Most diverse cities in the US

America is the fourth-largest country in the world by land mass and the third most populous country. When combined, these two factors make the country a very diverse place to live. Which got us thinking: Which is the most diverse city in the country?

To find out which cities are most and least diverse in the US, we analyzed census data for 17 key diversity factors and grouped those factors into three categories:

1. Cultural diversity
2. Socioeconomic diversity
3. Household diversity

We then used the results to score the cities based on overall diversity. We found 209 different cities with enough data to satisfy each of the criteria.

Top five most diverse cities in the US

California is home to 51 out of 209 cities listed on our diversity index, with its cities earning an average overall diversity score of 58.28. Texas is the only other state on the list with double-digit entries at 13 cities and an average score of 56.84. Unsurprisingly, a California city tops our list.

1. Richmond, California

Coming in first for diversity is Richmond, California, with an overall, or combined, diversity score of 62.23. Richmond’s score is bolstered by its third-place ranking for cultural diversity with a score of 32.6, which accounts for sex, race, ethnicity, age, language, place of birth and citizenship.

Richmond scores 18.3 for socioeconomic diversity — or 46th on our list of cities in this category. This is calculated using educational attainment, income, occupation, industry, class of worker and veteran status scores.

Finally, Richmond scores 11.4 for household diversity, holding the 33rd position in this category, which looks at household type, marital status, family type and family size.

2. Bridgeport, Connecticut

Across the country and in second place is Bridgeport, Connecticut, with an overall diversity score of 62.18. Bridgeport comes in just behind Richmond for cultural diversity with a score of 32.5 — good for fourth on the list. And it outperforms Richmond for household diversity, with a score of 11.7, or 15th in this category.

What stops Bridgeport from taking the No. 1 spot for overall diversity is how it ranks for socioeconomic diversity, scoring 17.9 and landing it in the 104th position.

3. Dale City, Virginia

Staying on the East Coast, we have our bronze winner, Dale City, Virginia, which earns an overall diversity score of 62.15. The city ranks fairly well for cultural diversity at a score of 32.2, putting it in eighth place for the category. And it does well in socioeconomic diversity, earning 12th place with a score of 18.9. But an 11.1 score for household diversity pulls Dale City down into 69th place for the metric.

4. Inglewood, California

Back on the West Coast and in fourth place is Inglewood, California. Inglewood scores a 61.63 for overall diversity. Unlike all other cities in the top five that owe their positions to also ranking in the top 10 for cultural diversity, Inglewood secures its place with an 11.9 score for household diversity, putting it at fifth place for the category.

In contrast, Inglewood gets 24th place for cultural diversity with a score of 31. But it does a bit better when it comes to socioeconomic diversity, with a score of 18.7 that puts it in 16th place.

5. San Leandro, California

California’s San Leandro rounds out the top five with a score of 61.26 for overall diversity. Its cultural diversity score of 32.1 — ninth for cultural diversity overall — bolster its overall score.

San Leandro scores 18.1 for socioeconomic diversity — 74th overall for this metric. And it’s tied with Dale City for household diversity at 69th place with a score of 11.1.

The five least diverse US cities

Just as there is light, there is dark, so too must this list have a bottom five cities.

1. Scottsdale, Arizona

Scottsdale, Arizona, ranks the least diverse city on our list, netting an overall diversity score of 46.3.

• Cultural diversity: 20.8, 206th place
• Socioeconomic diversity: 16.1, 198th place
• Household diversity: 9.3, 202nd place

2. Duluth, Minnesota

Coming in at second on our least diverse cities in the US is Duluth, Minnesota, with an overall diversity score of 47.25. It also earns the unfortunate title of least culturally diverse city in America — dead last for that metric.

• Cultural diversity: 18.7, 209th place
• Socioeconomic diversity: 17.8, 119th place
• Household diversity: 10.7, 131st place

3. Springfield, Missouri

Just behind Duluth is Springfield, Missouri, with an overall diversity score of 47.83. Duluth’s low rank is due in part to its cultural diversity score, which is second lowest for the metric.

• Cultural diversity: 19.4, 208th place
• Socioeconomic diversity: 17.7, 128th place
• Household diversity: 10.7, 131st place

4. Arvada, Colorado

Arvada, Colorado, comes in at fourth among least diverse cities with a 48.38 overall diversity score. Low cultural diversity and household diversity scores contribute to its rank.

• Cultural diversity: 20.6, 207th place
• Socioeconomic diversity: 17.7, 128th place
• Household diversity: 10.1, 180th place

5. Sioux Falls, South Dakota

Rounding out the bottom five is Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Like Arvada, its overall score of 48.73 is partly the result of low cultural and household diversity scores.

• Cultural diversity: 21.3, 199th place
• Socioeconomic diversity: 17.6, 145th place
• Household diversity: 9.9, 191st place

Most culturally diverse cities

To score cities based on the cultural diversity index, we analyzed sex, race, ethnicity, age, language, place of birth and citizenship.

The top most culturally diverse cities are:

1. Hayward, California
2. Irving, Texas
3. Richmond, California
4. Jersey City, New Jersey
5. Bridgeport, Connecticut

Most socioeconomically diverse cities

Our socioeconomic diversity index is calculated by analyzing educational attainment, income, occupation, industry, class of worker and veteran status.

The top five most socioeconomically diverse cities:

1. Fayetteville, North Carolina
2. Norfolk, Virginia
3. Vacaville, California
4. Newport News, Virginia
5. Hampton, Virginia

Vacaville has the highest share of population of any city we looked at — 40.3% of all city residents — whose highest educational attainment is some college or an associate degree.

Cities with the most household diversity

Our household diversity index is calculated using household type, marital status, family type and family size.

The top five cities with greatest household diversity are:

1. Fayetteville, North Carolina
2. Fresno, California
3. Norfolk, Virginia
4. El Paso, Texas
5. Sacramento, California

Interestingly, Fayetteville has the highest share of cohabiting couples in cities we looked at — 41.1% of the city’s households.

Full ranking of the most diverse cities overall

Here’s the complete list of cities included in our study. Find your city using the search function.

City rankings for each diversity metric

Rank	City	State	Cultural diversity	Socioeconomic diversity	Household diversity
1	Richmond	California	32.6	18.3	11.4
2	Bridgeport	Connecticut	32.5	17.9	11.7
3	Dale City	Virginia	32.2	18.9	11.1
4	Inglewood	California	31.0	18.7	11.9
5	San Leandro	California	32.1	18.1	11.1
6	Stockton	California	30.9	18.5	11.8
7	Antioch	California	31.0	18.4	11.7
8	Hayward	California	32.9	17.6	10.6
9	Sacramento	California	30.3	18.7	11.9
10	Los Angeles	California	31.7	18.0	11.3
11	El Monte	California	32.1	17.9	10.9
12	Hawthorne	California	30.7	18.4	11.5
13	Yonkers	New York	31.5	17.9	11.4
14	New York	New York	32.0	17.5	11.0
15	Silver Spring	Maryland	32.3	17.2	11.0
16	Elizabeth	New Jersey	31.7	17.5	11.3
17	Sunrise Manor	Nevada	31.0	18.0	11.5
18	Long Beach	California	30.5	18.4	11.6
19	Chula Vista	California	30.3	18.8	11.2
20	North Las Vegas	Nevada	30.5	18.4	11.3
21	Irving	Texas	32.7	17.5	10.0
22	Newark	New Jersey	31.4	17.7	11.1
23	Pomona	California	30.3	18.2	11.6
24	Hartford	Connecticut	32.3	17.3	10.6
25	Providence	Rhode Island	31.8	17.3	10.9
26	Paterson	New Jersey	32.1	16.9	11.1
27	Fresno	California	29.1	18.7	12.2
28	Garden Grove	California	31.2	18.0	10.7
29	Oakland	California	31.1	17.6	11.1
30	Paradise	Nevada	30.8	17.9	11.0
31	Houston	Texas	30.6	18.0	11.1
32	Spring Valley	Nevada	31.2	17.6	10.7
33	Springfield	Massachusetts	29.7	18.0	11.8
34	Riverside	California	29.7	18.4	11.3
35	Anaheim	California	30.3	18.1	11.0
36	San Bernardino	California	29.3	18.3	11.7
37	Brockton	Massachusetts	29.2	18.1	11.8
38	Fayetteville	North Carolina	26.4	20.5	12.3
39	Fontana	California	30.1	18.3	10.8
40	Elk Grove	California	29.8	18.2	11.1
41	New Haven	Connecticut	30.9	17.5	10.7
42	Corona	California	29.9	18.2	11.0
43	Aurora	Colorado	29.4	18.6	11.1
44	Las Vegas	Nevada	29.4	18.4	11.2
45	Arlington	Texas	29.7	18.2	11.0
46	Jersey City	New Jersey	32.5	16.4	10.0
47	Auburn	Washington	29.3	18.4	10.9
48	Garland	Texas	30.0	18.1	10.5
49	Daly City	California	30.5	17.9	10.2
50	San Jose	California	31.8	16.8	9.9
51	Tucson	Arizona	27.9	18.7	11.7
52	Urban Honolulu	Hawaii	28.7	18.8	10.9
53	Bakersfield	California	28.4	18.5	11.4
54	Concord	California	30.0	17.7	10.5
55	Ontario	California	29.2	18.0	11.0
56	San Diego	California	29.2	18.0	10.8
57	Dallas	Texas	29.3	17.8	10.9
58	Pasadena	California	31.1	16.4	10.4
59	Santa Rosa	California	28.7	18.2	11.1
60	Worcester	Massachusetts	28.4	18.1	11.4
61	Santa Ana	California	29.2	17.8	10.7
62	Costa Mesa	California	29.6	17.7	10.4
63	Escondido	California	27.8	18.6	11.3
64	Chicago	Illinois	29.4	17.4	10.9
65	Vacaville	California	27.2	19.6	10.8
66	Lowell	Massachusetts	29.2	17.6	10.7
67	Orlando	Florida	29.7	17.4	10.5
68	Fort Worth	Texas	28.4	18.2	10.9
69	Fullerton	California	29.6	17.6	10.2
70	Norfolk	Virginia	25.1	20.2	12.1
71	Glendale	Arizona	27.6	18.5	11.3
72	Oceanside	California	27.3	19.0	11.0
73	Stamford	Connecticut	30.1	17.0	10.2
74	Everett	Washington	27.3	18.5	11.4
75	Tampa	Florida	28.6	17.7	10.9
76	Aurora	Illinois	29.6	17.5	10.1
77	Boston	Massachusetts	30.1	16.6	10.4
78	Newport News	Virginia	25.7	19.5	11.9
79	Salinas	California	28.0	18.0	11.0
80	El Paso	Texas	25.9	19.1	12.0
81	El Cajon	California	27.9	18.4	10.6
82	Phoenix	Arizona	27.7	18.1	11.1
83	Albuquerque	New Mexico	26.5	18.5	11.8
84	Alameda	California	29.2	16.8	10.6
85	St. Paul	Minnesota	27.8	17.7	11.2
86	Philadelphia	Pennsylvania	27.8	17.7	11.2
87	Miami	Florida	27.8	17.8	11.0
88	Glendale	California	28.9	17.4	10.3
89	Upland	California	28.2	17.7	10.7
90	Fort Lauderdale	Florida	27.9	17.9	10.7
91	San Antonio	Texas	26.4	18.6	11.4
92	Alexandria	Virginia	28.3	17.0	11.0
93	Oklahoma City	Oklahoma	26.1	18.7	11.5
94	Buffalo	New York	26.9	18.0	11.4
95	Tacoma	Washington	26.1	18.7	11.3
96	Rochester	New York	27.4	17.8	11.0
97	Anchorage	Alaska	26.2	18.9	11.0
98	Torrance	California	30.1	16.3	9.7
99	Syracuse	New York	26.3	18.2	11.5
100	Albany	New York	25.8	18.1	11.9
101	Charlotte	North Carolina	28.0	17.3	10.5
102	Santa Clarita	California	27.6	17.9	10.3
103	Reno	Nevada	26.6	18.3	10.9
104	Jacksonville	Florida	26.1	18.5	11.1
105	Milwaukee	Wisconsin	27.1	17.6	10.9
106	Greensboro	North Carolina	26.7	18.0	11.1
107	San Francisco	California	30.2	15.7	9.6
108	Austin	Texas	27.6	17.1	10.8
109	Gainesville	Florida	25.8	18.4	11.2
110	Hampton	Virginia	24.0	19.5	11.9
111	Virginia Beach	Virginia	24.8	19.5	11.0
112	Tulsa	Oklahoma	25.9	18.1	11.2
113	East Los Angeles	California	25.9	17.6	11.7
114	Redwood City	California	30.2	15.6	9.3
115	Durham	North Carolina	27.0	17.1	10.9
116	Orange	California	27.7	17.4	9.9
117	Salem	Oregon	24.8	18.6	11.5
118	Quincy	Massachusetts	27.5	16.9	10.5
119	Salt Lake City	Utah	26.7	17.7	10.5
120	Winston-Salem	North Carolina	25.7	18.0	11.2
121	Raleigh	North Carolina	26.6	17.3	10.8
122	Irvine	California	29.7	15.0	10.0
123	Cleveland	Ohio	25.4	18.1	11.3
124	Thornton	Colorado	26.5	18.2	10.0
125	Denton	Texas	25.6	18.2	11.0
126	Columbia	South Carolina	23.9	19.2	11.5
127	Lansing	Michigan	25.3	18.1	11.2
128	Tallahassee	Florida	24.7	18.2	11.7
129	Columbus	Ohio	25.6	17.8	11.2
130	Sunnyvale	California	31.1	14.5	8.9
131	Gresham	Oregon	25.7	18.1	10.6
132	Plano	Texas	28.5	16.2	9.6
133	South Bend	Indiana	25.4	17.8	11.0
134	Huntington Beach	California	26.6	17.4	10.2
135	Nashville-Davidson metropolitan government	Tennessee	25.8	17.7	10.7
136	Athens-Clarke County unified government	Georgia	25.1	18.3	10.8
137	Greeley	Colorado	25.0	18.4	10.8
138	Corpus Christi	Texas	23.3	19.0	11.8
139	Augusta-Richmond County consolidated government	Georgia	23.3	19.2	11.5
140	Vancouver	Washington	24.9	18.2	10.8
141	Lubbock	Texas	24.3	18.4	11.2
142	Kansas City	Missouri	24.9	18.0	10.9
143	Savannah	Georgia	24.1	18.6	11.0
144	Wichita	Kansas	24.4	18.3	10.9
145	Tempe	Arizona	26.2	17.2	10.3
146	Little Rock	Arkansas	23.9	18.2	11.5
147	Chandler	Arizona	26.9	16.8	10.0
148	Richmond	Virginia	24.6	18.2	10.7
149	Mesa	Arizona	24.6	18.1	10.8
150	Des Moines	Iowa	24.1	18.1	11.2
151	Washington	District of Columbia	26.4	16.0	11.0
152	Indianapolis city	Indiana	24.8	17.9	10.7
153	Fremont	California	29.8	15.1	8.5
154	Denver	Colorado	25.9	17.0	10.5
155	Henderson	Nevada	24.9	18.3	10.2
156	Minneapolis	Minnesota	26.0	16.8	10.6
157	Colorado Springs	Colorado	23.9	18.6	10.9
158	Grand Rapids	Michigan	24.9	17.6	10.8
159	Memphis	Tennessee	23.5	18.2	11.4
160	West Jordan	Utah	24.6	17.9	10.3
161	Baltimore	Maryland	23.4	17.9	11.5
162	Lexington-Fayette urban	Kentucky	23.6	18.0	11.0
163	Baton Rouge	Louisiana	23.0	18.3	11.3
164	Arlington	Virginia	26.9	15.5	10.1
165	Omaha	Nebraska	24.2	17.7	10.5
166	Fort Wayne	Indiana	23.8	17.8	10.7
167	New Orleans	Louisiana	23.2	17.9	11.3
168	Dayton	Ohio	23.2	17.9	11.2
169	Bellevue	Washington	29.1	14.6	8.6
170	Portland	Oregon	24.4	17.1	10.7
171	St. Louis	Missouri	23.9	17.4	10.9
172	Akron	Ohio	22.9	17.9	11.2
173	Louisville/Jefferson County metro government	Kentucky	23.0	18.0	10.9
174	Cincinnati	Ohio	23.4	17.4	11.0
175	Seattle	Washington	26.3	15.7	9.7
176	Toledo	Ohio	22.6	17.8	11.1
177	Mobile	Alabama	21.8	18.5	11.2
178	Eugene	Oregon	21.9	18.2	11.3
179	Atlanta	Georgia	24.7	16.2	10.5
180	St. Petersburg	Florida	23.5	17.7	10.0
181	Wilmington	North Carolina	22.3	18.0	10.8
182	Knoxville	Tennessee	21.6	18.3	11.2
183	Madison	Wisconsin	23.2	17.2	10.6
184	Lakewood	Colorado	22.8	17.7	10.6
185	Springfield	Illinois	21.1	18.3	11.4
186	Hialeah	Florida	21.2	17.9	11.6
187	Spokane	Washington	21.0	18.3	11.2
188	Birmingham	Alabama	21.6	18.0	10.8
189	Detroit	Michigan	21.7	17.7	11.0
190	Pittsburgh	Pennsylvania	23.3	16.6	10.4
191	Lincoln	Nebraska	21.6	18.2	10.5
192	Bloomington	Indiana	22.3	17.7	10.3
193	Davenport	Iowa	21.7	18.2	10.3
194	Cambridge	Massachusetts	28.3	13.1	8.7
195	Gilbert	Arizona	23.0	17.2	9.9
196	Charleston	South Carolina	22.4	17.7	10.0
197	Cedar Rapids	Iowa	21.2	18.0	10.7
198	Rochester	Minnesota	23.7	16.7	9.4
199	Provo	Utah	23.6	16.9	9.2
200	Orem	Utah	23.2	17.0	9.4
201	Fort Collins	Colorado	21.1	17.6	10.5
202	Sandy	Utah	22.3	17.1	9.9
203	Boise City	Idaho	21.1	17.9	10.0
204	Naperville	Illinois	25.7	14.7	8.6
205	Sioux Falls	South Dakota	21.3	17.6	9.9
206	Arvada	Colorado	20.6	17.7	10.1
207	Springfield	Missouri	19.4	17.7	10.7
208	Duluth	Minnesota	18.7	17.8	10.7
209	Scottsdale	Arizona	20.8	16.1	9.3

Methodology

To determine which cities are the most diverse, we analyzed three diversity metrics in 209 cities:

• Cultural diversity
• Socioeconomic diversity
• Household diversity.

We then calculated Simpson’s Diversity Index for each metric, which is a measure of diversity that accounts for richness and evenness of diversity — or the probability that two people taken at random from the population are the same type.

After we scored each metric using the Simpson Diversity Index, we weighted each of our three categories.

Cultural diversity — 50 points

• Sex — 10 points
• Race — 10 points
• Ethnicity — 5 points
• Age — 10 points
• Language — 5 points
• Place of birth — 5 points
• Citizenship — 5 points

Socioeconomic diversity — 30 points

• Educational attainment — 5 points
• Income — 5 points
• Occupation — 5 points
• Industry — 5 points
• Class of worker — 5 points
• Veteran Status — 5 points

Household diversity — 20 points

• Household type — 5 points
• Marital status — 5 points
• Family type — 5 points
• Family size — 5 points

Our data is sourced from the 2019 American Community Survey (ACS) 1-Year Data by the Census Bureau. We chose the 209 cities in our analysis based on cities whose available data included all 17 metrics in the ACS.

Due to this sampling, these eight states are not included in our list:

• Delaware
• Maine
• Mississippi
• New Hampshire
• North Dakota
• Vermont
• West Virginia
• Wyoming

Notably, we did not include religion, sexual orientation and gender identity data points due to a lack of data collected in those categories in the US Census.