Patterns of Settlement Following Forced Migration: The Case of Bosnians in the United States

This article examines the geographic distribution of Bosnian-born U.S. residents using new data from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey. The data show that Bosnians remain highly concentrated in a handful of counties, and that their patterns of settlement across census tracts differ depending on the county in question. In Chicago’s Cook County, a majority of the Bosnian population lives in upper-middle income neighborhoods with only a tiny portion in the county’s lowest-income neighborhoods. In St. Louis and many of the other major centers of the Bosnian population, Bosnian residents are spread across the low and middle income neighborhoods. In Utica’s Oneida County, most Bosnians live in the lowest-income neighborhoods. These patterns appear to reflect internal divisions within the Bosnian diaspora, and they are consistent with theories on the role of co-ethnic networks in facilitating immigrants' economic integration and advancement. They also suggest that the process of segmented assimilation may play a role in the lives of future generations of Bosnian-Americans, and they highlight the importance of ensuring that the economic costs and benefits of refugee resettlement are shared equitably across communities