A demonstrator waves Cuban flags during a car parade in support of the Cuban people, Thursday, July 15, 2021, in Hialeah, Fla. The city of Hialeah has the greatest concentration of Cuban exiles in the U.S.
A demonstrator waves Cuban flags during a car parade in support of the Cuban people, Thursday, July 15, 2021, in Hialeah, Fla. The city of Hialeah has the greatest concentration of Cuban exiles in the U.S.
The whitest cities in America are in West Virginia. The blackest cities are clustered in the South and the most Hispanic place in the country is in Florida, according to a new analysis.
Financial research WalletHub looked at diversity and racial and ethnic concentrations in across the country via examination of U.S. Census Bureau data.
The most diverse communities in the country are Jersey City, New Jersey; three Maryland suburbs of Washington D.C. (Germantown, Gaithersburg and Germantown), the Las Vegas suburb of Spring Valley, Nevada and New York City.
The WalletHub analysis — which ranks cities on ethnic, racial, linguistic and place of birth diversity has some interesting findings.
Orlando, for example ranks as the 13th most diverse city – ahead of San Francisco (14th) and Los Angeles (23rd).
The least diverse communities include Parkersburg, Clarksburg and Wheeling, West Virginia. Those cities have white populations in excess of 90%, according to the U.S Census Bureau.
Other cities with the highest percentages of white residents include Rutland and Barre Vermont; Watertown, South Dakota and Butte-Silver Bow, Montana, according to WalletHub.
Hialeah, Florida, near Miami and Laredo, Texas, near the Mexico border have the highest concentrations of Hispanic residents with 95.7% and 95.5%, respectively, according to census data.
According to the report, Greenville, Mississippi has the highest concentration of African American residents with 83.4%.
Other cities with large Black populations include Jackson, Mississippi (82.5%) and Pine Bluff, Arkansas (76%), according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Among big U.S. markets, New York is the most diverse followed by San Jose, Oakland, San Francisco and Sacramento, California. Boston rounds out the top five.
Economists and demographic experts contend diversity can be a socio-economic strength.
Anna-Katherine Ward, an associate professor at Virginia Tech University’s Pamplin College of Business, said diversity can foster innovation and entrepreneurship.
“To start, diversity pushes us to become more open-minded and flexible. Research shows that even seeing diversity around us can make our brains work harder and think in different ways. It’s no surprise, then, that diverse cities tend to have more innovative and productive workforces,” Ward said. Diversity is also great for entrepreneurial activity. Just look at the list of billion-dollar companies that were either founded or co-founded by immigrants.”
Detroit, Memphis, Louisville, El Paso and New Orleans are the least diverse major markets, according to WalletHub.
In Oregon, Medford ranks 326th, Portland 369th, Salem 198th, and Eugene 335th and Corvallis 261st among the 501 U.S cities ranked for their diversity.
