Geographic Concentration of Affluence and Poverty in 100 Metropolitan Areas, 1990

Abstract

The geographic concentration of poverty and affluence is examined for the 100 largest metropolitan areas. Concentration of poverty and affluence are uncorrelated, but metropolitan areas can be classified into five types based on six indices of concentration and affluence. The types differ significantly in their racial and ethnic segregation, the relative advantage of the central city as compared to the suburbs, and the economic inequality in the population. Cities in which both affluence and poverty are highly concentrated differ along all dimensions from cities of the more egalitarian type.