Structural versus ethnic dimensions of housing segregation

Racial residential segregation is still very high in many American cities. Some portion of segregation is attributable to socioeconomic differences across racial lines (what we call structural factors); some portion is caused by purely racial factors, such as housing market discrimination and preferences for the race of one's neighbors. Past attempts to measure the structural component of segregation have generally focused on only 1 socioeconomic status (SES) variable and have produced results that are high in potential measurement error. In this article, we use an innovative method and uniquely suitable data (geocoded microdata obtained through the U.S. Census Bureau's Research Data Center [RDC] program) to disaggregate segregation into a structural and a residual component. Our measure shows the amount of segregation that would remain if we could randomly assign households to housing units based only on nonracial socioeconomic characteristics. This inquiry provides valuable building blocks for understanding and remedying housing segregation.