Emerging rural settlement patterns and the geographic redistribution of America's new immigrants

This paper analyzes geographic patterns of population concentration and deconcentration among the foreign-born population during the 1990-2000 period. A goal is to examine whether the foreign-born population, including recent arrivals, are dispersing geographically from metro gateway cities into rur...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Rural sociology 2006-03, Vol.71 (1), p.109-131
Main Authors: Lichter, D.T, Johnson, K.M
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Assimilation
balkanization hypothesis
Counties
Cultural studies
Data Analysis
Demographic Change
Demographics
Dispersion
Empirical analysis
Ethnic groups
Foreigners
Geographic distribution
geographical distribution
Human geography
human settlements
Immigrants
Immigration
Incidence
Land Settlement
Metropolitan Areas
migration behavior
Migration Patterns
Noncitizens
Pattern Recognition
Population density
Population Distribution
Population growth
Race
Racial Segregation
Rural and urban sociology
Rural Areas
Rural sociology
Rural studies
Segregation
Settlement patterns
Social conditions & trends
Social isolation
Sociology
Space
U.S.A
United States of America
White people
Whites
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Summary:This paper analyzes geographic patterns of population concentration and deconcentration among the foreign-born population during the 1990-2000 period. A goal is to examine whether the foreign-born population, including recent arrivals, are dispersing geographically from metro gateway cities into rural and other less densely populated parts of the country. The paper also evaluates the so-called balkanization hypothesis, which is that immigration flows run counter-cyclical to the redistribution trends of the native-born population, while reinforcing spatial isolation and immigrant segregation. Data for U.S. counties or county equivalents come from the 1990 and 2000 U.S. Census (Summary Files 1, 3 and 4). Our results suggest that America's immigrant population is dispersing spatially. Immigrants are less concentrated today than in the past and they are less segregated from other population groups, including their own racial group and whites. However, changes over the past decade have been modest. The immigrant population, even in 2000, remained considerably more concentrated than the native-born population. The empirical results provide little evidence of geographic balkanization.
ISSN:0036-0112
1549-0831
DOI:10.1526/003601106777789828