Data Sources and Methodology 

These analyses are based upon data from the Census of Population 1990, STF4A, and Census of Population 2000, SF3.?These sources provide information at the level of census tracts, and they include tables listing the household income distribution for specific racial and ethnic groups in the tract.?All income data referred to in this report are for households, classified by the race/ethnicity of the household head.? Income data for 1990 have been adjusted to 2000 dollars. 

The Mumford Center has aggregated data from census tracts to provide totals for metropolitan regions, using the official 2000 boundaries of metropolitan regions.?Income data for 1990 are taken directly from tables prepared by the Census Bureau for non-Hispanic whites, non-Hispanic blacks, Hispanics, and Asians (including Hispanic Asians).?Income data for 2000 are taken directly from SF3 tables for non-Hispanic whites, Hispanics, and Asians.?The income distribution of non-Hispanic blacks has been estimated from other tables, beginning with the table for persons who reported only black race (regardless of Hispanic identification) and subtracting the data for non-white Hispanics.? 

The numbers of households in each income category (drawn from sample data) have been adjusted upwards or downwards so that their sum will be equal to the 100%-count numbers of racial and ethnic group households in the tract.?Median incomes have been calculated from the grouped income data. 

In the following tables, neighborhood quality is measured as the median income of all resident households in a census tract.?The website provides comparable information about poverty, per capita income, education level, occupation, homeownership and housing vacancy.?The figures are exposure indices: they show the values for the neighborhood where the average group household lives, or where the average group household with an income over $60,000 lives. 

National Averages and Regional Variations 

We begin with national and regional averages in metropolitan areas for groups?median household incomes, and the median household incomes of the neighborhoods where they live. 

Table 1 shows that white incomes averaged just under $50,000 in 2000 -- $18,000 more than blacks, $15,000 more than Hispanics, but $3300 less than Asians.?This pattern of differences is very similar to what was already in place 10 years ago.?There were some changes.?In absolute terms, white incomes increased over $4500 between 1990 and 2000, more than any other group.?Blacks had a higher percentage increase than did whites (14.7% vs. 9.9%), while the percentage increases for Hispanics (6.6%) and Asians (8.9%) were smaller.? Still, Asians and whites maintained their superiority in income to blacks and Hispanics. 

The breakdown by geographic regions shows that incomes increased more in the Midwest and South, and less in the Northeast and West.?This was true for every group.?The black-white income disparity was greatest in the Northeast and Midwest ?regions where blacks moved during the Great Migration.?The Hispanic-white disparity was by far the greatest in the Northeast, perhaps reflecting the relatively low incomes of Puerto Ricans and Dominicans who constitute a large share of Hispanics in that region.?