Indexes of Dissimilarity Showing Racial Residential Segregation for
Children Under 18 in the Detroit Metropolitan Area: 1990 and 2000

NOTE: These data refer to the six-county Detroit Primary Metropolitan Statistical Area: Lapeer, Macomb, Monroe, Oakland, St. Clair and Wayne Counties.

The index of dissimilarity measures the evenness with which two distinct groups are spread across the component geographic units of a city or metropolis. The index would take on its maximum value of 100 were all members of each group confined to geographic units made up exclusively of their own group; i.e., total Apartheid. If individuals were randomly assigned to place of residence, the index of dissimilarity would approach its minimum value of zero.

SOURCE: www.albany.edu/mumford/census

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