The Neighborhood Attainment of Black–White Individuals With Black or White Partners, Black–White Couples, and Monoracial Black and White Couples

Ryan Gabriel , Brigham Young University
Jacob S. Rugh, Brigham Young University
Hannah Spencer

Since legal barriers to interracial coupling were struck down in the late 1960s there has been an increasing number of black-white couples which has coincided with growth in the number of black-white individuals. There is little known about how these diverse groups function in social life, especially in neighborhood attainment. Thus, in this study we use data from Home Mortgage Disclosure Act and the census to the assess the percentage of whites and average income in the neighborhoods of black-white individuals with black or white partners, black-white couples, and monoracial black and white couples. Employing linear regression analysis, we also assess the role of economic resources in explaining the variation in neighborhood attainment of these disparate couples. Our findings reveal that the greater the representation of white is within a couple the higher the percentage of white and the higher the average income is in the neighborhoods couples purchase into.

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 Presented in Session 7. Migration & Urbanization