White ethnic residential segregation in historical perspective: US cities in 1880

Investigating immigrant residential patterns in 1880 offers a baseline for understanding residential assimilation trajectories in subsequent eras. This study uses 100% count information from the 1880 Census to estimate a multilevel model of ethnic isolation and exposure to native whites in 67 cities for individual Irish, German and British residents. At the individual level, the key predictors are drawn from assimilation theory: nativity, occupation, and marital status. The multilevel model makes it possible to control for these predictors and to study independent sources of variation in segregation across cities. There is considerable variation at the city level, especially due to differences in the relative sizes of groups. Other significant city-level predictors of people’s neighborhood composition include the share of group members who are foreign-born, the disparity in occupational standing between group members and native whites, and the degree of occupational segregation between them.

► Segregation between native whites and white ethnics was moderate in 1880. ► Individual spatial assimilation varied by parentage, occupation, and marriage choice. ► Segregation varied across cities depending on relative group sizes in each city. ► Occupational segregation was another important correlate of residential segregation.