Most Racially Diverse States in America

This ranking scores each state with a diversity index: the probability, from 0 to 100, that two residents chosen at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups. Hawaii is the most diverse state in America with an index of 76, while Vermont is the least diverse at 19. All 50 states and DC are ranked below.

Top 10 by Diversity Index

Hawaii and California lead the ranking, and the top ten is dominated by states where no single racial or ethnic group forms a large majority — the pattern behind a high index score. Nationally the population is 57.4% non-Hispanic White, 19.3% Hispanic or Latino, 11.9% Black, and 5.9% Asian, and the most diverse states are simply the ones whose local mix comes closest to — or spreads wider than — that national blend.

Geography drives the list: immigration gateways and the Sun Belt score high, while northern New England and the rural interior — led by Vermont at 19 — remain the most homogeneous. State averages also hide enormous local variation; many cities inside mid-ranked states score far higher than any state does. City-level race and ethnicity breakdowns are on every city page, reachable from the largest US cities ranking.

Full Rankings

#	State	Diversity Index	White	Hispanic/Latino	Black	Asian
1	Hawaii	76/100	20.9%	9.9%	1.8%	36.4%
2	California	70/100	33.8%	40.2%	5.2%	15.3%
3	Nevada	69/100	44.8%	29.6%	9.0%	8.8%
4	Maryland	68/100	46.6%	12.5%	28.9%	6.5%
5	District of Columbia	68/100	36.5%	11.9%	41.6%	4.3%
6	Texas	67/100	39.1%	39.7%	11.9%	5.5%
7	New Jersey	66/100	50.9%	22.5%	12.2%	10.1%
8	Florida	65/100	50.4%	27.4%	14.6%	2.9%
9	New York	65/100	52.8%	19.8%	13.4%	9.0%
10	Georgia	65/100	49.1%	11.0%	30.7%	4.5%
11	New Mexico	63/100	36.0%	48.4%	1.8%	1.6%
12	Alaska	63/100	57.7%	7.3%	2.9%	6.3%
13	Arizona	62/100	52.6%	31.4%	4.4%	3.5%
14	Illinois	61/100	58.1%	18.8%	13.3%	5.9%
15	Virginia	61/100	58.4%	11.0%	18.3%	6.9%
16	Delaware	60/100	58.1%	11.1%	21.4%	4.3%
17	Louisiana	59/100	55.7%	7.2%	30.5%	1.7%
18	North Carolina	58/100	60.0%	11.3%	20.0%	3.3%
19	Oklahoma	58/100	62.1%	12.7%	6.8%	2.4%
20	Connecticut	57/100	61.9%	18.3%	9.8%	4.8%
21	Washington	56/100	63.1%	14.4%	3.9%	9.7%
22	Mississippi	56/100	55.2%	3.7%	36.3%	1.0%
23	South Carolina	55/100	61.9%	7.4%	24.6%	1.8%
24	Massachusetts	53/100	66.6%	13.3%	6.4%	7.2%
25	Alabama	53/100	63.4%	5.6%	25.6%	1.4%
26	Colorado	52/100	64.8%	22.5%	3.8%	3.2%
27	Arkansas	51/100	67.4%	9.0%	14.6%	1.6%
28	Rhode Island	50/100	68.0%	17.7%	4.9%	3.5%
29	Tennessee	46/100	71.0%	7.4%	15.4%	1.9%
30	Oregon	46/100	71.4%	14.7%	1.8%	4.4%
31	Pennsylvania	45/100	73.0%	8.7%	10.3%	3.8%
32	Michigan	45/100	72.4%	5.9%	13.1%	3.4%
33	Kansas	45/100	72.7%	13.6%	5.1%	2.9%
34	Ohio	41/100	75.8%	4.8%	12.0%	2.5%
35	Indiana	41/100	75.4%	8.6%	9.1%	2.6%
36	Minnesota	41/100	75.9%	6.4%	7.0%	5.1%
37	Utah	41/100	74.7%	15.9%	1.1%	2.4%
38	Nebraska	41/100	75.3%	12.7%	4.6%	2.6%
39	Missouri	40/100	76.3%	5.2%	10.9%	2.1%
40	Wisconsin	37/100	78.6%	8.0%	5.9%	2.9%
41	Idaho	36/100	78.5%	13.7%	0.7%	1.3%
42	South Dakota	35/100	79.8%	4.8%	2.1%	1.4%
43	Kentucky	33/100	81.5%	5.0%	7.5%	1.6%
44	North Dakota	32/100	81.7%	4.7%	3.3%	1.6%
45	Wyoming	32/100	81.3%	10.7%	0.8%	0.8%
46	Iowa	31/100	82.3%	7.3%	3.8%	2.5%
47	Montana	29/100	83.6%	4.6%	0.4%	0.8%
48	New Hampshire	24/100	86.9%	4.7%	1.3%	2.6%
49	West Virginia	19/100	89.7%	2.1%	3.1%	0.8%
50	Maine	19/100	89.9%	2.2%	1.8%	1.1%
51	Vermont	19/100	89.9%	2.6%	1.1%	1.8%

The District of Columbia is included for comparison, although it is not a state.

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 state in the US?

Hawaii is the most racially and ethnically diverse state with a diversity index of 76/100 — meaning two randomly chosen residents have a 76% chance of belonging to different racial or ethnic groups.

What is the least diverse state?

Vermont is the least diverse state with an index of 19/100; its population is 89.9% non-Hispanic White.

How is the diversity index calculated?

The index is a Simpson/Herfindahl-style measure: 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 groups.