THE MOST ETHNICALLY DIVERSE URBAN PLACES IN THE UNITED STATES

Abstract

Using 1980 U.S. census data, we ranked all urban places over 10,000 in population according to the relative ethnic diversity of their populations, as measured by the entropy index. This statistic reflects the relative heterogeneity of the population in the areal unit, the highest values occurring when all groups are present in equal proportions. The ethnic populations were identified in terms of two different sets or groupings. The first set contains five categories: white, black, Hispanic, American Indian, and Asian and Pacific Island people. The second set has 13 categories and includes specific Hispanic and Asian ethnic groups as well as two categories of whites based on region of ancestral origin in Europe. The results show that larger cities are usually highly diverse, but the most diverse urban places are found throughout the full range of population sues. The places that ranked highest in ethnic diversity are usually part of a metropolitan area, most commonly in the Los Angeles and the San Francisc...