New York Race & Ethnicity by City

Cities With Data

1,279

in New York

Most Diverse City

South Valley Stream

Diversity Index: 0.724

Least Diverse City

Newfield

Diversity Index: 0.000

Avg. White %

81.9%

across all cities

New York has 1,279 cities with detailed race and ethnicity data from the American Community Survey. The most racially diverse city is South Valley Stream with a diversity index of 0.724, while the least diverse is Newfield (0.000). On average across cities, the racial composition is 81.9% White, 8.8% Hispanic, 4.1% Black, and 3.5% Asian. The diversity index uses Simpson's formula (1 minus the sum of squared proportions), where values closer to 1.0 indicate greater diversity and values closer to 0.0 indicate less diversity.

Largest Cities in New York by Race & Ethnicity

Source: U.S. Census ACS

Rank	City	Population	Diversity Index	% White	% Hispanic	% Black	% Asian
1	New York	8,516,202	0.682	35.9%	28.4%	22.7%	14.6%
2	Buffalo	276,397	0.654	45.4%	12.7%	32.9%	8.2%
3	Rochester	209,720	0.631	41.5%	19.9%	37.5%	3.2%
4	Yonkers	209,529	0.548	38.0%	44.4%	17.3%	5.2%
5	Syracuse	146,211	0.629	51.9%	10.3%	27.6%	6.8%
6	Albany	100,081	0.623	53.0%	10.7%	26.6%	7.9%
7	New Rochelle	81,591	0.597	48.3%	30.6%	19.4%	5.5%
8	Cheektowaga	76,251	0.403	75.7%	4.8%	13.5%	3.2%
9	Mount Vernon	72,528	0.553	16.2%	18.3%	60.4%	2.2%
10	Schenectady	68,521	0.659	49.9%	13.3%	20.8%	5.8%
11	Utica	64,440	0.603	57.1%	14.6%	14.5%	11.0%
12	White Plains	59,818	0.584	48.6%	32.9%	12.4%	8.5%
13	Hempstead	58,569	0.484	10.1%	45.4%	44.8%	2.4%
14	Tonawanda Town	56,973	0.254	85.9%	4.5%	4.9%	2.8%
15	Levittown	51,557	0.445	70.7%	17.1%	1.9%	11.3%
16	Troy	51,054	0.529	64.8%	9.8%	16.9%	4.3%
17	Irondequoit	50,438	0.373	77.5%	10.8%	9.0%	3.4%
18	Niagara Falls	48,198	0.513	66.1%	8.0%	17.8%	2.3%
19	Binghamton	47,357	0.504	67.6%	8.8%	13.9%	6.8%
20	West Seneca	45,329	0.119	93.7%	4.0%	2.3%	0.3%
21	Freeport	44,102	0.556	23.6%	43.2%	34.5%	1.6%
22	Hicksville	43,868	0.647	42.7%	19.4%	2.8%	33.2%
23	West Babylon	43,239	0.447	69.4%	20.7%	11.1%	1.6%
24	Coram	41,527	0.544	61.0%	19.5%	14.9%	4.9%
25	Valley Stream	40,278	0.718	28.9%	25.0%	25.1%	18.4%
26	Central Islip	37,751	0.373	28.4%	61.7%	19.2%	1.9%
27	Brighton	36,633	0.390	76.9%	4.9%	5.8%	9.7%
28	Kiryas Joel	36,572	0.060	96.9%	1.8%	0.2%	0.0%
29	Elmont	36,436	0.688	16.1%	22.3%	42.5%	15.4%
30	Commack	36,353	0.261	84.9%	10.4%	1.9%	5.2%
31	East Meadow	35,806	0.520	64.4%	14.3%	4.1%	18.6%
32	Long Beach	34,741	0.362	77.8%	14.3%	4.7%	5.2%
33	New City	34,133	0.556	61.1%	17.4%	6.5%	14.2%
34	Uniondale	33,637	0.571	26.0%	39.7%	38.5%	2.3%
35	Baldwin	33,595	0.644	31.1%	21.6%	43.2%	3.6%
36	Huntington Station	33,283	0.524	58.0%	30.1%	9.9%	3.2%
37	Spring Valley	32,995	0.611	36.9%	31.4%	28.6%	2.9%
38	Oceanside	31,907	0.299	81.5%	15.7%	2.1%	2.9%
39	Rome	31,795	0.288	83.6%	6.8%	4.7%	1.8%
40	Ithaca	31,792	0.532	65.1%	9.2%	6.6%	15.1%
41	Poughkeepsie	31,778	0.649	38.1%	24.7%	32.2%	1.4%
42	Centereach	31,501	0.403	74.7%	15.1%	6.7%	7.0%
43	Bay Shore	31,275	0.559	46.5%	38.9%	12.7%	9.7%
44	Port Chester	31,162	0.357	37.9%	59.7%	7.8%	2.5%
45	Franklin Square	30,559	0.553	59.8%	21.1%	5.1%	14.8%
46	North Tonawanda	30,338	0.165	91.2%	2.8%	2.1%	1.1%
47	Middletown	30,227	0.583	34.0%	42.3%	24.9%	3.2%
48	Harrison	29,279	0.403	74.3%	17.2%	4.6%	7.0%
49	Newburgh	28,649	0.478	31.6%	50.9%	24.6%	0.6%
50	Saratoga Springs	28,542	0.241	86.7%	4.7%	3.1%	3.0%

Most Diverse Cities in New York

Source: U.S. Census ACS

The table below ranks cities in New York by their diversity index, from most diverse to least. A higher diversity index means the population is more evenly distributed across racial and ethnic groups. South Valley Stream leads with a diversity index of 0.724, meaning there is a high probability that two randomly chosen residents belong to different racial or ethnic groups.

Rank	City	Population	Diversity Index	% White	% Hispanic	% Black	% Asian
1	South Valley Stream	6,177	0.724	37.8%	13.7%	18.9%	24.3%
2	Valley Stream	40,278	0.718	28.9%	25.0%	25.1%	18.4%
3	Elmont	36,436	0.688	16.1%	22.3%	42.5%	15.4%
4	Scotchtown	10,544	0.686	36.6%	23.6%	28.4%	6.2%
5	New York	8,516,202	0.682	35.9%	28.4%	22.7%	14.6%
6	Forest Home	1,164	0.679	30.8%	7.4%	14.2%	44.3%
7	North Valley Stream	17,756	0.677	16.1%	24.1%	42.8%	14.7%
8	Mechanicstown	7,479	0.665	39.0%	25.4%	26.8%	4.7%
9	Schenectady	68,521	0.659	49.9%	13.3%	20.8%	5.8%
10	Buffalo	276,397	0.654	45.4%	12.7%	32.9%	8.2%
11	South Floral Park	1,803	0.652	7.2%	18.0%	49.3%	20.0%
12	Poughkeepsie	31,778	0.649	38.1%	24.7%	32.2%	1.4%
13	Hicksville	43,868	0.647	42.7%	19.4%	2.8%	33.2%
14	Baldwin	33,595	0.644	31.1%	21.6%	43.2%	3.6%
15	Stony Brook University	9,138	0.637	33.6%	11.4%	10.4%	47.2%
16	Balmville	3,725	0.636	47.3%	22.7%	23.1%	3.3%
17	Garden City Park	8,176	0.634	34.9%	17.0%	1.5%	44.9%
18	Nanuet	20,089	0.634	51.2%	19.8%	18.0%	12.5%
19	Kiamesha Lake	348	0.631	44.5%	7.5%	35.1%	0.0%
20	University at Buffalo	6,776	0.631	54.1%	9.4%	14.9%	19.4%

New York Average Racial Composition

Avg. White

81.9%

across all cities

Avg. Hispanic

8.8%

across all cities

Avg. Black

4.1%

across all cities

Avg. Asian

3.5%

across all cities

Averages are computed as the unweighted mean across all 1,279 cities with data. Population-weighted state-level figures may differ.

Explore Race & Ethnicity in New York Cities

New York, NYPop. 8,516,202 Buffalo, NYPop. 276,397 Rochester, NYPop. 209,720 Yonkers, NYPop. 209,529 Syracuse, NYPop. 146,211 Albany, NYPop. 100,081 New Rochelle, NYPop. 81,591 Cheektowaga, NYPop. 76,251 Mount Vernon, NYPop. 72,528 Schenectady, NYPop. 68,521