Residential segregation by age in the United States

Abstract

This map analyzes geographic variation in residential segregation by age in the contiguous United States at Census 2010. We evaluate segregation at the micro-scale between blocks within counties and then examine spatial patterns of segregation by county across the United States using local indicators of spatial autocorrelation. This approach emphasizes local levels of segregation analyzing the extent to which older adults and younger adults reside in the same immediate neighborhood, and it assesses more regional levels of segregation by evaluating spatial clustering. Findings show that the extent of age segregation varies significantly across the contiguous United States. Counties in the Great Plains, in other areas of the Rural West and the Upper Midwest, and in Florida tend to exhibit high segregation, while Appalachia and other areas of the Rural South are generally more integrated.

Keywords:

• age
• segregation
• spatial analysis

Acknowledgements

We thank David Long of the Applied Population Laboratory at the University of Wisconsin- Madison for his comments and suggestions. Related research was presented at the 2011 Rural Sociological Society annual meeting in Boise, ID, the 2011 Southern Demographic Association meeting in Tallahassee, FL and the 2012 Population Association of America annual meeting in San Francisco, CA.