13 California Cities Among Nation’s Most Diverse: U.S. News

CALIFORNIA — Nearly 70 percent of the largest cities in the United States are more racially diverse than they were in 2010, according to a U.S. News analysis of the most recently released population estimates data from the U.S. Census Bureau — a trend experts expect to continue.

Thirteen cities in California are on this year’s list, including Stockton, Oakland and Sacramento.

To determine which communities made the list, U.S. News looked at cities with a population of more than 300,000 people, then ranked the cities according to changes in racial and ethnic diversity between 2010 and 2018. A total of 66 cities were ranked — and Stockton, California, came in as the most diverse city, while El Paso, Texas, holds the distinction for being the least diverse.

Stockton came in highest in our state with an overall ranking of 1 and a diversity score of 0.84. From 2010 to 2018, the diversity score in Stockton increased by 0.1 percent.

Other California cities that made the list, along with their overall ranking, are:

• Oakland, 2
• Sacramento, 3
• Long Beach, 5
• San Jose, 6
• Los Angeles, 8
• Fresno, 9
• San Francisco, 19
• San Diego, 21
• Anaheim, 23
• Riverside, 24
• Bakersfield, 26
• Santa Ana, 37

According to U.S. News, a diversity index score of 1 indicates perfect diversity, or a 100 percent chance that two people chosen at random in that city would be different from each other in race and ethnicity.

Traditional immigrant gateways on both coasts, including New York and Los Angeles, rank among the top 10 most diverse large cities. California cities consistently rank as the most diverse in the country, with Stockton, Oakland and Sacramento taking the top three spots in 2018.

Here are the top 10 most diverse cities, according to the U.S. News report:

1. Stockton, California
2. Oakland, California
3. Sacramento, California
4. New York, New York
5. Long Beach, California
6. San Jose, California
7. Houston, Texas
8. Los Angeles, California
9. Fresno, California
10. Chicago, Illinois

U.S. News also ranked the least racially diverse cities. Those coming in at the bottom include:

1. El Paso, Texas
2. Detroit, Michigan
3. Lexington, Kentucky
4. Portland, Oregon
5. Louisville, Kentucky
6. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
7. Omaha, Nebraska
8. Memphis, Tennessee
9. Colorado Springs, Colorado
10. Corpus Christi, Texas

Of the 66 cities with a population of 300,000 or more, 46 cities had a higher diversity index score in 2018 than in 2010.

Some of the largest diversity gains have occurred in cities that started with some of the lowest diversity scores. Detroit, with a population of 85 percent black in 2010, saw the biggest gain in diversity, due in part to a growing white population. Between 2010 and 2018, the probability that two people chosen at random would be different from one another in race and ethnicity grew by 21 percent.

"The U.S. is becoming more racially and ethnically diverse, and those patterns tend to be magnified in cities," Mark Mather, a demographer with the nonprofit Population Reference Bureau, said in the U.S. News report.

The Cities project is part of U.S. News’ Government Rankings initiative, which measures government performance at the international, state and local levels and includes the Best Countries, Best States, Healthiest Communities and Cities projects.

Patch staffer Megan VerHelst contributed to this post