The Persistence of Affluent Neighborhoods: Neighborhood Income Inequality and Economic Stability among U.S. Cities

Claudia Solari, University of California, Los Angeles

Recent work on neighborhood economic segregation and mobility in the U.S. reveals increasing neighborhood income inequality within cities and higher rates of stability for affluent and poor neighborhoods over time (Solari 2010). These trends suggest that affluent neighborhoods can more easily stay affluent over time and poor neighborhoods more often remain poor. Higher income households that congregate together in neighborhoods can make these neighborhoods more difficult for lower income residents to inhabit. This isolation suggests neighborhood economic persistence and stability rather than mobility. In this project, I characterize each city’s level of neighborhood income inequality using aggregate U.S. decennial census data to predict rates of neighborhood economic stability. This project will enhance our understanding of the economic stability and mobility behavior of urban neighborhoods, and offer insight on neighborhood stratification and inequality.