In my last posting I described income differences in 800 upstate metropolitan neighborhoods in Albany, Erie, Monroe, Oneida, Onondaga, Rensselaer and Schenectady Counties. The data comes from the United States Census Bureau which divides the nation into census tracts, the most detailed level publically tabulated. Overall, there are 73,000 census tracts nationally, averaging 4,200 residents each.
While there are significant differences in incomes, unemployment and poverty among upstate neighborhoods, the differences in racial patterns, particularly between people identifying as black or African-American and those identifying as white are much stronger, and the racial differences are strongly related to neighborhood economic conditions.
Racial Divisions – Two Neighborhood Types
Census Tracts with High Concentrations of Black Residents
| Upstate Metropolitan Census Tracts – 2014 | |||
| Sorted by Percentage of Black/African-American Residents | |||
| High Concentration | Average Concentration | Low Concentration | |
| 30% of of all Black Residents | 40% of all Black Residents | 30% of all Black Residents | |
| %Black | 83.4% | 38.6% | 4.4% |
| %Hispanic | 5.0% | 16.7% | 3.8% |
| %White | 8.6% | 36.2% | 86.4% |
| Black Residents | 105203 | 143812 | 109430 |
| All Residents | 126153 | 373030 | 2471015 |
| Low Income | 64.0% | 58.6% | 29.5% |
| Medium Income | 31.4% | 34.8% | 47.7% |
| High Income | 4.6% | 6.6% | 22.8% |
| Mean Household Income | $37,238 | $44,171 | $76,175 |
| % Unemployment | 19.8% | 14.1% | 6.7% |
| % Poverty | 34.0% | 32.4% | 6.8% |
More than eight of every ten residents of neighborhoods with high concentrations of black residents identify as black or African-American, even though only 12% of all residents of upstate metropolitan census tracts were black. Residents in typical neighborhoods with high concentrations of black residents had very few residents identified as white, not Hispanic – only eight in one hundred. About five percent of residents with high concentrations of black residents identify as Hispanic, about the same percentage as upstate urban neighborhoods, overall.
When average concentration neighborhoods are added to the picture, 70% of residents live in neighborhoods that average 50% black or African-American. These neighborhoods have concentrations of black residents that are more than four times the average for all upstate neighborhoods. When combined with those who identify as Hispanics, people who live in neighborhoods that have average concentrations of black/African-American residents are more than 60% minority residents.
Note that the income, unemployment and poverty levels of neighborhoods that had average levels of black residents were only slightly better than those of neighborhoods with high levels. For neighborhoods with high and average concentrations of black residents, mean household incomes in 2014 were only slightly higher ($40,176) than those for residents of neighborhoods with high concentrations of black residents ($37,238).
In neighborhoods with high concentrations of black residents, 64% of households had low incomes – almost as high a percentage as was found in neighborhoods with high concentrations of low income residents. About three in ten residents of these neighborhoods had middle incomes, while about 5% had high incomes.
Typical residents of neighborhoods with high concentrations of black residents, had incomes of $37,200 in 2014, only slightly higher than the average income in neighborhoods with high concentrations of low income residents. Similarly, the concentration of poverty in neighborhoods with high concentrations of black residents averaged 37%, like that of low income neighborhoods, which averaged 37%.
Unemployment among residents of neighborhoods with high concentrations of black residents was nearly 20% in 2014, the highest of any of the groups in this analysis.
Census Tracts with High Percentages of Hispanic Residents
| Upstate Metropolitan Census Tracts – 2014 | |||
| Sorted by Percentage of Hispanic Residents | |||
| High Concentration | Average Concentration | Low Concentration | |
| 30% of all Hispanic Residents | 40% of all Hispanic Residents | 30% of all Hispanic Residents | |
| %Hispanic | 29.8% | 9.2% | 2.4% |
| %Black | 35.8% | 20.8% | 7.3% |
| %White | 27.5% | 62.3% | 85.5% |
| Hispanic Residents | 48,205 | 65,181 | 50,189 |
| All Residents | 161,994 | 704,899 | 2,103,305 |
| Low Income | 65.5% | 46.4% | 28.4% |
| Medium Income | 30.2% | 41.8% | 47.7% |
| High Income | 4.3% | 11.8% | 23.9% |
| Mean Household Income | $39,943 | $52,818 | $78,526 |
| % Unemployment | 18.0% | 10.1% | 6.6% |
| % Poverty | 38.4% | 19.7% | 6.2% |
Only 5.5% of residents of upstate metropolitan census tracts are of Hispanic descent. So, even in those places where there are relatively high Hispanic concentrations, they make up only a minority of residents. In the neighborhoods with the highest concentrations of Hispanic residents, on average 30% of residents were Hispanic, compared with 36% Black/African-American and 27.5% White (not Hispanic).
Like people who identify as Black/African American, Hispanic households most often have low incomes (66%). About 30% of Hispanic households in upstate urban areas are middle income, while 4% are high income households. When neighborhoods including high and average concentrations of Hispanics are combined – 70% of all Hispanics, their average income reached $49,642, lower than the average income of those who identify is white, not Hispanic, but higher than that of people who identify as black or African American (40,176).
Neighborhoods with high concentrations of Hispanics had high levels of unemployment (18%). The concentration of poverty in neighborhoods with high concentrations of Hispanic residents (38.4%) was slightly higher than that of low income neighborhoods and those with high concentrations of black/African-American residents.
Census Tracts with High Concentrations of White Residents
| Upstate Metropolitan Census Tracts – 2014 | |||
| Sorted by Percentage of White Residents | |||
| High Concentration | Medium Concentration | Low Concentration | |
| 30% of all White Residents | 40% of all White Residents | 30% of all White Residents | |
| %White | 96.2% | 89.8% | 55.8% |
| %Black | 0.7% | 2.9% | 25.6% |
| %Hispanic | 1.5% | 3.1% | 9.6% |
| White Residents | 662,506 | 922,262 | 707,720 |
| All Residents | 688,680 | 1,014,263 | 1,267,255 |
| Low Income | 24.7% | 26.2% | 46.7% |
| Medium Income | 49.5% | 48.9% | 40.3% |
| High Income | 25.8% | 24.9% | 13.0% |
| Mean Household Income | $80,921 | $80,710 | $55,793 |
| % Unemployment | 6.3% | 5.9% | 10.6% |
| % Poverty | 4.4% | 4.7% | 20.5% |
Neighborhoods with high concentrations of white residents look very different from those with high concentrations of black or Hispanic residents, and from the average of all residents. Thirty percent of all white (non-Hispanic) residents live in neighborhoods that average 96% white, with less than one percent of black residents, and 1.5% of Hispanic residents. Overall, 77% of residents of upstate metropolitan areas are white, 12% are black and 5.5% Hispanic.
They also differ significantly in their economic characteristics. About 75% of residents of neighborhoods with high concentrations of white residents have middle or high incomes. For black and Hispanic residents, the corresponding percentage is 35%. The median household income for neighborhoods with 70% of all white residents of upstate urban neighborhoods is more than $80,000, compared with $40,176 for neighborhoods with 70% of all black residents, and 49,642 for neighborhoods with 70% of Hispanic residents.
The average unemployment percentage in 2014 in neighborhoods with high concentrations of white residents was 6.3%, compared with 20% in black neighborhoods, and 18% in neighborhoods with high concentrations of Hispanic residents. Very few residents of neighborhoods with high concentrations of white residents lived in poverty in 2014 – 4%. For black neighborhoods, the percentage was 34% and for neighborhoods with high concentrations of Hispanics, the percentage was 38%.
Concentrations of Residents by Neighborhood Types
Chart 1.
Chart one shows that blacks and Hispanics are particularly overrepresented in the upstate metropolitan neighborhoods where they lived in 2014. 65% of blacks lived in neighborhoods with more than twice the overall percentage of blacks in upstate metropolitan counties. Forty percent of blacks live in neighborhoods with more than four times their overall percentage. Forty percent of Hispanics live in neighborhoods where they are more than twice their overall percentage in upstate metropolitan counties.
Chart 2
Chart two shows the concentration of the group populations in each census tract, sorted by the concentration of group population. It shows that black and Hispanic populations are far more concentrated than low income, high income and white populations. While most blacks and many hispanics live in neighborhoods with more than twice their overall concentration, almost all low and high income households live in neighborhoods that are less than twice as concentrated as the overall low and high income households in upstate metropolitan counties.
Implications
In earlier posts, I pointed out disparities in poverty and income between upstate cities and their suburbs, and between white, black and Hispanic residents. This research extends the analysis to the neighborhood level, and shows that residents with low incomes, black and Hispanic residents are separated by neighborhood from a substantial majority of white residents. Most white residents live in neighborhoods that have fewer than 5% black and Hispanic residents. In contrast, 70% of all black residents live in neighborhoods that have more than 60% minority residents, despite the fact that blacks make up 12% of the population of upstate urban neighborhoods.
Equally important, the economic conditions of neighborhoods with high concentrations of black and Hispanic residents closely resemble those of low income neighborhoods. Black and Hispanic neighborhoods have percentages of low income residents, unemployment levels, and percentages of households in poverty that are very similar to poor upstate urban neighborhoods. The next post will provide some additional documentation of the economic differences between census tracts with high concentrations of minority group members and those which are primarily white.
The fact that neighborhoods with high concentrations of black/African-American residents are more separated from neighborhoods with high concentrations of white residents than predominantly low income neighborhoods are separated from high income neighborhoods suggests the continuing need to address the racial separation of upstate residents as well as the prevalence of low income neighborhoods if upstate is to remove the barriers that separate its residents.