The industrial city of the late 19th century was far different from the agrarian based society that preceded it. Despite a steadily declining birthrate, the United States population was growing at about 2% a year. However, growth and expansion in cities was much more rapid. Such urban growth was the result of a large-scale appeal to foreigners and farmers alike. Industrial cities encouraged them to leave their homes, where problems such as disenfranchisement, economic problems and in the case of many foreigners, religious, ethnic, or racial persecution, were rampant.
Cities promised work and better lives for people because of these problems. Farmers were continuously losing work and being replaced by machines that could do farming work far more efficiently and productively. Manufacturer jobs earned hundreds of dollars a year more than farmers. With all these factors combined, the industrial cities of the late 19th century started to emerge at the forefront of growth and expansion. .
For the first time, different districts in the city began to emerge. There were the central business districts, where banks, shops, theatres, firms, and businesses were found. Surrounding downtown were areas of light manufacturing and working class housing, followed by middleclass homes and the emergence of the suburbs. Small slums and ghettos were scattered around the inner city generally close to industrial activities like factories and sweat shops. As the cities grew, so did the separation of the classes, with ethnic groups and working class citizens usually far separate from the rich businessmen. Most of the well paid skilled jobs were reserved for Protestant whites; skilled northern European immigrants filled most of the middle class positions, while the lower class was made up of all different nationalities, cultures, and religions, specifically from southern and central Europe. Blacks had the lowest-end jobs reserved for them, as it was usually the best they could get from their white employers.