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How Do We Measure Segregation? The standard measure of segregation is the Index of Dissimilarity (D), which captures the degree to which two groups are evenly spread among census tracts in a given city. Evenness is defined with respect to the racial composition of the city as a whole. The index ranges from 0 to 100, giving the percentage of one group who would have to move to achieve an even residential pattern - one where every tract replicates the group composition of the city. A value of 60 or above is considered very high. For example, a D score of 60 for black-white segregation means that 60% of either group must move to a different tract for the two groups to become equally distributed. Values of 40 to 50 are usually considered moderate levels of segregation, while values of 30 or less are considered low. Standards for evaluating change in dissimilarity scores In our analysis, we interpret change either up or down on the following criteria:
Exposure and Isolation Indices |
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