Most Racially Diverse States in America
Published April 16, 2026 · Census ACS 2023
Hawaii, California, Nevada, and New Mexico are the most racially diverse US states, with no single racial or ethnic group making up a majority of the population. At the other end, much of northern New England and the Upper Midwest remain over 85% non-Hispanic white.
Top 15 Most Diverse States
Ranked by Simpson diversity index applied to Census ACS race and ethnicity shares.
| # | State | White | Hispanic | Diversity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hawaii | 22.5% | 2.6% | 94.4 |
| 2 | California | 44.0% | 2.8% | 80.2 |
| 3 | Nevada | 53.2% | 2.9% | 70.7 |
| 4 | Texas | 53.9% | 2.0% | 69.4 |
| 5 | New Mexico | 53.6% | 12.0% | 68.5 |
| 6 | Maryland | 49.6% | 1.5% | 66.6 |
| 7 | District of Columbia | 39.1% | 1.6% | 65.9 |
| 8 | New Jersey | 56.9% | 1.2% | 65.9 |
| 9 | New York | 57.1% | 1.4% | 65.2 |
| 10 | Georgia | 52.5% | 1.5% | 62.6 |
| 11 | Florida | 59.9% | 1.2% | 61.8 |
| 12 | Arizona | 63.2% | 6.0% | 59.3 |
| 13 | Virginia | 61.7% | 1.4% | 58.4 |
| 14 | Illinois | 63.3% | 1.5% | 58.0 |
| 15 | Alaska | 60.7% | 20.2% | 57.1 |
What Drives State-Level Diversity
The most diverse states share three factors. First, large Hispanic populations, especially in California, Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, and Florida. Second, significant Asian-American populations concentrated in Hawaii, California, Washington, and parts of the Northeast. Third, longstanding Black communities in the South and urban centers that pull the racial mix away from any single majority.
Hawaii is the one state where white residents are a minority, with Asian and Pacific Islander residents collectively the largest group. California approaches the same pattern in several metropolitan areas even though the statewide white share remains the largest single category.
Diversity by Metropolitan Area
State-level numbers often understate how diverse America is. A state can look uniform on paper while its metropolitan areas are highly diverse. Chicago, Atlanta, Houston, and Miami are much more racially mixed than Illinois, Georgia, Texas, or Florida as a whole. County-level data, available on every county page on this site, captures those patterns better.
The Long Trend
The US has grown steadily more diverse for decades, driven by immigration from Latin America and Asia and by higher fertility rates among non-white populations. The Census Bureau projects no racial or ethnic group will make up more than 50% of the US population by the 2040s. Several of the largest states, including California, Texas, and New Mexico, already meet that definition of majority-minority.
Related
See full rankings at most diverse states, states with most Hispanic residents, and states with most foreign-born residents.
Frequently Asked Questions
Hawaii is the most racially diverse state in the US based on the Simpson diversity index applied to Census ACS race data.
This ranking uses the Simpson diversity index: the probability that two randomly selected residents belong to different racial or ethnic groups. Higher values indicate greater diversity. The underlying race categories come from the Census ACS.
States in northern New England and the Upper Midwest, particularly Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, West Virginia, and Iowa, have the highest share of non-Hispanic white residents and the lowest diversity scores.
The Census race categories are the standard federal data framework but they have known limitations. People of Middle Eastern and North African descent are classified as white, for example, and Hispanic identity is tracked separately from race. The rankings reflect the categories as defined by the Census, not the full complexity of identity.
Race and Hispanic-origin shares from the American Community Survey. Diversity score is a Simpson index computed from the seven race/ethnicity categories in the ACS.