Racial and Ethnic Group Spatial Assimilation in Inner and Outer Suburban Rings

Grigoris Argeros

The present study examines racial and ethnic group differences in suburban attainment between its inner and outer rings. Socioeconomic and demographic changes within suburbia have further solidified the bifurcation between its inner and outer rings, such that the latter rings tend to have, on average, qualitatively more desirable resources than their inner ring counterparts. Using micro-level data from the 5-year 2012-2016 American Community Survey, the author calculates multinomial logistic regression models to determine the effects of SES and other relevant predictors on residence within the nation’s metropolitan area’s suburban inner and outer rings. The results both confirm and contradict the main tenets of the spatial assimilation model. To the extent that income, education, and homeownership are positively related to residence in both suburban rings, the findings also suggest that access to the inner and outer rings is hierarchically stratified by race and ethnicity.

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 Presented in Session 7. Migration & Urbanization