Neighborhoods in Gwinnett County ranked the most diverse in the state
Metro Atlanta is becoming increasingly diverse, a change that can be seen in local school districts, the racial/ethnic makeup of millennials, and racially diverse neighborhoods. The maps that follow use Esri’s Diversity Index to capture the racial and ethnic diversity of individual census tracts using a scale of 0 – 100.
The Index represents the likelihood that two people from the same area belong to different race or ethnic groups, using the following U.S. Census racial groupings: White, Black, American Indian, Asian, Pacific Islander, Some Other Race, and Two or More Races (each divided into Hispanic and non-Hispanic).
An index of 0 means no diversity (the entire population belongs to one race/ethnicity) and an index of 100 means total diversity (the population is evenly divided into at least two race/ethnic groups).
See this link for more information on the Esri’s Diversity Index and methodology.
Looking first at the entire state, we can see that metro Atlanta stands out as a relatively diverse region compared to the rest of the state and much of the southeast.
When we zoom in to the 10-County Atlanta region (outlined in red, with the City of Atlanta in black), we can see that some of the most diverse areas are in Gwinnett and Cobb counties, while some areas, such as in north Cherokee and south Dekalb, rank low on the Diversity Index.
We can further explore this trend in our region by highlighting those Census tracts that are in the highest range of the index (ranging from 73.5 to 92.5). This shows the most racially/ethnically diverse areas in the region, primarily along Buford Highway in Gwinnett County, Cobb County, and Clayton County.
