How Diverse is the State of Illinois? More Than You Might Think

We hear the word a lot every day. We hear about diverse backgrounds, diversity in hiring, diversity in education--but what about diversity in U.S. states? Let's see where Illinois ranks out of all 50 states.

WalletHub, the personal-finance site tasked their numbers-crunchers with the job of figuring out which states in America are the most and least diverse. Here's what the aforementioned numbers people were looking at:

U.S. diversity spans more than just racial lines. In many states, the population reflects an eclectic mix of not just races but also cultures, religions, economic statuses, educational backgrounds and other characteristics, as people of various demographic profiles are forced to come into contact with one another.

In order to determine where idea and identity exchanges have occurred at the highest level — and where the population is relatively more homogeneous — WalletHub’s analysts compared the 50 states across five key diversity categories (socio-economic, cultural, economic, household, and religious)

Before we break down the Illinois numbers, here are WalletHub's 5 most diverse states in the U.S.:

1) California

2) Texas

3) Hawaii

4) New Jersey

5) New York

Followed by the 5 least diverse states in the union:

46) Montana

47) New Hampshire

48) Vermont

49) Maine

50) West Virginia

As for our state of Illinois, we come in at #11 overall. Wisconsin is #40, Indiana is #42, Iowa is #44, Michigan is #36, Missouri is #37, and Kentucky comes in at #45.

Diversity in Illinois (1=Most Diverse, 25=Avg.):
17th – Income Diversity
11th – Educational-Attainment Diversity
12th – Racial & Ethnic Diversity
11th – Linguistic Diversity
24th – Industry Diversity*
20th – Household-Type Diversity
16th – Household-Size Diversity
7th – Religious Diversity
*Includes civilian employed population aged 16 and older

Click here to read the full report on WalletHub.