Use and interpret Diversity Index data
Observing's America's diversity and how it changes over time.
Esri's Data Development team produces demographic data (known as Updated Demographics) for the United States using a variety of sources to update small areas, beginning with the latest U.S. Census base along with a mixture of other private sources to capture demographic change. Alongside Updated Demographics, Esri provides U.S. Census Bureau and American Community Survey (ACS) demographics as a point of reference for understanding growth in an area and to provide additional community details. Data tutorials educate both the novice and the expert analyst to learn more about a topic to properly incorporate Esri Demographics that are accessible within various products. In this tutorial, you will learn about the following:
- How Diversity Index is defined and developed
- Why the data is used
- How to interpret the data
- Important data considerations
- Additional resources
First, you'll learn what diversity is and how using Diversity Index data can help locate where rising or declining racial and ethnic diversity exists within communities across the U.S.
Diversity Index
The term Diversity has a number of definitions or interpretations. Diversity data stems from demographic diversity which relates to the variability within a population and the various ways a population can be grouped based on differences and similarities. In order to have an inclusive understanding of diversity, the Esri Diversity Index defines its measure by including two key aspects of a population: race and ethnicity.
Why study Diversity
Due to significant racial and ethnic composition shifts occurring in the U.S., learning how to track diversity is increasingly important and vital for governments, businesses, and other entities. The Esri Diversity Index captures the racial and ethnic diversity of a geographic area in a single number, offering an easy way to compare the diversity between areas and understand where changes may be occurring.
Over the last 50 years, the racial and ethnic compositions of the United States have changed dramatically and diversity has been increasing in kind. Much of the increased diversity can be explained with the growth of the Hispanic population. From 2010 to 2020, the Hispanic population increased by 23 percent whereas the non-Hispanic population grew by 4.3 percent. Other factors such as the steady increase in marriages across racial and ethnic lines, the fact that more than half of all children born in the United States are minorities and many others are contributing to the accelerating rate of diversification for future generations. View the Esri Diversity Index Methodology Statement to learn more
Many organizations, businesses and policy makers are working to better understand and serve individuals and communities across demographic groups. For example, many companies have policies in place to ensure that people of different races or ethnicities are included in the workforce. Using demographic data, such as the Diversity Index, is critical to measuring diversity across the U.S. to raise awareness for social equity, provide government funding, and create diverse workforces.
Diversity Index measure
The Diversity Index represents the likelihood that two persons, chosen at random from the same area, belong to different races or ethnic groups. The index provides a measure that ranges from 0 (no diversity) to 100 (complete diversity). Click the right arrow to view three example interpretations:
Race and Hispanic origin data are reported by the Census Bureau and other agencies as grouped summary data; therefore, in practice, the Diversity Index will not reach the maximum value of 100.
Here's what you can quickly learn from mapping the Diversity Index along with the compound annual growth rate of the Diversity Index:
This map image was created using ArcPro's bivariate color symbology.
The map image shown displays a bivariate map of the Diversity Index and the compound annual growth rate of the Diversity Index over a span of five years with symbology based around a national growth rate of 0.25. This reveals that South Dakota and Mississippi have low Diversity Index values relative to the other states and are not projected to have high Diversity Index growth over the five-year span. States like Florida and Maryland, on the other hand, have large values for both the current Diversity Index and projections of future growth. The largest proportional gains in diversity are occurring in areas that previously had the least diversity. Areas in the West are diversifying at a slower rate than the rest of the country.
Diversity Index data calculation
The Diversity Index is created using both the racial and ethnic makeup of a population and addresses the relative size of different racial and ethnic groups within a population. Diversity is maximized when all groups are represented in an area and have equal shares of the population. Esri's Diversity Index calculations include seven race groups: six single-race groups (White, Black, American Indian, Asian, Pacific Islander, Some Other Race) and one multiple-race group (Two or More Races). Variations in the size of any of the race groups carry the same weight in the Diversity Index calculation. Each race group is divided into two ethnic categories: Hispanic and non-Hispanic. If an area is ethnically diverse, diversity is compounded.
The Diversity Index is available down to block group level geography. The data is available for Census 2020, the current year, and a five-year forecast. Learn more about Esri data and the Diversity Index
The charts above display the Census 2020 proportions of each race or ethnicity relative to the total population for each region of the U.S. Each bar sums to 100% because the race and ethnicity totals sum to the total population. NHPI stands for Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander. AIAN stands for American Indian or Alaska Native.
Data access
You can access Esri Demographics using Esri software and through apps like ArcGIS Business Analyst , ArcGIS for Excel , or ready to use maps from ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World . For use outside of the Esri platform data files are available in CSV, dBase, Excel, shapefile, or file geodatabase formats.
Contact an Esri data sales specialist with data questions at 800-447-9778 or send an email with your request to: datasales@esri.com.
How to use and interpret Diversity Index
Now that you have learned what the Diversity Index measure is and how the data is calculated, let's explore a scenario using the data.
A local planner in Cherokee County, Oklahoma is interested in learning how the racial and ethnic diversity among the population of the county compares to Oklahoma as a whole and to the most populous adjacent county, Wagoner County.
Esri’s Diversity Index offers a succinct and effective method of providing this information. Here's what we learn using the Diversity Index data.
Oklahoma has a Diversity Index value of 66. This means that there is a probability of 66 percent that two people randomly chosen from Oklahoma would belong to different race or ethnic groups.
Data statistics were generated using ArcGIS Business Analyst Web App.
Using additional Esri demographics here's what you learn
The largest racial-ethnic group in this state is non-Hispanic White which makes up 60.4 percent of the total population. The second largest group, non-Hispanic Two or More Races, only makes up 9.8 percent of the population.
Cherokee County (FIPS code 40021), in contrast, has a Diversity Index value of 70.6. This is due, in part, to the smaller concentration in the dominant racial-ethnic group.
Using additional Esri demographics here's what you learn
While non-Hispanic White is the largest group, it only makes up 42.5 percent of the county’s population. The non-Hispanic American Indian population consists of 33.6 percent of the total population.
Another reason for the county having a higher Diversity Index than the state is that racial diversity within the ethnic groups is an important component of the measure. In this case, the largest race group among the Hispanic population for both Oklahoma and Cherokee County is Some Other Race, but the proportions differ at 5.1 percent and 2.8 percent of the total population, respectively.
The neighboring Wagoner County (FIPS code 40145) has a Diversity Index value of 59.2. This is notably lower than the Diversity Index value for Cherokee County (70.6).
Using additional Esri demographics here's what you learn
The lower diversity value can be attributed to the large portion of the population in Wagoner County that is concentrated in the non-Hispanic White group (64.6 percent). The second largest group is non-Hispanic Two or More Races at 12.4 percent.
Wagoner County is more reflective of the state’s total race and ethnic landscape, and the Diversity Index reflects that.
If desired, this analysis could be further enhanced by adding other data attributes such as population and housing.
You can search for additional race and ethnicity data attributes, as well as population and housing characteristics, market segmentation, etc. using the Data Browser .
Data review and considerations
The Diversity Index is a continuum that ranges from 0 (no diversity) to 100 (complete diversity), where an area's index tends toward 100 when the population is more evenly divided across race and ethnic groups.
So, if an area is 50% Hispanic Black and 50% Hispanic Asian the area will have a higher index value than an area that is 80% Hispanic Black and 20% Hispanic Asian.
The Diversity Index equals 50 if an area's population is divided evenly into 2 race groups and 1 ethnic group. As more race groups are evenly represented in the population, the Diversity Index increases.
So, if an area is 33% Hispanic White, 33% Hispanic Black, and 33% Hispanic Asian the area will have a higher index value compared to an area that is only 50% Hispanic Black and 50% Hispanic Asian.
The Diversity Index is zero if an area's entire population belongs to one race group and one ethnic group.
So, if an area is 100% non-Hispanic and 100% Asian the index value is 0 because there is no variation in either of the race or ethnic components.
Race and Hispanic origin data are reported by the Census Bureau and other agencies as grouped summary data; therefore, in practice, the Diversity Index will not reach the maximum value of 100.
Next steps
In this tutorial, you learned about the basics of Diversity Index data, how to interpret the data, and the significant impact it has on communities. Additional data tutorials in two series are available. Click on the links below for continued data exploration, learning, and ways to access the data.
Learn more
Data methodologies
Diversity Index data is developed using data from the Census and Esri Updated Demographics to measure the likelihood that two persons, chosen at random from the same area, belong to different races or ethnic groups. Represented as point-in-time estimates as of July 1, the data is available for Esri’s standard geographic areas and for any user-defined polygon such as a ring or drive time. Read the Esri Diversity Index Methodology Statement for more information
Frequently asked questions
Use our data reference page to help answer additional questions about Esri Demographics.
Helpful links
Connect with us
If you have a topic you would like covered in a data tutorial to help you better understand U.S. data, send us an e-mail with your topic idea.