Census Trend Charts Demographic Maps Rankings & Comparisons Segregation Data  
Select a segregation measure to chart:
Exposure by Race
Dissimilarity Indices

For a metropolitan area or city:
then


Select a dissimilarity index to rank:

Select the geographical units you want ranked:
Metropolitan Areas
Cities
in


Visit the SSDAN Web Site
CensusScope is a product of the Social Science Data Analysis Network.

San Diego, CA

Print-Friendly Version

SEGREGATION: DISSIMILARITY INDICES

The dissimilarity index measures the relative separation or integration of groups across all neighborhoods of a city or metropolitan area. If a city's white-black dissimilarity index were 65, that would mean that 65% of white people would need to move to another neighborhood to make whites and blacks evenly distributed across all neighborhoods.

Dissimilarity Indices
Dissimilarity Index Percent of
With Whites* Population** Total Population
White* -- 1,548,833 55.04%
Black* 58.2 154,487 5.49%
American Indian* 42.5 15,253 0.54%
Asian* 52.5 245,297 8.72%
Native Hawaiian* 50.9 12,164 0.43%
Other* 42.6 5,822 0.21%
Two or More Races* 29.1 81,012 2.88%
White/Black* 43.2 8,970 0.32%
White/American Indian* 30.0 9,898 0.35%
White/Asian* 30.7 24,343 0.87%
White/Other* 37.5 13,200 0.47%
Other Combinations* -- 24,601 0.87%
Hispanic 52.9 750,965 26.69%
Total Population -- 2,813,833 100.00%

* Non-Hispanic only.

* When a group's population is small, its dissimilarity index may be high even if the group's members are evenly distributed throughout the area. Thus, when a group's population is less than 1,000, exercise caution in interpreting its dissimilarity indices.

Source: William H. Frey and Dowell Myers' analysis of Census 2000; and the Social Science Data Analysis Network (SSDAN).

Home | About | Help | Contact | Use Policy