JACKSON HOLE, Wyo. — With Hispanic Heritage Month in full swing and women holding a record number of Fortune 500 CEO positions (still only 8.1% of the total), the personal-finance website WalletHub this week released its report on 2021’s Most & Least Diverse States in America.
To determine where the most idea and identity exchanges have occurred at the highest level in the U.S.—and where the population is relatively more homogeneous—WalletHub compared the 50 states across six key categories: socio-economic, cultural, economic, household, religious and political diversity.
If it wasn’t for economic diversity (and Wyoming sure has that in spades just in Teton County alone) the state would have nearly no diversity at all to speak of. Only Alaska has more economic diversity than Wyoming.
The Equality State had high marks in Worker Class Diversity and Occupational Diversity but did not show much range as far as other metrics like Educational Attainment.
| Most Diverse States in America | Least Diverse States in America |
| 1. California | 41. Ohio |
| 2. Texas | 42. Iowa |
| 3. Hawaii | 43. Utah |
| 4. New Jersey | 44. Wyoming |
| 5. New York | 45. Kentucky |
| 6. New Mexico | 46. Montana |
| 7. Maryland | 47. New Hampshire |
| 8. Florida | 48. Vermont |
| 9. Nevada | 49. Maine |
| 10. Arizona | 50. West Virginia |
Key Stats
- Hawaii has the highest racial and ethnic diversity, which is 3.1 times higher than in Maine, the state with the lowest.
- California has the highest language diversity, which is 2.3 times higher than in West Virginia, the state with the lowest.
- Nevada has the highest birthplace diversity, which is three times higher than in Louisiana, the state with the lowest.
- North Dakota has the highest religious diversity, which is two times higher than in Maine, the state with the lowest.
