Since its inception, the United States has been a uniquely diverse nation – with each successive wave of immigrants contributing to both American culture and the American economy.
In 2024, there were 48 million immigrants residing in the U.S. and working in fields ranging from construction, to nursing, to software development. As the native-born American population continues to age, welcoming new people to the country will be a vital component of continuing to grow the economy, according to a joint analysis by the Immigration Research Initiative and Economic Policy Institute.
While the whole of the U.S. is often referred to as a melting pot, some cities are far more diverse than others.
“The most diverse cities demonstrate diversity in many dimensions – not just in race and gender but also everything from residents’ languages and birthplaces to their job types and household sizes,” said Chip Lupo, an analyst at the consumer finance site WalletHub, in a statement.
“These cities blend together a multitude of different perspectives, helping people to better understand the world around them and become more empathetic. This exchange of ideas also tends to increase the economic success of diverse cities.”
WalletHub ranked 64 American cities, with more than 300,000 residents, based on their performance across five categories: household diversity, religious diversity, socioeconomic diversity, cultural diversity and economic diversity.
The analysis used data relating to 13 metrics to rate performance. Those metrics included educational-attainment diversity, linguistic diversity, and industry diversity. WalletHub pulled data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Religion Census to conduct the analysis.
Continue reading to learn more about the five least diverse and five most diverse major cities in the U.S.
Virginia Beach is the fifth least diverse major city in America. It performed especially poorly in the household diversity category.
Seattle is the fourth least diverse major city in America. It performed especially poorly in the economic diversity category.
El Paso is the third least diverse major city in America. It performed especially poorly in the cultural diversity category.
Portland is the second least diverse major city in America. It performed especially poorly in the religious diversity category.
Detroit is the least diverse major city in America. It performed especially poorly in the household diversity category.
Los Angeles is the fifth most diverse major city in America. It came in ninth place for socioeconomic diversity.
Charlotte is the fourth most diverse major city in America. It came in seventh place for socioeconomic diversity.
New York is the third most diverse major city in America. It came in sixth place for cultural diversity.
Houston is the second most diverse major city in America. It performed especially well in the socioeconomic diversity category.
Arlington is the most diverse major city in America. It performed especially well in the cultural diversity category.
The post The 5 most diverse major cities in America — and the 5 least appeared first on Quartz.
