PUTTING “GLOBAL CITIES” IN THEIR PLACE: URBAN HIERARCHY AND LOW-INCOME EMPLOYMENT DURING THE POST-WAR ERA

Abstract

This paper examines changes in the incidence of low-income employment within and across different tiers of the United States urban hierarchy between 1950 and 1990 using data from Public Use Microdata Samples. Theoretical guidance comes from past studies on the relationship between urban hierarchy and income inequality and more recent conceptualizations of global cities. An established urban typology is used to identify the “positions” of 105 metropolitan labor markets that can be tracked over the past four decades. Results show that local rates of low-income employment have varied systematically throughout the urban hierarchy during the post-war era and that rates consistently have remained the lowest within higher order cities and the highest within peripheral manufacturing centers. These findings are repeated among distinct race and gender groups and indicate that the urban hierarchy continues to play a significant role in shaping the size of the local low-income workforce.