Although the US infant mortality rate (IMR) has declined over the past 50 years it has been consistently higher than that of many industrialized countries.This unfavorable standing stems in large part from the substantial racial disparity in infant survival.The African American IMR has consistently remained at approximately twice the rate of whites. Because of these differences research has examined the relationship between social, cultural, and economic factors and its impact on infant mortality. One such social factor is the degree of residential segregation.Residential segregation serves as a proxy for racial inequality and unequal housing costs and earnings for the population.The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of infant mortality in 40 urban cities using 1990 census data and the index of dissimilarity (segregation score).The index of dissimilarity was used to rate 40 cities of 100,00 or more by the degree of Black/White racial segregation. This analysis revealed that African American IMR's were higher than white IMR's regardless of the city's segregation and the white infant mortality rates were not affected by segregation.These findings suggest that public policy that takes into account the unique conditions in which African Americans and whites live could be effective in reducing infant mortality.These policies must take into account not only micro-level racial differences such as health behaviors, but also macro-level differences such as differences in disease patterns that may be caused by more stressful conditions in urban African American communities.