Chicago barely cracks the top 10 of the most racially diverse cities in the country, and its diversity has dipped a little since 2010 in part because of the city’s declining black population, according to a new U.S. News & World Report analysis.
U.S. News calculated a “diversity score” by analyzing the most recent census data for 66 cities with populations of 300,000 or more. A city’s score represents that two people chosen at random will be from a different ethnic or racial group — a perfect diversity index score is 1.
Chicago’s score of 0.75 was ranked 10th on the list.
Seven of the top 10 most-diverse cities were in California — the top three were Stockton (0.84); Oakland (0.82); and Sacramento (0.81). At the bottom of the list were Lexington, Kentucky (0.47); Detroit (0.43); and El Paso, Texas (0.43).
Despite Detroit receiving the second-lowest diversity score, its diversity increased 21% — the largest growth of any city. Chicago’s diversity fell by 1.1%.
Chicago is also behind other cities with comparable population sizes. It ranked behind New York (0.79); Houston (0.77); and Los Angeles (0.76). Each of those cities also experienced a slight dip in its diversity except New York.
Overall, the country’s largest cities have become 2% more diverse between 2010 and 2018. About 70% of the 66 cities evaluated grew in racial diversity during that same time.
Devon Haynie, assistant managing editor for cities at U.S. News, said U.S. cities are becoming less homogenous, but “diversity doesn’t always translate to equal opportunity.”
The report doesn’t factor a city’s racial segregation into its diversity score but relies on 2018 population estimates from the American Community Survey and 2010’s decennial census data. It uses white, black, Asian, American Indian/Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander and Hispanic as racial and ethnic groups.
“Even the most diverse cities in the country are facing racial inequalities in income levels, educational attainment and homeownership rates,” Haynie said in a statement.
Manny Ramos is a corps member in Report for America, a not-for-profit journalism program that aims to bolster Sun-Times coverage of issues affecting Chicago’s South and West sides.
