Poverty, race, and US metropolitan social and economic structure

This research evaluates the link between social and economic structural fea tures of US urban areas and the poverty rates of black and white residents in 1990. Using a sample of 112 metropolitan areas (with poverty rates rangi ng from 9.4% to 45.4% for blacks, and 3.5% to 16.0% for whites) and multipl e regression analysis, we find that metropolitan location in the Northeast lowers poverty rates of blacks and whites compared to metropolitan areas in other regions. Moreover, population growth, higher percent black, increase d black high school graduation rates, the presence of immigrants, a high pe rcentage of workers employed in manufacturing and relatively few in retaili ng, low black unemployment, and an older black population are related to lo wer black poverty rates. For whites, lower poverty rates are related to hig h racial residential segregation, increased white high school graduation ra tes, low white unemployment, a large black population, and a high percentag e of workers employed in manufacturing and fewer employed in retail sales a nd professional services.