Racial and Ethnic Segregation Patterns in Metropolitan Miami, Florida, 1980-1990

As metropolitan Miami has experienced dramatic change in its ethnic composition over the past three decades, its racial and nationality groups have sorted themselves in residential space to varying degrees. This study analyzes racial and ethnic segregation patterns in Dade County using 1980 and 1990 census data. First, residential distributions of non-Hispanic racial groups are compared. Second, Hispanic racial classes are compared to non-Hispanic racial groups. Third, segregation patterns among Hispanic racial classes are analyzed. Fourth, segregation between Hispanic nationalities and non-Hispanic racial classes are discussed. Fifth, segregation among the Hispanic nationalities is studied. The highest levels of segregation are between blacks and whites, both for Hispanics and non-Hispanics when they are disaggregated into their respective racial components. When Miami's Hispanics are separated into their four nationality classes, it was found that the Mexicans were most highly segregated from the other three national components due to their lower socioeconomic status. Unlike findings in most other U.S. cities, Puerto Ricans are not highly segregated from either Hispanic or non-Hispanic whites in Miami. Hispanic components and non-Hispanic components exhibited the same general segregation trends, except that the degree of segregation was less within the Hispanic groups because common cultural traits served to lessen residential differences. Furthermore, it was found that the segregation levels that exist in Miami are fairly typical for large American cities. Between 1980 and 1990 there has been a slight but consistent decrease in the levels of segregation among most of the ethnic and racial groups. However, this change is occurring slowly, so it appears that segregated housing will remain a fact of life in the foreseeable future of Miami.