Differential Returns?: Neighborhood Attainment among Hispanic and Non–Hispanic White New Legal Permanent Residents

Abstract

We use data from the New Immigrant Survey to examine patterns of residential attainment among Hispanic immigrants who recently became legal permanent residents (LPRs) relative to new LPR non–Hispanic white immigrants. We focus on whether these Hispanic and non–Hispanic white immigrants differ in their ability to transform human capital into residential advantage. Our results suggest that the answer depends on the neighborhood attribute in question. When predicting residence in tracts with relatively more non–Hispanic whites, the answer is yes, with evidence in support of the place stratification model of residential attainment. We find that non–Hispanic white immigrants have access to relatively whiter neighborhoods than their Hispanic immigrant counterparts, irrespective of differences in education levels. When assessing Hispanic immigrants’ ability to enter socioeconomically advantaged neighborhoods, however, the differences we observe are mostly accounted for by compositional differences in sociodemographic and acculturation factors. Taken together, our findings suggest that Hispanic immigrants are more similar to their white immigrant counterparts when it comes to converting higher education into higher income neighborhoods than into increased residential integration with whites; although their exposure to more socioeconomically advantaged neighborhoods at all levels of education remains lower than that of their white immigrant counterparts.