Houston: Ethnically Diverse But Still Somewhat Separated

Ty Jacobsen
CDS Community Development Strategies

Houston has been called the most diverse large city in the nation, and the Houston area is counted among the most diverse metropolitan areas in the nation. However, looking at the City or region as a whole does not offer a lot of insight in to how individuals in these areas encounter diversity. Specifically, large regional statistics do not tell us how diverse or segregated the neighborhoods in an area may be, and whether or not individuals are likely to encounter significant diversity where they live. This article takes a closer look at diversity at the local level in the Houston area.

The map below shows the largest race or ethnicity in each Census Block Group geography in the 8-county Houston region* in 2000 and in 2010.  Each of the four major race or ethnic groups in the Houston region are color-coded, and the shade of each color indicates the magnitude of the largest group in each geography.  The darker colors indicate Block Groups where greater than 80% of the population is part of the largest race or ethnicity.  The medium shades show where the largest group makes up between 50% and 80% of the population.  The lightest shade of each race or ethnic group’s color code indicates a geography where the largest ethnic group makes up less than 50% of the population.  It is these lightest shade Block Groups where race and ethnic diversity is highest.

Ethnic Diversity in the Houston Area, 2000 to 2010

The 8-county Houston region: Harris County, Brazoria, Chambers, Fort Bend, Galveston, Liberty, Montgomery, and Waller.

Both the map and the numbers behind it indicate increasing neighborhood-level diversity. Block Groups where the largest race or ethnicity made up less than 50% of the population increased from 18.4% of all Block Groups in 2000 to 22.2% in 2010 while Block Groups where the largest race or ethnicity made up greater than 80% of the population decreased from 31.9% to 22.9%.

Another way to examine diversity at the neighborhood level is to calculate a “diversity index”.  In dealing with race and ethnic demographics, a diversity index is a calculation that determines how likely any two randomly-chosen individuals in a given geography will be of a different race or ethnicity.  The higher the number, the higher the likelihood.  As of the 2010 Census, the 8-county Houston region as a whole had a diversity index of 0.686, or a 68.6% chance that any two randomly-chosen individuals in the region would be of a different ethnic origin.
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The following map illustrates the diversity index of Census Block Groups in the Houston region in 2000 and 2010.  Diversity index numbers increased in nearly 2/3 of all Block Groups in the region from 2000 to 2010.  In 1/2 of all Block Groups there is now diversity index greater than 0.50--a greater than 50% chance that two randomly-chosen individuals will be of a different race or ethnicity.

Diversity Index for the Houston Area, 2000 to 2010

It can clearly be illustrated that the Houston region’s increasing diversity is being reflected in its individual neighborhoods, but the diversity indices of these smaller geographies generally lag behind the diversity index of the region as a whole, indicating a level of segregation (when compared to the region’s diversity).
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The map below displays which Block Groups had a higher diversity index than the region as a whole in 2000 and in 2010.  Despite a majority of Block Groups experiencing an increase in their diversity index from 2000 to 2010, the number of geographies that contained a higher diversity index than the regional mean dropped during this time.  While 12.9% of Block Groups had a higher diversity index than the region as a whole (0.656) in 2000, only 8.4% had a higher figure than the region (a larger 0.686) in 2010. 

Block Groups with Higher than Average Diversity, 2000 to 2010

It is important to understand that regional diversity statistics are not necessarily experienced by individuals in the region and that diverse metropolitan areas will contain neighborhoods with widely varying levels of diversity.  Race and ethnic composition and how that composition will evolve over time are critical elements in understanding individual neighborhoods and smaller geographical areas. It is also important to note that race and ethnicity are not the only way to measure diversity. Economic, cultural, linguistic, and religious diversity (among others) are also important elements of diversity that should also be considered.

For more on diversity in the Houston area: a recently-issued study by the Kinder Institute at Rice University examined demographic shifts at the Census Tract-level, specifically looking at the shifts in the largest and second-largest race or ethnicity in a given tract over a 30-year period.

​About the Author:  Ty Jacobsen is a GIS and Market Analyst with CDS Community Development Strategies.  He has worked on numerous demographic studies during his 8 years with CDS, spending at least a quarter of that time attempting to navigate the US Census website.