Class-based residential segregation in Montevideo: a census data-based approach

RAMOS, Victor Borrás

doi:10.1590/2236-9996.2026-6571091-es

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Original article • Cad. Metropole 28 (65) • Jan-Apr 2026 • https://doi.org/10.1590/2236-9996.2026-6571091-en linkcopy

Class-based residential segregation in Montevideo: a census data-based approach

Authorship SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

The article examines class-based residential segregation in Montevideo and its metropolitan area using census data from 1996 and 2011. The population is classified according to a social class scheme that combines occupation type and occupational category. Overall segregation is measured using Moran’s I index, and LISA maps describe local patterns. Montevideo’s social classes exhibit distinct residential patterns that were already consolidated in 1996 and reaffirmed in 2011. The upper-middle class is concentrated along the southern coast and in the southeastern metropolitan area, while the working class is concentrated in peripheral areas and non-coastal metropolitan corridors. Between 1996 and 2011, working-class segregation increased, regardless of the spatial scale considered.

Keywords
residential segregation; social classes; Montevideo

Class scheme	Definition	Synthesized class scheme
Company directors	Senior public officials or company directors, employers, or employees	Upper-middle class
Profesionales en funciones específicas	Professionals in specific functions, employers, employees, or self-employed
Professionals with specific roles	Company directors, self-employed or managers of companies, employers or self-employed; or technicians, teachers, and supervisors, or specialized workers who are employers
Technical staff and equivalents	Company managers or salaried technicians, teachers, and supervisors	Middle class
Self-employed workers	Technicians, teachers, and supervisors; or employees and sales staff; or specialized workers who are self-employed
Administrative and sales staff	Salaried employees and sales staff
Skilled workers	Salaried specialized workers	Working class
Low-skilled workers (including domestic work)	Unskilled workers who are employers, employees, or self-employed	Working class

	1996		2011		Relative percentage change 1996-2011
	Frequency	Percentage	Frequency	Percentage	Relative percentage change 1996-2011
Montevideo	1307562	81,6	1304728	78,9	-0,22
Metropolitan area	294101	18,4	348400	21,1	18,5
Montevideo and Metropolitan area	1601663	100	1653128	100	3,2

	1996		2011
	Frequency	Percentage	Frequency	Percentage
Upper Middle Working class	53340 303426 250350	8,8 50,0 41,2	63562 351774 334264	8,5 46,9 44,6
Total	607116	100,0	749600	100,0

Spatial weights	Years	Upper-middle class		Working class
Spatial weights	Years	Neighborhood	Census tracts	Neighborhood	Census tracts
4 nearest	1996	0,633	0,813	0,45	0,609
4 nearest	2011	0,523	0,817	0,553	0,762
6 nearest	1996	0,531	0,806	0,425	0,578
6 nearest	2011	0,392	0,803	0,503	0,737
Queen	1996	0,67	0,815	0,556	0,641
Queen	2011	0,599	0,828	0,655	0,781

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[1] Source: own elaboration based on Torrado (1992), Pla (2013), and Boado and Vanoli (2023).

[TFN2001] Note 1. For the purposes of this article, members of the Armed Forces and agricultural workers and producers are excluded from the scheme.