A new study that looks at diversity in states ranks Maryland eighth in the nation.
The finance website, WalletHub.com, ranks California (#1), Texas (#2), Hawaii (#3), New Jersey (#4), New York (#5), New Mexico (#6), Florida (#7), Nevada (#9), and Arizona (#10) in the top 10 most diverse states.
The five least diverse states, as ranked by the study, are Montana (#46), New Hampshire (#47), Vermont (#48), Maine (#49) and West Virginia (#50).
WalletHub compared the 50 states in six key categories of diversity: socio-economic, cultural, economic, household, religious and political diversity.
A score for “socioeconomic diversity” was based on household income and educational attainment. The score for “cultural diversity” was based on population races and ethnicities, languages that are spoken, and birthplace. The score for “economic diversity” was based on industries, occupations, and worker classes.
A weighted score was calculated for each of the six key categories. The states were then ranked based on their total score.
Maryland ranked fourth for socioeconomic diversity, tenth for culture, and fourteenth for household diversity.
Data used in the report were collected from the U.S. Census Bureau, Association of Religion Data Archives (ARDA), and American Values Atlas (AVA). Find more information on this study at the WalletHub website.
