Separate and Unequal

From this page you can download the data that were used to prepare the "Separate and Unequal" web pages for metropolitan areas and also for counties. Click here for a list of variable descriptions.

Download data for metropolitan areas

Option 1 - Download the metropolitan-level file, where “neighborhoods” are defined as a census tract plus its adjacent tracts.
The full file contains information for all metropolitan areas for 1990, 2000 and the 2005-09.

Click on one of the following file formats. You will download a zip file that includes two files. The one with a name beginning with “income_” provides data on people’s neighborhoods categorized by their own household income. The one with a name beginning with “nativity_” provides data on people’s neighborhoods categorized by their place of birth.

Option 2 - Download the metropolitan-level file, where “neighborhoods” are defined as just the census tract itself
This is not the file used in our webpage or in the “separate and Unequal” report, because socioeconomic data for single census tracts, particularly from the 2005-2009, has a high degree of unreliability due to small sample sizes and considerable non-response. However it may be useful for comparative purposes. The full file contains information for all metropolitan areas for 1990, 2000 and the 2005-09.

Click on one of the following file formats. You will download a zip file that includes two files. The one with a name beginning with “income_” provides data on people’s neighborhoods categorized by their own household income. The one with a name beginning with “nativity_” provides data on people’s neighborhoods categorized by their place of birth.

Option 3 - Download the files necessary to identify, for every census tract, its adjacent tracts. This is equivalent to a weights matrix (queen’s) in GIS terms.
For each year we provide two files, which together give users the ability to determine all of the tracts that are adjacent to a given tract. This capability would be especially useful for spatial analyses that require a weights matrix, such as spatial regression.

The file named tract_nnnn (where nnnn is the year) lists the key geographic identifiers for tracts: these include a state, county and tract number, a tractid that concatenates these into a single number, and a tract id (GISJOIN) that treats this number as a string variable. It also gives every tract a simple sequential id number that can be sued to identify it and its adjacent tracts. In the file named nlist_nnnn every tract is listed in one column with one identifier, and each of its adjacent tracts (and itself) are listed as separate cases with another identifier.

You will download a zip file that includes two files. The file named tract_nnnn (where nnnn is the year) lists the key geographic identifiers for tracts: these include a state, county and tract number, a tractid that concatenates these into a single number, and a tract id (GISJOIN) that treats this number as a string variable. It also gives every tract a simple sequential id number that can be used to identify it and its adjacent tracts. In the file named nlist_nnnn every tract is listed in one column with one identifier, and each of its adjacent tracts (and itself) are listed as separate cases with another identifier.

Select the year(s):  1990
 2000
 2005-09 ACS
Select the format:  Comma Delimited
 STATA Version 8 SE


Download data for counties

Option 1 - Download the county-level file, where "neighborhoods" are defined as a census tract plus its adjacent tracts.
The full file contains information for all county areas for 1990, 2000 and the 2005-09.

Click on one of the following file formats. You will download a zip file that includes two files. The one with a name beginning with "income_" provides data on people's neighborhoods categorized by their own household income. The one with a name beginning with "nativity_" provides data on people's neighborhoods categorized by their place of birth.

Option 2 - Download the county-level file, where "neighborhoods" are defined as just the census tract itself
This is not the file used in our webpage or in the "separate and Unequal" report, because socioeconomic data for single census tracts, particularly from the 2005-2009, has a high degree of unreliability due to small sample sizes and considerable non-response. However it may be useful for comparative purposes. The full file contains information for all county areas for 1990, 2000 and the 2005-09.

Click on one of the following file formats. You will download a zip file that includes two files. The one with a name beginning with "income_" provides data on people's neighborhoods categorized by their own household income. The one with a name beginning with "nativity_" provides data on people's neighborhoods categorized by their place of birth.

© Spatial Structures in Social Sciences, Brown University