Race, Regional Origin, and Residence in Northern Cities at the Beginning of the Great Migration

Stewart E. Tolnay, University of Washington
Kyle D. Crowder, Western Washington University
Robert M. Adelman, Georgia State University

Southern blacks and whites began moving to northern cities in large numbers during the second decade of the 20th Century. Little is known about the residential settlement patterns of the migrants within their cities of destination. We use city-level and ward-level data for northern and western cities, along with the 1920 PUMS, to investigate variation in neighborhood characteristics by race and migration history within northern and western cities in 1920. Our multi-level analyses reveal sharp differences between blacks and whites in the racial composition and quality of neighborhoods, even after controlling for a variety of sociodemographic characteristics. Regional origin also affects neighborhood outcomes, primarily as a result of the differences in the urban locations of black and white southern migrants. Black migrants experienced a relative residential disadvantage because of their greater concentration in cities that constrained their residential opportunities. In contrast, white migrants selected destinations that enhanced their locational attainment.