A universal trend? State-level changes in US racial and ethnic diversity, 1980 to 2015

Abstract

Background Few studies have examined long-term changes in ethnoracial diversity for US states despite the potential social, economic, and political ramifications of such changes at the state level. Objective We describe shifts in diversity magnitude and structure from 1980 through 2015 to determine if states are following a universal upward path. Methods Decennial census data for 1980-2010 and American Community Survey data for 2015 are used to compute entropy index (E) and Simpson index (S) measures of diversity magnitude based on five panethnic populations. A typology characterizes the racial-ethnic structure of states. Results While initial diversity level and subsequent pace of change vary widely, every state has increased in diversity magnitude since 1980. A dramatic decline in the number of predominantly White states has been accompanied by the rise of states with multigroup structures that include Hispanics. These diverse states are concentrated along the coasts and across the southern tier of the nation. Differences in panethnic population growth (especially rapid Hispanic and Asian growth coupled with white stability) drive the diversification trend. Conclusions The diversity hierarchy among states has remained relatively stable over the past 35 years in the face of universal gains in diversity magnitude and the increasing heterogeneity of racial-ethnic structures. Contribution We document ethnoracial diversity patterns at an understudied geographic scale where diversity may have important consequences across a range of institutional domains.

Racial/ethnic segregation and health disparities: Future directions and opportunities

“…Even with the same increase in income, blacks are less likely to be integrated into white communities than Hispanics and Asians (Intrator, Tannen, & Massey, ). In light of the fact that the spatial distributions of Hispanics and Asians differ greatly, we noted that the larger context (e.g., state level) may play a role in understanding the relationship between segregation and racial/ethnic health disparities (Lee, Martin, Matthews, & Farrell, ).…”

Child poverty across immigrant generations in the United States, 1993–2016: Evidence using the official and supplemental poverty measures

“…Racial and ethnic diversity across the US population has increased markedly over recent decades, and this trend is expected to continue into the future (Alba and Foner 2015;Frey 2014;Lee et al 2017;Lichter and Qian 2018). Shifts in ethno-racial composition have been particularly dramatic among recent cohorts of children.…”

The 2016 US Presidential Elections: What Went Wrong in Pre-Election Polls? Demographics Help to Explain

“…To examine that, this study relies on the following independent factors. For race and ethnicity, we used: percentage of the Hispanic population, the percentage of the White population, the percentage of the Black population [46], and the Diversity Index [47]. For religion, we used the percentage of Evangelical Protestant, Mainline Protestant, Historically Black Protestant, Catholic, Mormon, Other Christian, Total Christian, Non-Christian, Unaffiliated, and Level of religiosity [48].…”