"Rust Belt" Across America: An Application of a Nationwide, Block-Group-Level Deprivation Index

TL;DR

This study develops a nationwide deprivation index at the block-group level in the US, revealing the distribution and characteristics of high-deprivation areas across cities of all sizes, with Detroit being notably unique.

Contribution

It introduces a standardized, nationwide deprivation measure at the block-group level and analyzes the spatial distribution of high-deprivation areas across diverse US cities.

Findings

Detroit has the highest deprivation levels and dispersion of deprived areas.

Smaller cities can have larger shares of high-deprivation areas than larger cities.

High deprivation correlates positively with poverty, density, and White population, negatively with Black population.

Abstract

In the United States, large post-industrial cites such as Detroit are well-known for high levels of socioeconomic deprivation. But while Detroit is an exceptional case, similar levels of deprivation can still be found in other large cities, as well as in smaller towns and rural areas. This study calculates a standardized measure for all block groups in the lower 48 states and DC, before isolating "high-deprivation" areas that exceed Detroit's median value. These block groups are investigated and mapped for the 83 cities with populations above 250,000, as well as at the state level and for places of all sizes. Detroit is shown to indeed be unique not only for its levels of deprivation (which are higher than 95 percent of the country), but also for the dispersion of highly-deprived block groups throughout the city. Smaller, more concentrated pockets of high deprivation can be found in nearly every large city, and some cities below 20,000 residents have an even larger share of high-deprivation areas. Cities' percentages of high-deprivation areas are positively related to overall poverty, population density, and the percentage of White residents, and negatively related to the share of Black residents.