This paper examines the relationship between urban characteristics in 1960 and urban growth (income and population) between 1960 and 1990. The authors find that income and population growth move together and are positively related to initial schooling, negatively related to initial unemployment, and negatively related to the share of employment initially in manufacturing. These results are consistent across different levels of aggregation, such as cities and SMSAs. Racial composition and segregation are generally uncorrelated with urban growth, but in communities with large non-white populations, segregation is positively correlated with white population growth. Government expenditures (except for sanitation) are not significantly correlated with urban growth, while government debt is positively correlated with later growth. The study contributes to the literature on economic growth by focusing on the role of human capital and other economic factors in city growth, while also examining the impact of social and political characteristics.This paper examines the relationship between urban characteristics in 1960 and urban growth (income and population) between 1960 and 1990. The authors find that income and population growth move together and are positively related to initial schooling, negatively related to initial unemployment, and negatively related to the share of employment initially in manufacturing. These results are consistent across different levels of aggregation, such as cities and SMSAs. Racial composition and segregation are generally uncorrelated with urban growth, but in communities with large non-white populations, segregation is positively correlated with white population growth. Government expenditures (except for sanitation) are not significantly correlated with urban growth, while government debt is positively correlated with later growth. The study contributes to the literature on economic growth by focusing on the role of human capital and other economic factors in city growth, while also examining the impact of social and political characteristics.