[Forbes editor's note: Trulia's chief economist, Jed Kolko, reveals that many of America’s most diverse neighborhoods are in the suburbs. The reason? Diverse neighborhoods have higher population growth and faster-rising prices than other neighborhoods do.]

We wanted to see which neighborhoods best reflect American diversity. To do so, we identified the country’s most diverse neighborhoods and metros using Census data on race and ethnicity. We measured diversity as the share of a metro area’s or ZIP code’s population in its largest racial or ethnic group: the smaller the share of the largest group, the more diverse the neighborhood is. For instance, an area that is 70% White (the largest group), 20% Black, and 10% Asian is less diverse than one that is 60% Hispanic (the largest group), 30% White, and 10% Black. In this example, the second neighborhood is more diverse because the largest group accounts for 60% of the population versus 70% in the first neighborhood (see note about Census racial and ethnic definitions at end of article).

America’s Most Diverse Metros
Among the 100 largest metros, San Jose is the most diverse. San Jose is 35% White (the largest group), 31% Asian, 28% Hispanic, 3% two-or-more races, and 2% Black. In no other metro does the largest group have a share smaller than 35%. New York ranks second, with a population that is 39% White, 28% Hispanic, 19% Black, and 12% Asian. Four of the ten most diverse large metros in the U.S. are in California: San Jose, Oakland, Orange County, and San Francisco. Only one – New York – is in the Northeast, and not one is in the Midwest.

The map below shows the diversity index for counties across America. Diversity is highest inCalifornia and Hawaii, as well as much of the South. The least-diverse parts of the country (i.e. those with the highest share in the largest group), in contrast, are in New England and parts ofPennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia.  Among the 100 largest metros, Pittsburgh is the least diverse: it is 87% White, 8% Black, 2% Asian, and 1% Hispanic. El Paso also stands out as America’s least-diverse large metro that is not majority-White: El Paso is 82% Hispanic, 13% White, and 3% Black. Hispanics are the majority in Fresno, San Antonio, and Miami as well. In none of the 100 largest metros are Blacks or Asians a majority. The metro with the highest percentage of Blacks isMemphis, at 45%, and the metro with the highest percentage of Asians is Honolulu, at 43%.

Visit Forbes.com to see the appendix and maps of the most diverse neighborhoods in five major metros: New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, the San Francisco Bay Area and Washington.

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