Inter-neighborhood Migration and Spatial Assimilation in a Multi-ethnic World: Comparing Latinos, Blacks and Anglos

Longitudinal data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics are used to examine patterns and determinants of migration into neighborhoods of varying racial and ethnic composition. Consistent with spatial assimilation theory, higher income and education facilitate moving into neighborhoods containing proportionally more non-Hispanic whites and, among Latinos, the native-born move to More Anglo neighborhoods than immigrants. Consistent with place stratification theory, blacks move to neighborhoods with significantly fewer Anglos than do comparable Latinos, and the effect of income on migration into more Anglo neighborhoods is stronger for most minority groups than for Anglos. Latinos differ only slightly from Anglos in their migration into neighborhoods with large black populations, and blacks do not differ from Anglos in their migration into neighborhoods with large Latino populations.