A Continuous Measure of the Joint Distribution of Race and Income Among Neighborhoods

We develop and illustrate a general and innovative method for describing in detail the joint distribution of race and income among neighborhoods when only coarse income data are available. The approach provides estimates of the average income distribution and racial composition of the neighborhoods of households of a given racial category and specific income level. We illustrate the method using 2007–2011 tract-level data from the American Community Survey. We show, for example, that blacks and Hispanics of any given income typically live in neighborhoods substantially poorer than those of whites and Asians of the same income. Our approach provides a general method for fully characterizing the joint patterns of racial and socioeconomic segregation, and so may prove useful in understanding the spatial foundations and correlates of racial and socioeconomic inequality.