Anchorage, Alaska, and Queens County, New York, were identified as the most racially and ethnically diverse neighborhoods in the United States in 2020, according to a recent Census Bureau analysis. The study used a diversity index, which measures the chance that two randomly selected individuals belong to different racial or ethnic groups. The U.S. population had a diversity index of 61.1% in 2020, indicating a 61.1% probability that two randomly chosen people would be from different racial or ethnic groups.
The Census Bureau’s interactive tool and supplemental tables revealed that the top four most diverse census tracts were in Anchorage, while the two least diverse were in Indiana. The concept of diversity in this context refers to the representation and relative size of different racial and ethnic groups within a population. The diversity index is maximized when all groups are equally represented in an area.
The racial and ethnic groups used to calculate the diversity index included African Americans, Hispanics, Asians, and others. The study also provided tools for the public to explore the racial and ethnic diversity of their own neighborhoods.
See “How Racially and Ethnically Diverse Is Your Neighborhood?” by Megan Rabe on the US Census website (January 3, 2024)
