St. Louis city has the reputation as being one of the most segregated cities in America. According the US Census Bureau, St. Louis ranks as the fourth most segregated large metropolitan area, beaten only by Milwaukee, Cleveland, and Detroit. Most St. Louisans can tell you that North St. Louis means black and South St. Louis means white, but I wanted to get a more detailed portrait of St. Louis’s racial demography.

Below is the map I was able to create from data from the 2000 census. It certainly is true that north overwhelmingly means black and vice versa, but I think it is interesting to look at the neighborhoods that are more muddled. There is not a clear wall between white and black but in the center a melting pot seems to have developed. Based on my personal experience, I was expecting that the middle of St. Louis would have a greater racial mixture than either north or south, but I expected this mixture to be segregated by individual block. While there is not perfect demographic homogeneity from block to block, the mixture of races within single blocks is much greater than I expected.

The large blank spaces are areas that are either entirely commercial or park/green space. I’d like to go back and do this for the 1990 and 1980 census, but I’m not sure if I will be able to get the appropriate information. A similar map of St. Louis racial divide can be found here