Racial Differences in Intraurban Residential Mobility

Abstract

The literature shows that African-Americans live in lower-quality residential environments than their socioeconomic status would predict. Researchers suggest that African-Americans move within cities less often than whites and/or improve their residential environments less when moving. Alternatively, African-Americans might move as frequently as whites and improve their residential environments as much when they move, but they operate from an initial lower level of quality. The authors examine these possibilities in this article. Their data indicate that African-Americans have a lower rate of intraurban residential mobility and improve their residential environments less when they move.