By Erin Petenko | NJ Advance Media

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(Erin Petenko | NJ Advance Media)

Explaining the diversity index

Most measures of race and ethnicity in an area look at the percent of minorities or the percent of one ethnic group. The diversity index asks a different question: How well-balanced are all the racial and ethnic groups in this town? Specifically, the diversity index measures the chance of picking two random people out of a town's population, and having them be from two different ethnic groups.

New Jersey is more diverse than the rest of the nation, with a diversity index of 0.616 in the latest Census snapshot, compared to 0.568 in the United States. It's also becoming more diverse; the diversity index was 0.588 in the previous Census snapshot. But don't mistake diversity for equality: many of the different ethnic groups are still segregated within a town.

A note about the data: NJ Advance Media compared the 2012-2016 American Community Survey snapshot with the 2007-2011 ACS and used the percentages of white, black, Hispanic and Asian residents to find the diversity index, using the equation created by USA Today.

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25. Burlington Township, Burlington County

Diversity index: 0.659

Burlington had a 6 percentage point increase in its diversity index in the past decade. White residents are the largest ethnic group, followed by black residents, but the number of white residents has begun to decline slightly at a rate faster than New Jersey's population.

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24. Harrison, Hudson County

Diversity index: 0.660

Harrison in Hudson County had roughly the same diversity index in the latest Census, but its Asian population has grown since the 2007-2011 Census: from 16 percent to 20 percent.

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23. Ridgefield Park, Bergen County

Diversity index: 0.662

Ridgefield Park had a small increase in its diversity index, and a growing black and Asian population. Between the two snapshots, white residents went from the largest ethnic group to the second-largest in favor of Hispanic residents.

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22. Asbury Park, Monmouth County

Diversity index: 0.666

Asbury Park also had a 3 percentage point increase in its diversity index. Its white population grew 5 percentage points while its black population shrunk 8 percentage points, an indication of the recent flow of wealthier residents into the city.

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Erin Petenko | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

21. Belleville, Essex County

Diversity index: 0.673

Belleville had roughly the same index as the previous Census, while it had a decline in its white population and an increase in its black and Hispanic population.

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19. North Plainfield, Somerset County

Diversity index: 0.675

North Plainfield also saw a decline in its white population, which went from 34 percent to 28 percent.

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19. East Windsor, Mercer County

Diversity index: 0.675

East Windsor saw little change in its index from the 2007 to 2011 snapshot, but became a majority-minority town in the 2012 to 2016 snapshot, with white residents still the largest ethnic group, followed by Asian and Hispanic residents.

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18. Fairfield township, Cumberland County

Diversity index: 0.680

Fairfield experienced a 4 percentage point increase in its diversity index due to its growing Hispanic population.

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16. Teaneck, Bergen County

Diversity index: 0.687

Teaneck had no change in its overall diversity index or in any particular ethnic group. White residents remained the biggest group followed by black residents.

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16. West Orange, Essex County

Diversity index: 0.687

West Orange kept roughly the same diversity index, although its white population declined by 3 percentage points and its black and Hispanic population grew slightly.

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Erin Petenko | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

14. Bloomfield, Essex County

Diversity index: 0.695

White residents remained the largest ethnic group in Bloomfield, which had the same diversity index, but they declined by 5 percentage points while the Hispanic population increased by 6 percentage points.

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14. Woodbridge, Middlesex County

Diversity index: 0.695

Woodbridge's diversity index increased by 4 percentage points, while it gained in its black, Hispanic, and Asian population.

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13. Linden, Union County

Diversity index: 0.703

Linden saw a 5 percentage point increase in its diversity index because of increases in its black and Hispanic population, but white residents remained the largest ethnic group.

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12. Rahway, Union County

Diversity index: 0.707

Rahway had roughly the same diversity index, but its Hispanic population went from 21 percent to 32 percent.

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11. Bergenfield, Bergen County

Diversity index: 0.709

Bergenfield's diversity index increased 4 percentage points between the two snapshots as its white population declined compared to Asian and Hispanic residents.

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10. Union Township, Union County

Diversity index: 0.712

Union maintained its diversity index and kept roughly the same proportion of ethnic groups, with only a slight drop in its white population.

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9. Pennsauken, Camden County

Diversity index: 0.717

Pennsauken had about the same diversity index. Its white population declined in favor of its Hispanic population.

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8. Hackensack, Bergen County

Diversity index: 0.721

Hackensack had the same diversity index and little change in any ethnic group between the two Census snapshots.

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7. Piscataway, Middlesex County

Diversity index: 0.723

Piscataway had roughly the same diversity index, but its Asian population saw a 5 percentage point increase.

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5. Carteret, Middlesex County

Diversity index: 0.734

Carteret maintained the same diversity index, but its black population increased 5 percentage points and other minorities increased slightly. While white residents were the largest ethnic group in the previous snapshots, they are now tied with Hispanic residents for largest.

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5. Franklin Township, Somerset County

Diversity index: 0.734

Franklin township had roughly the same diversity index and similar ethnic groups to the previous Census snapshot, with white residents remaining the largest group, followed by black and Asian residents.

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4. North Brunswick, Middlesex County

Diversity index: 0.736

North Brunswick had the same diversity index as the previous Census, with white residents remaining the largest ethnic group, followed by Asian residents.

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2. Atlantic City, Atlantic County

Diversity index: 0.741

Atlantic City had the same diversity index in this snapshot

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2. Englewood, Bergen County

Diversity index: 0.741

Englewood had little change in its diversity index, but its black population declined in favor of Hispanic residents. White residents were the largest ethnic group, followed closely by black residents.

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1. Jersey City, Hudson County

Diversity index: 0.762

Jersey City was the most diverse municipality in New Jersey, same as in the previous snapshot. Hispanic residents were the largest population in the town, followed by Asian residents.

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Aristide Economopoulos | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

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