Residential segregation of same-sex partnered households in the US: New evidence from US census 2010

Purpose: Quantitative research on the segregation of same-sex partners in the USA is new, and limited by challenges related to the accurate measurement of segregation and data errors. The purpose of this paper is to provide a novel approach to re-examine residential segregation between same-sex partners and different-sex partners in the USA. Design/methodology/approach: Two versions of the dissimilarity index and corrected same-sex partners data from the 2010 decennial census were used. Effects of different geographic scales were examined. Findings: Results reveal that the levels of segregation of both male and female same-sex partners were higher at metropolitan- vs state-levels; the levels of segregation was lower when measured using the unbiased as compared to the conventional version of the D-index; and male same-sex partnered households were more segregated from different-sex partnered households than were female same-sex partnered households. Research limitations/implications: Future studies should be attuned to geographic scale effects and should not ignore the bias of the D-index. Originality/value: This study provides a better test of the differences between the two versions of the D-index and contributes to the literature by examining the segregation of both male same-sex partners and female same-sex partners across different geographic scales.