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It’s no secret that New York is a diverse city. As of 2014, more than one-third of its population was made up of immigrants. Since its inception, masses of people from every background have flocked to the city in search of a better life. But contrary to popular belief, New York is not the most ethnically diverse city in the country—Jersey City is.
A new study from personal finance website WalletHub dug into demographic data from the 501 most-populated cities in America and looked at their populations’ ethnoracial, linguistic and birthplace diversity. New York ranked sixth on the list, with smaller cities in Maryland and Nevada taking spots two through five. But, as it turns out, our neighbors across the Hudson in New Jersey topped the list.
Jersey City, which boasts a population of roughly 470,000 (or a little more than half of Staten Island), ranks first nationwide in terms of linguistic diversity, according to the report. The place is the second-most ethnoraciallly diverse in the country to Oakland and clocks in at 155th in terms of birthplace diversity.
Chest-thumping New Yorkers ought not get a complex over these findings, though. The study looked into demographic data from the cities alone and not the surrounding metropolitan areas. Given that Jersey City is a part of the greater New York City metro region, it’s still safe to say that Gotham is the most diverse place in the country (with an asterisk).
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