The suburbanization of poverty and minority populations in the 2000s: Two parallel or interrelated processes?

ABSTRACT

Previous research on suburban poverty has found evidence that the population growth of minorities in suburbs is associated with higher poverty rates. However, it has remained unclear whether the changing poverty rates result from a shifting population composition in suburbs, rising poverty rates among one or more groups, or a combination of these processes. Here I estimate the relative strength of these processes for Asian, Black, Hispanic, and White populations in the Chicago-Joliet-Naperville metropolitan area using data from the 2000 census and 2008–2012 American Community Survey. The results show that between 67% and 92% of the poverty increase in suburbs is attributable to the increase in poverty and population growth of minorities. Most of the poverty increase is linked to the greater exposure of minorities to the economic effects of the Great Recession rather than their population growth. However, some of the poverty increase in inner-ring suburbs was linked to the population growth of poor minorities, especially Hispanics.

Acknowledgments

I thank Kenneth Foote and Thomas Cooke for their valuable feedback on earlier versions of the article. I am thankful to the five anonymous reviewers for their valuable feedback that has substantially improved this article. All shortcomings are mine.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

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Notes on contributors

Fabian J. Terbeck

Fabian J. Terbeck is a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Urban Planning and Design at The University of Hong Kong. His research interests include neighborhood change and regional economic development in the United States and Europe with a special emphasis on urban inequality and neighborhood change.