This Is the Most Diverse State in America

California ranks No. 1 on WalletHub's list; West Virginia is in last place
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 24, 2023 12:15 PM CDT
This Is the Most Diverse State in America
Stock photo.   (Getty Images/Alessandro Biascioli)

If you're looking to set down roots in a true melting pot—in a place that WalletHub notes features "a complex tapestry of backgrounds"—there are some places in America that thrive when it comes to diversity. The site wanted to determine "where idea and identity exchanges have occurred at the highest level," so it compared all 50 states in six key diversity categories: socioeconomic (which includes both income and educational attainment); cultural, which looks at racial and ethnic diversity, as well as languages spoken and where people were born; economic, which factors in type of industry, type of job, and worker status; household (think number of people under one roof, plus marital status, among other factors); religious; and political. Here, the states that make up the top and bottom 10:

Most diverse

  1. California (No. 1 in "Socioeconomic Diversity," "Cultural Diversity" categories)
  2. Texas
  3. Hawaii
  4. New Jersey
  5. Florida
  6. New Mexico
  7. Nevada (No. 1 in "Household Diversity" category)
  8. New York
  9. Maryland
  10. Arizona

Least diverse
  1. North Dakota
  2. Utah (last in "Household Diversity" category)
  3. Wyoming (last in "Political Diversity" category)
  4. Iowa
  5. Kentucky
  6. Montana
  7. Vermont
  8. New Hampshire (last in "Religious Diversity" category)
  9. Maine
  10. West Virginia (last in "Socioeconomic Diversity," "Cultural Diversity" categories)

Check out how other states fared. (This is the happiest state in America.)

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