Black Immigrants' Locational Attainment Outcomes and Returns to Socioeconomic Status Levels

Grigoris Argeros, Mississippi State University

Using data from the five percent Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS) of the 2000 Census, we investigate the degree to which native-born black Americans and black immigrants are able to translate their individual-level socioeconomic status attainments into residence in suburban versus central-city neighborhoods. In addition we also test to see if black immigrants’ returns to their socioeconomic attainments differ from those of native-born blacks. In brief, the results reveal that black immigrants are no more likely than native-born black Americans to reside in suburban neighborhoods, when controlling for differences in socioeconomic status, acculturation, family/household, and the metropolitan area characteristics of where each group resides. In terms of differential returns to socioeconomic status, home ownership is the only attainment for which the returns black immigrants accrue statistically exceed those of native-born black Americans. Results underscore the need to revisit traditional theories of residential assimilation and locational attainment patterns for contemporary immigrant groups.