Germantown, Maryland, got its name from German immigrants who settled there in the 1830s and 1840s, but the Montgomery County city of about 91,000 residents is considerably more ethnically diverse now, ranking as No.1 for ethnic diversity in 2024.
WalletHub ranked U.S. cities across ethnic diversity, language diversity and birthplace diversity. Three of the top 10 are in Montgomery County.
Germantown’s population is almost equally split among major ethnic groups: at 24% white, 25% Black, 24% Hispanic and 22% Asian. WalletHub said just over 50% of the population speaks only English at home, with 21% speaking Spanish, 13% speaking Asian languages and 12% speaking other languages.
Gaithersburg, Maryland, ranks as the third-most diverse, with 31% of residents white, 29% Hispanic, 15% Black and 20% Asian. Nationally, the population is about 59% white. Just 47% of Gaithersburg residents speak only English at home, and 43% of its residents are immigrants born outside of the U.S.
Silver Spring, Maryland, ranks No. 5 on WalletHub’s ethnically diverse cities list. When compared to states, the District has the smallest share of residents who were born there at just 33% and a higher-than-average share of residents who were foreign-born at 15%.
Jersey City, New Jersey, and Kent, Washington, round out the top five most ethnically-diverse states.
WalletHub’s full report ranking both cities and states on ethnic diversity, language diversity and birthplace diversity is online.
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