A recent study concluded that Wyoming is one of America’s least diverse states in terms of items such as cultures, economic statuses and educational backgrounds.
Personal finance website WalletHub recently studied all 50 states to determine where what it called “idea and identity exchanges” have occurred at the highest level in the United States. WalletHub’s findings are based on scores in six categories: socio-economic, cultural, economic, household, religious and political diversity.
Wyoming was ranked 41st in the country for diversity, just below Indiana at number 40 and above Utah at 42.
West Virginia was considered the least diverse state in the country.
Wyoming’s low ranking came in spite of its second-place ranking for economic diversity, which looked at the various industries, occupational diversity and worker-class diversity.
However, Wyoming came in 47th for household diversity, which looked at residents’ marital status, household types, generational divides and household sizes.
Wyoming ranked in the lower 30s or high 40s for socio-economic, cultural, religious and political diversity.
California, Texas and Hawaii were ranked as the three most diverse states in the nation.
The U.S. Census Bureau has predicted that the entire population will no longer have a single ethnic majority, currently non-Hispanic whites, by 2044. The minority population is projected to rise to 56% of the total in 2060, compared with 38% in 2014.
“Living in a diverse state provides a variety of opportunities for growth in almost every sector from education to cultural awareness and economic mobility,” University of California – San Diego professor Andrew Jolivette told WalletHub. “One of the challenges of living in a diverse state is that it is often more costly to secure housing in states like New York and California at an affordable rate.”
