A study out of Princeton University published in Ethnic and Racial Studies has found that United States suburbs are still mostly dominated by white residents. Using US Census tract data, the researchers modeled patterns of white and minority suburbanization and segregation across 287 metropolitan statistical areas (geographical regions with a relatively high population density) from 1970 to 2010. From the study:
Whites made up 68% of all suburban dwellers (down from 93% in 1970) and Hispanic residents made up about 15% (up from 2% in 1970), while the proportion of suburban blacks rose at a considerably slower rate from approximately 5% to 10%.
The author of the study, Douglas Massey from the Office of Population Research at Princeton University notes, “As people move up the socioeconomic ladder, they translate their status attainments into living in an improved neighborhood and in the United States, and movement from cities to suburbs has long been an important part of this process.”
In the figure above, by 2010 central cities have become a majority-minority (where no group constitutes an absolute majority). In contrast, the suburbs are still dominated by white residents, making up 68.4% of the population.
The study:
Suburbanization and segregation in the United States: 1970–2010 by Douglas S. Massey and Jonathan Tannen. Ethnic and Racial Studies.