Racially Concentrated Areas of Affluence: A Preliminary Investigation

Edward G. Goetz
Anthony Damiano
Rashad A. Williams

Our analysis shows that 36 percent of metro areas had higher rates of concentrated affluence compared with concentrated poverty. Overall, we find 16 percent more areas of concentrated affluence compared to areas of concentrated poverty (2,297 tracts and 1,983 tracts respectively). However, the distribution of concentrated affluence is skewed toward fewer metro areas leading to higher average amounts of concentrated poverty compared to concentrated affluence in our sample. Places with the highest rates of concentrated affluence include wealthy metro areas in the West and Northeast such as San Jose, Washington, D.C., and San Francisco.