DEMOGRAPHICS

America's Most Diverse Neighborhoods

By Jed Kolko, The Atlantic Cities

Updated: November 14, 2012 | 12:50 p.m.
November 13, 2012 | 4:35 p.m.

 

Rank Zip Code Neighborhood Metro Percent Population in Largest Group
1. 75038 Irving Dallas 25.7 percent
2. 11428 Queens Village New York 26.4 percent
3. 94130 Treasure Island San Francisco 27.2 percent
4. 77407 Lakemont Houston 27.9 percent
5. 96786 Wahiawa Honolulu 28.5 percent
6. 96731 Kahuku Honolulu 28.7 percent
7. 98`78 Rainier View Seattle 28.8 percent
8. 02125 Dorchester Boston 29.1 percent
9. 96707 Kapolei Honolulu 29.2 percent
10. 95834 South Natomas Sacramento 29.2 percent


What do these neighborhoods have in common? Although many, like Queens Village and Dorchester, are within the city limits, they are not the densest, most central, or best-known neighborhoods. None of the top-10 most diverse neighborhoods in the country is a familiar name to out-of-towners. Also, some of the most diverse neighborhoods in America are located in metro areas that aren’t especially diverse overall, like Seattle (67 percent white) and Boston (69 percent white).

Expensive neighborhoods aren’t very diverse. As blacks and Hispanics have lower incomes, on average, than whites, the neighborhoods with the most expensive housing tend to be largely white: New York’s West Village (10014) is 83 percent white, as is Beverly Hills (90210). But so-called "hipster" neighborhoods are somewhat more mixed: Brooklyn’s Williamsburg (11211) is 65 percent white and 26 percent Hispanic; Chicago’s Wicker Park (60622) is 58 percent white, 29 percent Hispanic, and 7 percent black; San Francisco’s Mission District (94110) is 42 percent white, 38 percent Hispanic, and 12 percent Asian; and Los Angeles’s Silverlake (90026) is 57 percent Hispanic, 21 percent white, and 17 percent Asian.

Finally, while many non-diverse neighborhoods are almost exclusively white, non-white doesn’t necessary mean diverse. Chicago’s Englewood (60621) and two of Washington DC’s Anacostia neighborhoods (20019 and 20020) are at least 95 percent black; Boyle Heights (90023) in Los Angeles and Miami’s Hialeah (33012) are at least 95 percent Hispanic; and Monterey Park (91755) in Los Angeles and Flushing (11355) in Queens are both at least 70 percent Asian.

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