White and Negro inmigration rates into central city census tracts of five Virginia metropolitan areas were analyzed in terms of ecological characteristics-socioeconomic, demographic, and housing quality characteristics and the heterogeneity of these characteristics. As hypothesized, white inmigration rates exceeded Negro rates. Both white and Negro rates were higher in tracts with higher socioeconomic levels and better housing quality, and with smaller shares of Negro population but larger shares of families in child-rearing stages. Diversity of ecological characteristics proved to be less important than the tract characteristics, themselves, in the analysis of net relationships. Although the explained variance in Negro inmigration rates was much lower than that for whites, comparisons of the pattern of ecological determinants for the two races showed more similarities than differences.