Segregation in Motion: Dynamic and Static Views of Segregation among Recent Movers

Victoria Pevarnik, University of California, Irvine
John Hipp, University of California, Irvine

This study utilizes a novel approach to study how immigration changes over time. Rather than computing segregation measures based on the existing population, we compute segregation measures among different categories of recent movers (those moving within the last 5 years from when the data was taken). We therefore are able to assess segregation among recent movers across the U.S. using the index of dissimilarity. Measuring segregation among different ethnic recent movers groups produces results that capture segregation in motion, or in other words, changes in segregation as they occur. Findings reveal that domestic movers are almost always less segregated than the static population, that moving from farther distances almost always results in higher rates of segregation, and foreign movers are more segregated than other mover groups without exception.