Disappearing Targets? Poverty Areas in Central Cities

Abstract

This note explores variations in the characteristics of poverty areas within cities in the United States. I defined poverty areas as groups of census tracts in which 20 percent or more of the population had incomes below the official poverty level, and based the analysis on census data from 1970 and 1980 for the 100 largest central cities. There is a good deal of variability, both in terms of the degree of concentration of the poor in poverty areas and in terms of the changing composition of poverty area populations. Cluster analyses show that the variability is associated with cities' regional, economic, and demographic characteristics and suggest that the patterns the analyses identify raise important questions about the nature of urban poverty and the appropriateness of alternative public policies.