Racial Segregation in U.S. Neighborhoods

William H. Frey examines contemporary neighborhood residential segregation, using Census Bureau American Community Survey data from the 2015-2019. 

According to Frey, the data show that "despite the fact that people of color account for the vast majority of recent U.S. population growth, white residents almost everywhere— including those in the nation’s most diverse metropolitan areas—continue to reside in mostly white neighborhoods."

And while neighborhood segregation has declined since the 1960s ("albeit modestly," writes Frey), "substantial levels of neighborhood segregation persist for Black residents and—to a sizable, though lesser extent—for Latino or Hispanic and Asian Americans."

Put another way: "Just as white neighborhoods continue to remain 'whiter' than their surrounding metropolitan areas, it’s also the case that neighborhoods where the average Black, Latino or Hispanic, and Asian American populations reside continue to include overrepresentations of those groups."

The source article includes a lot more data, analysis, and infographics.