Using Municipal Residency Requirements to Disguise Public Policy

Abstract

Municipal residency requirements require city employees to live within the city limit. Many cities enacted residency requirements attempting to attract middle-class families into the city and to prevent them from leaving. The model developed in this article suggests that a residency requirement can increase a city’s middle-class population but only if it is accompanied by a municipal wage premium. When effective, a residency requirement can also increase the likelihood that a municipal family will enroll its children in private school through a Tiebout sorting effect. Using U.S. census data, the author finds that comprehensive residency requirements are often but not always accompanied by a municipal wage premium. Furthermore, municipal families living in cities with both a residency requirement and a wage premium are significantly more likely to enroll their children in private school.