbs predicts increasing presence of the poor. In examining change from 1980 to 2000 in the suburbanization of poverty we found mixed results. Housing supply positively influences the rate of poverty suburbanization for Blacks and Hispanics. The age of a city and its region impact the rate of change in poverty suburbanization, likely owing to differences in historical development.