This small Texas city ranks no. 1 for diversity in US

(NEXSTAR) — One small Brazoria County city recently topped a national ranking of small cities with the most diverse populations.

To calculate the rankings, Alabama-based home air quality retail company Filterbuy weighed several data factors — like ethnic/racial diversity, economic equality and more — to create a score out of 100.

As of the 2021 U.S. Census, Pearland had about 125,990 residents. The city earned a composite index score of 75.92 out of 100, edging out the next most-diverse city, Vallejo, California. Other small cities included on the list are Sugar Land (fourth), Allen (ninth) and Lewisville (10th).

For the list, only cities with at least 100,000 residents were counted and the rankings are divided into small cities (100,000-149,999 residents), midsize (150,000-349,000) and large (350,000 or more).

Filterbuy's David Heacock acknowledges measuring diversity can be difficult, however.

"Diversity in the population can have several definitions or interpretations, which has made it complicated for demographers to measure," said Heacock. "... At a high level, however, one simple but significant sign of the diversification of the U.S. population is the decreasing share of people who identify as white alone, not Hispanic."

Non-Hispanic white populations declined for the first time on record in 2020, as reported by that year's Census. The white U.S. population fell from a 63.7% share in 2010 to 57.8% in 2020, or about 196 million to 191 million, AP reports.

Arlington was named eighth-most diverse among large cities, making it one of seven major Texas cities on the list. Visit Filterbuy's Best Cities to Move to For Diversity for full rankings.