Where the United States Is Diversifying the Fastest

The Brookings Institution has been using new media formats to illustrate the striking demographic changes sweeping the country.

1 minute read

March 3, 2015, 5:00 AM PST

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


Downtown Phoenix

Clintus McGintus / Flickr

Thomas Young shares a Brookings-style listicle that ranks the ten states diversifying the fastest. More specifically, the list ranks "the 10 states that stand out when looking at the difference in share of the people of color aged 19 and younger compared to those aged 65 and older."

Before listing the ten fastest diversifying states, Young notes that "Hawaii and the District of Columbia already have the highest shares of people of color (77 percent and 64 percent, respectively), and given that those shares are already so high, their changes won’t be as drastic as other places."

Arizona tops the list, followed by Nevada and New Mexico. Arizona's "generational diversity gap" is reported at 40.72 percent, with 59 percent of people of color under the age of 19 and 18 percent of people of color over the age of 65.

Earlier in February, the Brookings Institution released an interactive map showing the country's evolving diversity, based on data from the U.S. Census and the Diversity Explosion: How New Racial Demographics are Remaking America book, authored by William Frey and released in November 2014.

Thursday, March 26, 2015 in Brookings

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Get top-rated, practical training

Wastewater pouring out from a pipe.

Alabama: Trump Terminates Settlements for Black Communities Harmed By Raw Sewage

Trump deemed the landmark civil rights agreement “illegal DEI and environmental justice policy.”

April 13, 2025 - Inside Climate News

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

April 16, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

Black and white photos of camp made up of small 'earthquake shacks' in Dolores Park in 1906 after the San Francisco earthquake.

The 120 Year Old Tiny Home Villages That Sheltered San Francisco’s Earthquake Refugees

More than a century ago, San Francisco mobilized to house thousands of residents displaced by the 1906 earthquake. Could their strategy offer a model for the present?

April 15, 2025 - Charles F. Bloszies

People walking up and down stairs in New York City subway station.

In Both Crashes and Crime, Public Transportation is Far Safer than Driving

Contrary to popular assumptions, public transportation has far lower crash and crime rates than automobile travel. For safer communities, improve and encourage transit travel.

April 18 - Scientific American

White public transit bus with bike on front bike rack in Nashville, Tennessee.

Report: Zoning Reforms Should Complement Nashville’s Ambitious Transit Plan

Without reform, restrictive zoning codes will limit the impact of the city’s planned transit expansion and could exclude some of the residents who depend on transit the most.

April 18 - Bloomberg CityLab

An engineer controlling a quality of water ,aerated activated sludge tank at a waste water treatment plant.

Judge Orders Release of Frozen IRA, IIJA Funding

The decision is a victory for environmental groups who charged that freezing funds for critical infrastructure and disaster response programs caused “real and irreparable harm” to communities.

April 18 - Smart Cities Dive