A new study from personal finance company WalletHub has discovered Texas to be the second-most diverse state in the U.S.
The report, titled “2023’s Most & Least Diverse States in America,” sought to determine the states with the highest and lowest overall variability by gathering and examining data pulled from several sources, including the U.S. Census Bureau, ARDA and AVA.
To put together its rankings, WalletHub compared states based on six major categories related to the topic at hand: socio-economic, cultural, economic, household, religious and political diversity.
Within each category were a number of key metrics that helped the personal finance company to compile its list of states, which included racial and ethnic diversity, occupational diversity, generational diversity, linguistic diversity and birthplace diversity, to name a few.
The Lone Star State ranked among the most varied places in America on account of it placing above the national average in the majority of the major categories, notably third for religious diversity, sixth for cultural diversity, ninth for socioeconomic diversity and 13th for economic diversity.
Delving deeper into specific metrics, Texas was found to have the second-most diverse industry worker population, meaning that Texans throughout the state are employed in a wide-range of work. Additionally, the state also ranked third for language diversity, as well as fourth for household size variability.
Joining Texas as the top five most diverse states in the nation were California (top ranked), Hawaii (third), New Jersey (fourth) and Florida (fifth).
On the opposite side of the coin, the five least diversified areas, according to the study, were found to be West Virginia (dead last in 50th place), Maine (49th), New Hampshire (48th), Vernont (47th) and Montana (46th).
In light of its findings, WalletHub also asked a panel of experts what the benefits of residing in a highly-diverse state were.
“Living in an area with diversity provides people with the unique opportunity to engage with and embrace cultures, traditions, and languages that might otherwise remain beyond their reach,” said Adolfo Cuevas, assistant professor at New York University.
“This immersion, if people genuinely try, can foster cultural enrichment and pave the way for personal growth and self-discovery. I believe this allows people to have a wider social network that can open doors for career growth and business opportunities as they can understand and better care for coworkers, employees, and clients.”
To read the study in its entirety, head over to the WalletHub website.
