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Segregation Tracking Project

Comprehensive tracking of segregation across every U.S. neighborhood and school, from the Segregation Tracking Project (USC/Stanford). Includes the publicly available exposure-segregation dataset from Nilforoshan et al. (Nature, 2023) — socioeconomic segregation measured via anonymized mobility data for 382 metropolitan areas and 2,828 counties. The full Segregation Tracking Project dataset (racial/economic segregation in schools and neighborhoods, 1970–2020+) is available at edopportunity.org under a data use agreement.

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Dataset Files

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/society-and-living-standards/segregation-tracking/
https://datahub.io/society-and-living-standards/segregation-tracking/_r/-/README.md
https://datahub.io/society-and-living-standards/segregation-tracking/_r/-/data/exposure-segregation-county.csv
https://datahub.io/society-and-living-standards/segregation-tracking/_r/-/data/exposure-segregation-msa.csv
https://datahub.io/society-and-living-standards/segregation-tracking/_r/-/datapackage.json
Key Files

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datapackage.jsonmetadata & schema
https://datahub.io/society-and-living-standards/segregation-tracking/_r/-/datapackage.json
README.mddocumentation
https://datahub.io/society-and-living-standards/segregation-tracking/_r/-/README.md
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  1. 1. Fetch datapackage.json to inspect schema and resources
  2. 2. Download data resources listed in datapackage.json
  3. 3. Read README.md for full context

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Socioeconomic Exposure Segregation by County

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Schema

nametypedescription
exposure_segregationnumberRaw exposure segregation index. Higher values indicate greater socioeconomic segregation in daily mobility patterns.
fips_codeintegerCounty FIPS code (5-digit Federal Information Processing Standard)
county_namestringCounty name
exposure_segregation_smoothednumberSmoothed exposure segregation index (0–1 scale). Values smoothed to account for small-area estimation noise.

Socioeconomic Exposure Segregation by Metropolitan Area

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Schema

nametypedescription
exposure_segregationnumberExposure segregation index. Higher values indicate greater socioeconomic segregation in daily mobility patterns.
msastringMetropolitan Statistical Area name (e.g. 'New York, NY')
bridging_indexnumberBridging index (0–1). Measures cross-socioeconomic connectivity — how much lower-income residents encounter higher-income residents relative to a random baseline. Higher values indicate more bridging across economic groups.

Data Files

FileDescriptionSizeLast modifiedDownload
exposure-segregation-county
Socioeconomic exposure segregation index for 2,828 U.S. counties, derived from anonymized cell phone mobility data (SafeGraph, 2017). Measures the degree to which lower- and higher-income residents encounter each other in their daily movements.132 kBabout 1 month ago
exposure-segregation-county
exposure-segregation-msa
Socioeconomic exposure segregation for 382 U.S. metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs), with bridging index. Derived from 1.6 billion person-to-person encounters among 9.6 million individuals (SafeGraph mobility data, 2017). Key finding: exposure segregation is 67% higher in the ten largest metros than in small MSAs.23.2 kBabout 1 month ago
exposure-segregation-msa
FilesSizeFormatCreatedUpdatedLicenseSource
2155 kBcsvabout 1 month agoSegregation Tracking Project Data Use Agreement (non-commercial, attribution required)The Segregation Tracking Project — USC/Stanford

Segregation Tracking Project

Comprehensive tracking of segregation across U.S. neighborhoods and schools — a collaboration between USC and Stanford.

Overview

The Segregation Tracking Project provides data on racial, ethnic, and economic segregation across every U.S. neighborhood and school. Maintained by Sean Reardon (Stanford) and Ann Owens (UCLA).

This dataset includes the publicly available exposure-segregation data from the companion research paper (Nilforoshan et al., Nature 2023), which measures socioeconomic segregation through anonymized mobility patterns.

Data

FileDescriptionRows
data/exposure-segregation-county.csvExposure segregation by county2,828
data/exposure-segregation-msa.csvExposure segregation by metro area382

County-level data

FieldDescription
exposure_segregationRaw exposure segregation index
fips_codeCounty FIPS code
county_nameCounty name
exposure_segregation_smoothedSmoothed index (0–1 scale)

MSA-level data

FieldDescription
exposure_segregationExposure segregation index
msaMetropolitan Statistical Area name
bridging_indexCross-group connectivity index (0–1)

Key Finding

Socioeconomic exposure segregation is 67% higher in the ten largest metropolitan areas than in small MSAs with fewer than 100,000 residents — contradicting the assumption that large, diverse cities promote economic mixing.

Methodology

  • Based on 1.6 billion person-to-person encounters among 9.6 million individuals
  • Data source: Anonymized cell phone location records (SafeGraph, 2017, 3-month window)
  • Socioeconomic status inferred from nighttime home location and local rental prices
  • Exposure Segregation: measures how much lower-income and higher-income residents encounter each other in daily movements
  • Bridging Index: normalized measure (0–1) of cross-income encounters relative to a random baseline

Full Dataset Access

The complete Segregation Tracking Project dataset — covering racial/ethnic and economic segregation across neighborhoods and schools from 1970 to the present — is available at:

https://edopportunity.org/segregation/data/

Registration (email + data use agreement) required. Free for research use; commercial use prohibited.

Source Paper

Nilforoshan, H., Looi, W., Pierson, E., Villanueva, B., Fishman, N., Chen, Y., Sholar, J., Redbird, B., Grusky, D., & Leskovec, J. (2023). Human mobility networks reveal increased segregation in large cities. Nature, 623, 71–77. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-06757-3

Project Credits

Segregation Tracking Project: Sean Reardon (Stanford), Ann Owens (UCLA), Demetra Kalogrides (Stanford). Funded by Russell Sage Foundation, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Exposure-Segregation Research: Hamed Nilforoshan, Wenli Looi, Emma Pierson, Blanca Villanueva, Nic Fishman, Yiling Chen, John Sholar, Beth Redbird, David Grusky, Jure Leskovec — Stanford SNAP Lab.