Angela Simms is assistant professor of Sociology and Urban Studies at Barnard College-Columbia University. She examines the political economy of United States metropolitan areas through the lens of suburban Black middle-class jurisdictions’ capacity to garner sufficient tax revenue for maintaining high-quality public goods and services. On Feb. 24, 2026, she will publish the book “Fighting for a Foothold: How Government and Markets Undermine Black Middle-Class Suburbia,” through the Russell Sage Foundation. She has also published articles related to local government financial capacity, including “Fiscal Fragility in Black Middle-Class Suburbia and Consequences for K-12 Public Schools and Other Public Services,” in The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences (2023); and “COVID-19, Black Jurisdictions, and Budget Constraints: How Fiscal Footing Shapes Fighting the Virus,” in Racial and Ethnic Studies (2021).
Angela serves as a co-chair of Columbia Population Research Center’s Working Group on Urbanism and Neighborhoods. She is also on the editorial board of Sociology of Race and Ethnicity Journal. During the 2023-2024 academic year, Angela was a Russell Sage Foundation Visiting Scholar.
Prior to academia, Angela served in the federal government for seven years as a Presidential Management Fellow and legislative analyst at the Office of Management and Budget during the George W. Bush and Barack Obama Administrations. She holds a PhD in sociology from the University of Pennsylvania, a master’s degree in public policy from the University of Texas-Austin, and a bachelor’s degree in government from William and Mary.
