New York has one of the top 10 most diverse cities in the United States, according to a new study from WalletHub.
New York City was ranked as the sixth most diverse city out of the 501 cities WalletHub analyzed. To understand which cities are most diverse, WalletHub compared 501 of the largest cities in the U.S. across 13 metrics in five major categories: socioeconomic diversity, cultural diversity, economic diversity, household diversity and religious diversity.
“The most diverse cities demonstrate diversity in many dimensions – not just in race and gender but also everything from residents’ languages and birthplaces to their job types and household sizes,” WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo said. “These cities blend together a multitude of different perspectives, helping people to better understand the world around them and become more empathetic.”
Here’s what to know about New York City’s ranking and where other NY cities ranked.
What makes NYC one of the most diverse cities in the U.S.?
New York City was given an overall score of 72.23 for diversity, which placed it at the 6th spot out of 501 cities in total.
In the five major diversity categories, NYC was ranked at:
Where did other NY cities rank on WalletHub’s list?
WalletHub compared 501 of the most populated cities, but limited it to 10 cities per state. Here is where the other nine NY cities ranked on the list:
WalletHub’s top 10 most diverse cities in the U.S.
How WalletHub assessed diversity
WalletHub compared 501 of America’s most populated cities- limiting it to no more than 10 cities per-state, across 13 metrics in five major diversity categories.
The household-income diversity metric analyzed these factors:
The educational-attainment diversity metric analyzed these factors:
The racial & ethnic diversity metric analyzed these factors:
The linguistic diversity metric analyzed these factors:
The birthplace diversity metric analyzed these factors:
The industry diversity metric analyzed these factors:
The Occupational diversity metric analyzed these factors:
The worker-class diversity analyzed these factors:
The marital-status diversity metric analyzed these factors:
The age diversity metric analyzed these factors:
The Household-Type Diversity analyzed these factors:
The Household-Size Diversity analyzed these factors:
The Religious Diversity metric analyzed these factors:
The data WalletHub used to create this ranking were collected as of January 29, 2026, from the U.S. Census Bureau and U.S. Religion Census.
— Madison Scott is a journalist with the Democrat and Chronicle who covers breaking and trending news for the Finger Lakes Region. She has an interest in how the system helps or doesn’t help families with missing loved ones. She can be reached at MDScott@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: NYC ranked among most diverse cities in America. See where it landed
Reporting by Madison Scott, New York Connect Team / Rockland/Westchester Journal News
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