Who's America's 2nd most diverse population center? (comparison, places, people)

[the resident09]

Originally Posted by NearFantastica

Los Angeles is hands down the most diverse population center listed here, it has many Middle easterners compared to the other cities here which boosts it's diversity. Middle easterners being lumped into the White category on the US census makes LA look less diverse than it actually is.

On the other hand LA is dominated by Miami in Latino diversity, and by DC in African continent diversity. LA's size helps it a lot to add to total countries, but many with little immigrant enclaves.

Originally Posted by mwj119

Couldn't Chicago also be considered for this debate? Or does its smaller Foreign Born population knock it down?

Hispanic: 28.6%
White: 33.3%
Black: 29.2%
Asian: 6.8%
Multi-Racial: 5.3%
Foreign Born: 20.3%

It's right there with any American city, at least on paper.

I don't think it is on paper though. It's diverse yes, but behind all of those in the poll in foreign born percentage, and trails at least LA, DC, Miami, and Houston in ethnicities from countries over 20k people. So I don't think Chicago overall can make any realistic case to be considered 2nd.

[bethereds82]

Just wanted to share in case anyone was interested.

I lived in Los Angeles for close to a decade before relocating to the Atlanta area. L.A. is incredibly diverse. You can easily be the minority in a room full of people numerous times a day-- no matter your race.

Atlanta metro has been very surprising in terms of diversity. Incredible growth of Asians and Hispanic population-- with the large black/white population. HBCU's attract a lot of companies to the area (along with Georgia Tech).

I love the diversity/culture here. I realize that I didn't back up my observations with Atlanta metro stats, but this area (including suburbs) passes the eye test.

A few things that I didn't expect:
Large South Asian population (and growing).
European investment/influence along with hearing European languages in public on a regular basis.
Korean population, by some estimates over 100k in Georgia and now the 3rd most spoken language in Georgia.

[18Montclair]

Great work!

Urban Areas
San Francisco - 3,532,003
White: 1,245,573 - 35.3%
Asian: 1,022,638 - 29.0%
Hispanic: 782,494 - 22.2%
Black: 263,717 - 7.5%


San Jose - 1,795,851
Asian: 709,916 - 39.6%
White: 540,399 - 30.1%
Hispanic: 425,980 - 23.7%
Black: 43,078 - 2.4%

The Inner Bay Area is on the cusp of a shift in demographics as Whites are going to be supplanted perhaps for the first time since the gold rush, not by Hispanics as conventional wisdom might dictate, but by Asians.

San Francisco/San Jose: 5,327,854
White: 1,785,972 - 33.5%
Asian: 1,732,554 - 32.5%
Hispanic: 1,208,474 - 22.6%
Black: 306,795 - 5.7%
Two or More Races: 232,155 - 4.3%

From the standpoint of Urban Areas, it's not just that it's statistically diverse, but also very crowded compared to every other UA except LA, and it's not dominated any single race, not even close actually, and you can see that in real time since we are in such close proximity.

SF/SJ:
Area: 809 sq miles
Pop Per Square Mile: 6,585

[Chicagoland60426]

Originally Posted by mwj119

Couldn't Chicago also be considered for this debate? Or does its smaller Foreign Born population knock it down?

Hispanic: 28.6%
White: 33.3%
Black: 29.2%
Asian: 6.8%
Multi-Racial: 5.3%
Foreign Born: 20.3%

It's right there with any American city, at least on paper.

Chicago is little too monoculturally in its diversity among the biggest groups, even though it fits the criteria in terms of race. Chicago is 28.6% Hispanic and 21.2% Mexican. The black population consist of 93% African American with pre-Civil War USA heritage.

Asian population is definitely more balanced, but alas it's a little bit on the smaller side proportionally.

[As Above So Below...]

The DC Metro Area is the 2nd most diverse by the numbers.

Followed by LA.

Number 4 and 5 are the Bay Area and Houston but it could go either way. Its very close there.

From there, youve got several that clump together. Id probably put Chicago and Miami at 6 and 7. Youve got others DFW, Sacramento, Atlanta, and Boston which very diverse but after the others, IMO.

I do think NYC, DC, LA, SF, and Houston are a firm top 5 IMO.

[elchevere]

Solid recap….thanks Resident.

[g500]

I voted for LA for the #2 slot. I think its Black population helps set it apart from the other west coast cities. I think SF and DC are tied for the #3 spot.

Why no Chicago in the polling/analysis?

Also: Boston, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Seattle, San Diego, Honolulu, Dallas/Fort Worth, and maybe Detroit? would be up there in the diversity rankings. Definitely not #2 for the whole country, but still Top 10-15 material.

[mwj119]

Originally Posted by americanboysenberry

The 2020 MSA demographics for Chicago are:

52.4% White
22.2% Hispanic
16.2% Black
6.7% Asian
2.1% Multiracial

17.6% foreign-born

I thought this was city/population center?

Nontheless, others responded with fair points. While I don't think it's the 2nd most diverse, I do think it belongs on the big board, and this poll certainly has some of its peers.

[mwj119]

Originally Posted by Chicagoland60426

Chicago is little too monoculturally in its diversity among the biggest groups, even though it fits the criteria in terms of race. Chicago is 28.6% Hispanic and 21.2% Mexican. The black population consist of 93% African American with pre-Civil War USA heritage.

Asian population is definitely more balanced, but alas it's a little bit on the smaller side proportionally.

Well said. I alluded to this idea when I said "on paper" vs. reality.

You can also walk the streets of Chicago, and quickly realize how segmented it is. I.e. west side hispanic, north side white and asian, south side black. Very little integration compared to many of these other cities.

[OyCrumbler]

It'd be nice to see foreign-born breakdowns, household languages, and socioeconomics.