New York, San Francisco, Boston lead in "diversity density"

Boston is the most racially diverse place in America outside of New York and San Francisco. That is, if you measure diversity by the likelihood of running into people of several different races during a brisk walk across town. (Update: See this post for data about individual cities and towns in Massachusetts. Also: more on diversity density in a story I wrote for the Boston Globe.)

Below is the list of 20 counties with the highest "diversity density," which I based on newly released Census data. Since I wasn't looking for counties that are merely "non-white" or places in which just two racial groups are nearly even, I calculated the percentage of the population who didn't claim membership in either of the racial groups that were the two largest in that particular county. (The US as a whole is 64% non-Hispanic white and 16% Hispanic, leaving 20% in other groups: 12% black, 5% Asian, 2% two or more races, and less than 1% identifying as American Indian, Native Hawaiian, or "other.")

I added population density as a factor because I wanted to get a sense of real interaction among people of different races; without this factor, the list would have a lot of small, isolated places (chiefly in Alaska and Hawaii) and sprawling, highway-laced counties with large areas dominated by one or another racial group (chiefly in Texas). I admit to an urban bias here, but I'm open to any research showing that suburbia is actually more socially integrated.

Note: Baltimore and St. Louis are among the 20 most crowded counties in the US but did not make this diversity list; more than 90% of the populations in both cities are either black or non-Hispanic white, with few Hispanics or Asians. Counties that rank higher on diversity density than on overall population density are in bold.

20 COUNTIES WITH THE MOST PEOPLE PER SQUARE MILE WHO DON'T BELONG TO THE TWO LARGEST RACIAL GROUPS IN THAT COUNTY

(compared with rank in overall density)

1. New York, NY (Manhattan): 18,328 (1)
2. Kings, NY (Brooklyn): 11,504 (2)
3. Queens, NY: 9,156 (4)
4. Bronx, NY: 5,401 (3)
5. San Francisco, CA: 4,328 (5)
6. Suffolk, MA (Boston): 3,957 (7)
7. Hudson, NJ (Jersey City): 3,660 (6)
8. Philadelphia, PA: 2,362 (8)
9. Alexandria, VA: 2,326 (10)
10. Cook, IL (Chicago): 1,745 (17)
11. Essex, NJ (Newark): 1,706 (14)
12. Arlington, VA: 1,673 (11)
13. Richmond, NY (Staten Island): 1,496 (12)
14. Washington, DC: 1,485 (9)
15. Manassas Park, VA: 1,429 (16)
16. Union, NJ (Elizabeth): 1,418 (18)
17. Falls Church City, VA: 1,050 (15)
18. Nassau, NY (western Long Island): 931 (20)
19. Orange, CA: 847 (26)
20. Bergen, NJ: 828 (25)

In general, a high "diversity density" seems to be correlated with a stable or growing economy, as found in New York, Boston, and Washington. Other highly ranked counties include Oakland, California's Alameda County (ranked 59th in overall density, 21st in diversity density); Middlesex County in New Jersey, home of Rutgers University (ranked 45th overall, 24th in diversity density); and Dallas County, Texas (42th overall, 25th in diversity density).

Besides Baltimore and St. Louis, dense-but-not-so-diverse places included St. Petersburg's Pinellas County (30th in density, 50th in diversity density); Detroit's Wayne County (33rd in density, 67th in diversity density); and Cleveland's Cuyahoga County (37th in density, 75th in diversity density).

The third-place showing for Queens, New York, where about 45% of the population do not belong to either of the two leading racial groups may understate its diversity. Overall, Manhattan has 69,071 residents per square mile (1.6 million people on a 23-square-mile island), which makes it more than three times as crowded as Queens (2.2 million over an area of 109 square miles). But as the list above shows, if you take out the top two racial groups (non-Hispanic whites and whites, in both cases), you're left with a density that's only about twice as crowded as Queens. Here is how Queens breaks down:

• 27.6% non-Hispanic white
• 27.5% Hispanic
• 22.8% Asian
• 17.7% black
• 2.5% two or more races
• 1.4% "other"

This is about as close as you can get anywhere in the US to a four-way tie among the nation's four largest racial groups. It's true that the New York Times map of the borough suggests that Queens is more spintered than integrated, as certain parts are overwhelmingly dominated by one group (like white Astoria and Hispanic Elmhurst). But there are a lot of integrated zones, and the most diverse Census Tract may be No. 96, in South Ozone Park, including 109th Street between Liberty Avenue and Rockaway Boulevard. A bit more than 53% do not belong to either of the two largest groups (Asians and Hispanics). Interestingly, a very high 16% checked "other" for a race; this may due to a large number of immigrants from Haiti and other Caribbean countries who do not consider themselves black or Hispanic.

In Boston's Suffolk County, 32% of the population do not belong to either of the two leading racial groups (again, non-Hispanic whites and Hispanics). By this measure, it ranks 17th in the US, behind several places in Alaska and Hawaii but also Fort Bend County, Texas; Montgomery County, Maryland; and Gwinnett County, Georgia. The last three are suburban areas without Boston's triple-decker development. Fort Bend, for example, covers 875 square miles, equal to 38 Manhattan Islands or about 15 Suffolk Counties. If you look at the New York Times color-coded map of the county, which includes Sugar Land and Missouri City, you'll see that it takes some effort (and a car) to get from the mostly Asian to the mostly white to the mostly black neighborhoods.

Factor in density, and Suffolk County rises to 6th place. Here is its breakdown:

• 48.1% non-Hispanic white
• 19.9% Hispanic
• 19.8% black
• 8.2% Asian
• 2.3% two or more races
• 1.6% "other

The most diverse Census tract in Boston may be 912, which takes in the western part of Dorchester's Uphams Corner area. As in Queens, the high percentage of people claiming "other" as a race may be attributable to Haitian and other Caribbean immigrants. Also of note: Census data show that the Hispanic population in this Tract 912 has gone up by 22% in the past decade while the black population has gone down by 21%; non-Hispanic whites have risen by 1%.

Census Tract 912 (Stoughton Street area of Uphams Corner)

• 30.3% non-Hispanic white
• 23.6% black
• 21.6% Hispanic
• 12.1% "other"
• 6.1% Asian
• 6.1% two or more races

 

Measuring diversity density by county is not a perfect method, of course, since some urban counties are compact while others extend out to more suburban, whiter neighborhoods that skew the overall data. (However, small Suffolk County's weird shape includes overwhelmingly white areas like West Roxbury while excluding more racially diverse places like Cambridge, Malden, and Quincy.) I may try to develop a diversity density ranking for cities and towns, as well as Census tracts, but that requires a lot more number-crunching.

In the meantime, here are some other lists on the density of each major racial group. As before, counties in bold rank higher than their overall population densit would predict.

10 COUNTIES WITH THE MOST WHITES PER SQUARE MILE

(compared with rank in overall density)

Note: The whitest Census tract in Manhattan in No. 142, an affluent area on the Upper East Side including the intersection of Madison Avenue and East 79th Street. (Its overall population dropped by 10% during the past decade; whites fell by 12% but still make up 91% of the population.) By contrast, the whitest Census tract in Boston is in less glamorous South Boston: No. 602 is between the L Street and City Point beaches. It's 98% white, and both the overall and white populations fell by 7% over the past decade, perhaps as a result of smaller household sizes (one sign of gentrification).

1. New York, NY (Manhattan): 33,166 (1)
2. Kings, NY (Brooklyn): 12,651 (2)
3. San Francisco, CA: 7,228 (5)
4. Suffolk, MA (Boston): 5,929 (7)
5. Queens, NY: 5,646 (4)
6. Arlington, VA: 5,140 (11)
7. Richmond, NY (Staten Island): 5,133 (12)
8. Alexandria, VA: 4,933 (10)
9. Falls Church, VA: 4,569 (15)
10. Hudson, NJ (Jersey City): 4,187 (6)

10 COUNTIES WITH THE MOST HISPANICS PER SQUARE MILE

(compared with rank in overall density)

1. Bronx, NY: 17,640 (3)
2. New York, NY (Manhattan): 17,577 (1)
3. Kings, NY (Brooklyn): 7,029 (2)
4. Hudson, NJ (Jersey City): 5,737 (6)
5. Queens, NY: 5,618 (4)
6. San Francisco, CA: 2,608 (5)
7. Suffolk, MA (Boston): 2,451 (7)
8. Manassas Park, VA: 1,865 (16)
9. Alexandria, VA: 1,484 (10)
10. Union, NJ (Elizabeth): 1,420 (18)

10 COUNTIES WITH THE MOST BLACKS PER SQUARE MILE

(compared with rank in overall density)

1. Kings, NY (Brooklyn): 11,317 (2)
2. Bronx, NY: 9,914 (3)
3. New York, NY (Manhattan): 8,943 (1)
4. Washington, DC: 4,903 (9)
5. Baltimore city, MD: 4,863 (13)
6. Philadelphia, PA: 4,769 (8)
7. Queens, NY: 3,624 (4)
8. St. Louis city, MO: 2,526 (19)
9. Suffolk, MA (Boston): 2,443 (7)
10. Essex, NJ (Newark): 2,442 (14)

10 COUNTIES WITH THE MOST ASIANS PER SQUARE MILE

(compared with rank in overall density)

1. New York, NY (Manhattan): 7,736 (1)
2. San Francisco, CA: 5,691 (5)
3. Queens, NY: 4,653 (4)
4. Kings, NY (Brooklyn): 3,684 (2)
5. Hudson, NJ (Jersey City): 1,795 (6)
6. Bronx, NY: 1,126 (3)
7. Suffolk, MA (Boston): 1,008 (7)
8. Arlington, VA: 764 (11)
9. Philadelphia, PA: 707 (8)
10. Honolulu, HI: 684 (86)

10 COUNTIES WITH THE MOST PEOPLE CLAIMING TWO OR MORE RACES PER SQUARE MILE

(compared with rank in overall density)

1. New York, NY (Manhattan): 1,305 (1)
2. Kings, NY (Brooklyn): 567 (2)
3. San Francisco, CA: 559 (5)
4. Queens, NY: 514 (4)
5. Bronx, NY: 380 (3)
6. Honolulu, HI: 295 (86)
7. Suffolk, MA (Boston): 285 (7)
8. Alexandria, VA: 232 (10)
9. Hudson, NJ (Jersey City): 223 (6)
10. Philadelphia, PA: 207 (8)

10 COUNTIES WITH THE MOST PEOPLE CLAIMING "OTHER" PER SQUARE MILE

(compared with rank in overall density)

1. Queens, NY: 296 (4)
2. New York, NY (Manhattan): 227 (1)
3. Bronx, NY: 206 (3)
4. Suffolk, MA (Boston): 195 (7)
5. Kings, NY (Brooklyn): 151 (2)
6. Hudson, NJ (Jersey City): 91 (6)
7. San Francisco, CA: 53 (5)
8. Essex, NJ (Newark): 49 (14)
9. Alexandria, VA: 32 (10)
10. Philadelphia, PA: 30 (8)

Image of Uphams Corner sign from Upham's Corner Main Street.