Indianapolis Is More Diverse Than You Think

One of the biggest self-perceived deficiencies of Indianapolis is a lack of diversity. The city and region are perceived as being too white.

But is that true?

Indianapolis does rank in the top third of major US metro areas for its share of population that is white (71.4%). But the Indy metro is less white than either Portland or Nashville, two regions that never seem to get dinged for lacking diversity.

Most significantly, Indianapolis is seeing significant growth in diversity across many different population groups.

The first group that’s growing is the city’s black population. The Midwest is not known for attracting black residents these days. In fact, cities like Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, and St. Louis are all losing black population on a region wide basis. But Indianapolis is seeing strong black population growth, up 50,000 people or almost 18% since 2010.

The only two cities in the Midwest with higher black population growth than Indianapolis are Minneapolis and Columbus. However, both of those cities had their black population growth artificially boosted by Somali refugee resettlement. Indianapolis did not have that growing its numbers.

Hispanic population growth has also been strong. Indianapolis is closing in on 150,000 Hispanic residents, with Marion County having over 100,000. The Hispanic population has grown by 30% since 2010, up about 34,000 people.

And Asian population growth has also been very strong. The Asian population of metro Indy has grown by over 80% since 2010, now exceeding 75,000. Indianapolis is the Midwest leader in Asian population growth, albeit from a relatively low starting point. And this is one where Indy’s numbers have benefitted from refugees, especially the Burmese community on the South Side.

The most notable thing about the growth in Asian population is how diverse it is. Indy is growing its Chinese community, its Sikh community, its Burmese community, etc. It’s not just one group that decided to plant its flag in Indy.

Indianapolis was historically very white and mostly a bi-racial black-white city. But that image no longer reflects reality.

While Indy today might not be one of America’s most diverse metros, it’s not a white as you might think and is growing diverse populations rapidly across multiple dimensions. Local perceptions of our community need to catch up with reality.