Residential Segregation by Education in the U.S: 2016-2020

Abstract

While there is much research on income segregation, we know less about the factors that contribute to the uneven distribution of households across neighborhoods by educational attainment. Although globalization is thought to influence segregation, its association with socioeconomic segregation is debated. Using data from the 2016-2020 American Community Survey, the Globalization and World Cities Research Network, and the MIT Election Data + Science Lab, we investigate the correlates of educational segregation within large core-based statistical areas in the United States, focusing on globalization, income inequality, and political preferences in the 2016 presidential election. Multivariate results reveal that globalization and income inequality are the most significant correlates of educational segregation. Political preferences are only significantly associated with residential dissimilarity between those with a master’s degree or higher and those with some college. We discuss the implications of these results for understanding residential inequality on the basis of education in metropolitan America.