A snapshot of demographic shifts in South L.A. in the past 20 years

South Los Angeles has been a starting point on the road to economic mobility for over a century. Blacks migrated en masse from the South in the middle of the 20th century looking for better economic opportunities. More recently, Hispanic immigrants have flocked to South L.A., a place where they could eventually buy a house or start a business.

For South Los Angeles, though, climbing the wealth ladder has meant climbing out of the neighborhood, especially after the riots in 1992. As blacks moved to the middle class, many moved on to other parts of the city. And Hispanics from poorer countries have moved in to take the places of those who have left. Listen to the story

The population maps to the right illustrate a shift in racial demographics in the South Los Angeles area since 1990, focusing, respectively, on African-American and Hispanic migrations within select zip codes affected by the riots .

Click the play button on each map to see the "zip code bubbles" expand and contract, and hover over each of the "bubbles" to see the percentage of demographic shifts.

Explore the data for more detailed information by zipcode and race.

Source: Census Bureau