This article uses 1990 census data to analyze the changes in ghetto po
verty among blacks in the 1980s. Ghetto poverty among blacks increased
, both in terms of the number of blacks living in ghettos and as a per
centage of the black population. The black poor became increasingly is
olated in ghettos, with nearly half of the black poor in metropolitan
areas living in a ghetto neighborhood The physical size of ghettos exp
anded rapidly, even in some metropolitan areas where the percentage of
blacks living in ghettos declined. There were striking differences be
tween regions, with the Midwest and Southwest having the largest incre
ases in ghetto poverty while the eastern seaboard had declines.