Retreat of the Rich? The Impact of High‐Income Household Mobility on Income Segregation

Abstract

This paper investigates how residential mobility among high‐income households shapes income segregation. Drawing on a unique data set covering all household relocations in Vienna between 2011 and 2018, we examine whether the movements of the top income quintile (Q5) reflect a broader ‘retreat of the rich’ to affluent clusters and, if so, how these mobility patterns influence both citywide and localized segregation. Using a combination of global and local dissimilarity indices, as well as a novel scenario‐based approach, we isolate the effects of intra‐urban mobility, income status change and in‐migration. The results show that Q5 households are consistently the most segregated group, and while they mostly tend to move between affluent areas, their mobility alone does not fully explain segregation trends. Instead, we find that the selective out‐migration of lower‐income groups from the same areas plays a critical role in reinforcing segregation. Local scenario analyses reveal that Q5 mobility can either increase or reduce segregation, depending on the spatial context, challenging simple narratives of a retreat of the rich. These findings underscore the importance of analysing segregation as a dynamic, multi‐scalar process shaped by the intersecting mobility patterns of all income groups, even in cities with inclusive housing regimes like Vienna.