Emerging Patterns of Hispanic Residential Segregation: Lessons from Rural and Small‐Town America

Abstract

The past two decades have ushered in a period of widespread spatial diffusion of Hispanics well beyond traditional metropolitan gateways. This article examines emerging patterns of racial and ethnic residential segregation in new Hispanic destinations over the 1990-2010 period, linking county, place, and block data from the 1990, 2000, and 2010 decennial censuses. Our multiscalar analyses of segregation are framed by classical models of immigrant assimilation and alternative models of place stratification. We ask whether Hispanics are integrating spatially with the native population and whether recent demographic and economic processes have eroded or perpetuated racial boundaries in nonmetropolitan areas. We show that Hispanic residential segregation from whites is often exceptionally high and declining slowly in rural counties and communities. New Hispanic destinations, on average, have higher Hispanic segregation levels than established gateway communities. The results also highlight microscale segregation patterns within rural places and in the open countryside (i.e., outside places), a result that is consistent with emerging patterns of "white flight." Observed estimates of Hispanic-white segregation across fast-growing nonmetropolitan counties often hide substantial heterogeneity in residential segregation. Divergent patterns of rural segregation reflect local-area differences in population dynamics, economic inequality, and the county employment base (using Economic Research Service functional specialization codes). Illustrative maps of Hispanic boom counties highlight spatially uneven patterns of racial diversity. They also provide an empirical basis for our multivariate analyses, which show that divergent patterns of local-area segregation often reflect spatial variation in employment across different industrial sectors.

The New Suburb: Multiethnic Racial Residential Integration in the United States

“…In contrast, Latinx presence, while statistically significant, displays a small buffering effect on black-white integration. These results may reflect increasing segregation for certain segments of the Latinx population and growth in new immigrant destinations, which display markedly high residential segregation (Lichter, Parisi, and Taquino 2016). Further, Latinxs may experience increased group threat as they are now the largest population of color.…”

The Spatial Concentration of America's Rural Poor Population: A Postrecession Update

“…Future research should work to identify the processes that explain the disproportionately small increase in exposure to concentrated poverty among rural Hispanics during this period. Attention to the role of new residential patterns among this population seems particularly warranted, and would contribute to a growing literature on the implications of those new patterns (Crowley and Lichter 2009;Hall 2013;Lichter, Parisi, and Taquino 2016;Monnat 2017).…”

“…Questions about economic disadvantage and insecurity in the United States are fueling social unrest, populist political movements, and renewed interest among academics in documenting the origins and patterns of poverty and inequality (Desmond 2015;Edin and Shaefer 2015;Grusky, Western, and Wimer 2011;Lichter, Parisi, and Taquino 2012;Lichter, Sanders, and Johnson 2015;Pfeffer, Danziger, and Schoeni 2013;Slack and Myers 2014). Given today's circumstances, it is easy to forget that social scientists were drawing considerably more optimistic conclusions just a decade ago.…”

Differential Returns?: Neighborhood Attainment among Hispanic and Non–Hispanic White New Legal Permanent Residents

“…Some exceptions exist, for example, several studies suggest that there are limits to the spatial assimilation model in new immigrant receiving destinations and in non‐metro places, such as rural counties and communities (Hall ; Lichter et al. , ). Another exception is found in a recent study by Reardon et al.…”