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Most Racially Diverse Cities in America

This ranking scores every US city of 50,000+ residents with a diversity index: the probability, from 0 to 100, that two residents chosen at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups. Vallejo, CA tops the list at 78 — a city where no group comes close to a majority. The 100 most diverse cities are ranked below.

The most diverse cities in America are rarely its most famous ones. The top of this list is dominated by mid-sized suburbs in immigration-gateway metros — California alone supplies 35 of the 100 — places like Vallejo and Federal Way where White, Hispanic, Black, and Asian populations each hold a substantial share and none dominates. A giant city with one large majority group can be less statistically diverse than a suburb a twentieth its size.

The index rewards balance, not the presence of any particular group: a city that is 95% any single group scores near zero, while a four-way even split scores near the theoretical maximum. The same measure at the state level — where Hawaii and California lead — runs well below the top cities here, because statewide averages blend diverse metros with homogeneous rural areas. Full race and ethnicity breakdowns are on every city page linked in the table.

Full Rankings

# City Diversity IndexWhiteHispanic/LatinoBlackAsian
1 Vallejo, CA 78/10020.5%29.8%16.9%22.7%
2 Federal Way, WA 78/10034.9%20.0%17.8%15.3%
3 Sacramento, CA 77/10029.3%29.4%11.8%20.1%
4 Oakland, CA 77/10027.8%28.7%19.7%15.7%
5 Fairfield, CA 77/10026.4%32.8%14.2%17.8%
6 Jersey City, NJ 77/10023.5%25.7%19.2%26.5%
7 Germantown, MD 77/10023.2%22.9%27.2%21.0%
8 Elk Grove, CA 76/10030.4%17.9%10.4%31.0%
9 Antioch, CA 76/10023.4%35.6%18.2%13.9%
10 Euless, TX 76/10037.3%22.3%17.2%13.3%
11 New York, NY 76/10031.0%28.5%20.4%14.6%
12 Dale City, VA 76/10023.4%33.8%23.2%11.9%
13 Kent, WA 76/10037.0%16.6%12.7%23.0%
14 Brockton, MA 76/10026.8%12.6%33.5%2.4%
15 Enterprise, NV 76/10036.2%18.9%10.9%23.0%
16 Spring Valley, NV 76/10035.9%22.7%12.3%21.1%
17 Hilo, HI 76/10014.3%11.0%0.8%34.2%
18 Florin, CA 75/10013.8%30.5%10.1%35.0%
19 Everett, MA 75/10034.4%32.5%9.4%8.2%
20 Gaithersburg, MD 75/10029.7%30.6%14.6%20.3%
21 San Leandro, CA 74/10019.7%29.3%9.5%35.8%
22 Pearland, TX 74/10036.4%25.4%19.2%15.5%
23 Missouri City, TX 74/10018.1%20.8%38.3%18.8%
24 Bolingbrook, IL 74/10034.8%28.9%17.7%14.1%
25 Renton, WA 74/10038.6%15.6%9.0%26.5%
26 Malden, MA 74/10038.7%9.5%13.2%28.1%
27 Silver Spring, MD 74/10032.8%24.5%28.3%8.5%
28 Pittsburg, CA 73/10015.8%43.0%13.7%19.4%
29 Castro Valley, CA 73/10033.5%19.8%8.7%32.9%
30 Killeen, TX 73/10025.6%27.2%35.5%3.9%
31 Lewisville, TX 73/10038.2%27.5%14.2%15.1%
32 Pflugerville, TX 73/10034.5%33.5%17.5%9.3%
33 Little Elm, TX 73/10041.3%19.8%21.3%10.9%
34 Coral Springs, FL 73/10033.0%31.2%24.0%4.9%
35 Deerfield Beach, FL 73/10036.7%23.4%26.5%1.7%
36 Margate, FL 73/10029.2%26.7%33.2%3.2%
37 Chicago, IL 73/10032.1%29.7%27.4%7.2%
38 Lakewood, WA 73/10045.0%18.8%13.3%6.9%
39 Aspen Hill, MD 73/10031.3%36.6%15.2%9.4%
40 Brooklyn Park, MN 73/10036.2%7.1%29.7%20.2%
41 New Haven, CT 73/10030.0%31.0%27.7%5.2%
42 Pasadena, CA 72/10034.9%34.0%8.0%17.0%
43 San Mateo, CA 72/10034.4%27.6%1.4%28.0%
44 Tracy, CA 72/10023.6%40.5%6.4%23.2%
45 Carson, CA 72/1006.3%39.1%21.6%26.8%
46 Lakewood, CA 72/10030.4%38.9%7.0%17.0%
47 Alameda, CA 72/10040.9%13.9%5.9%28.6%
48 Brentwood, CA 72/10042.2%27.1%7.7%15.3%
49 Arlington, TX 72/10034.1%32.2%22.1%7.3%
50 Carrollton, TX 72/10037.4%32.3%8.9%17.7%
51 Orlando, FL 72/10031.2%35.4%22.2%4.9%
52 Plantation, FL 72/10037.1%30.6%22.0%5.2%
53 Apopka, FL 72/10035.2%29.8%25.5%3.5%
54 Centreville, VA 72/10038.3%19.7%7.4%28.6%
55 Boston, MA 72/10044.1%19.3%19.3%10.3%
56 Lowell, MA 72/10042.3%20.0%10.0%22.0%
57 Rockville, MD 72/10043.2%18.1%11.0%22.1%
58 North Las Vegas, NV 72/10023.4%41.7%20.6%7.0%
59 Paradise, NV 72/10034.2%36.8%10.3%10.7%
60 Kansas City, KS 72/10033.7%35.7%19.2%5.3%
61 San Diego, CA 71/10040.9%29.8%5.3%17.3%
62 San Francisco, CA 71/10036.8%16.2%4.7%34.9%
63 Long Beach, CA 71/10026.2%43.8%11.4%12.7%
64 Stockton, CA 71/10016.8%45.6%10.8%20.8%
65 Rancho Cucamonga, CA 71/10033.4%38.1%8.3%15.0%
66 Hayward, CA 71/10012.7%41.3%7.6%30.0%
67 Torrance, CA 71/10032.7%19.3%3.5%37.0%
68 Richmond, CA 71/10018.1%45.5%16.1%13.6%
69 Rancho Cordova, CA 71/10046.0%22.0%10.0%14.7%
70 Yuba City, CA 71/10037.2%33.3%1.9%20.2%
71 Fort Worth, TX 71/10036.5%34.6%19.3%5.4%
72 Irving, TX 71/10017.8%43.4%12.7%23.1%
73 Atascocita, TX 71/10032.1%32.0%27.7%3.7%
74 Pompano Beach, FL 71/10037.6%24.9%28.9%1.9%
75 Sunrise, FL 71/10021.6%36.0%32.5%4.7%
76 Sanford, FL 71/10038.5%28.5%24.1%4.4%
77 Rochester, NY 71/10036.4%19.6%34.6%3.2%
78 Schenectady, NY 71/10047.5%12.7%18.7%5.9%
79 Philadelphia, PA 71/10033.2%15.6%38.3%7.9%
80 Charlotte, NC 71/10038.1%17.5%33.3%6.5%
81 Pontiac, MI 71/10022.8%24.1%41.7%4.2%
82 Columbia, MD 71/10042.3%10.1%28.0%11.8%
83 Severn, MD 71/10039.0%10.9%34.5%8.6%
84 Wheaton, MD 71/10021.4%44.8%19.0%10.0%
85 Milwaukee, WI 71/10031.7%20.9%37.9%5.0%
86 Waterbury, CT 71/10029.3%38.6%23.0%2.5%
87 Danbury, CT 71/10040.2%32.2%11.3%5.4%
88 San Jose, CA 70/10022.3%30.8%2.7%39.2%
89 Concord, CA 70/10041.6%32.4%3.7%13.7%
90 Vacaville, CA 70/10044.3%27.9%8.3%11.0%
91 Redwood City, CA 70/10036.7%35.6%2.9%18.0%
92 Chino Hills, CA 70/10023.8%27.3%4.4%40.7%
93 Eastvale, CA 70/10016.8%41.5%7.4%30.8%
94 Gardena, CA 70/1007.4%44.5%17.3%25.6%
95 West Sacramento, CA 70/10040.0%33.2%4.6%13.0%
96 Houston, TX 70/10023.2%44.2%22.3%6.9%
97 Garland, TX 70/10024.2%45.7%15.1%11.3%
98 Allen, TX 70/10047.4%12.6%12.1%21.0%
99 Spring, TX 70/10029.7%38.5%24.4%3.4%
100 West Palm Beach, FL 70/10036.2%24.6%32.2%2.7%

Limited to places with at least 50,000 residents.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year Estimates.

About This Ranking

All figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year Estimates, the Bureau's most reliable dataset for state and local statistics. Because estimates pool five years of survey responses, they describe a recent period rather than a single moment, and small differences between closely ranked entries may fall within the survey's margin of error. Learn more about the data on our methodology page or at data.census.gov.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the most diverse city in America?

Among cities with at least 50,000 residents, Vallejo, California is the most racially and ethnically diverse, with a diversity index of 78/100 — two randomly chosen residents have a 78% chance of belonging to different groups.

How is city diversity measured?

With a Simpson-style diversity index: 1 minus the sum of the squared population shares of each racial and ethnic group, scaled to 0–100. It equals the probability that two randomly selected residents belong to different racial or ethnic groups, and it rewards balance among groups rather than the size of any one.

Are big cities more diverse than small ones?

Not necessarily. Many of the highest-index cities are mid-sized suburbs in gateway metros, where several groups hold comparable shares. A very large city can score lower when a single group forms a clear majority of its population.