Racial segregation and inequality across the urban-suburban divide
Ann Owens1, Peter Rich2
1University of Southern California, 2Cornell University

Historically, suburban communities provided alternative options--and school districts--for advantaged families.  However, suburbs have become more racially diverse and experienced rising poverty rates. This study provides an updated portrait of racial segregation and inequality between and within urban and suburban communities, defined by school districts , in U.S. metropolitan areas in 2015-16. We find that the suburban-urban divide remains an important stratifying force--a substantial portion of racial residential and school segregation  and racial inequality in school poverty and test scores occurs between urban and suburban school districts. However, we find a substantial degree of inequality between suburban school districts and within suburban communities. Sorting between and within suburban communities is an important part of metropolitan inequality, and researchers should move away from emphasizing a single urban-suburban divide to investigate inequality both between and within these sectors.