Living in a multicultural city comes with many benefits. Diverse communities bring new perspectives, greater versatility, and economic boosts, to name a few. As it turns out, San Antonio has some catching up to do if it wants to join three other Texas cities that are among the most diverse places in the country.

San Antonio missed out on the spotlight after ranking No. 87 in WalletHub's annual list of the "Most Diverse Cities in the U.S. (2024)." The report compared 501 U.S. cities across 13 metrics in five categories that encompass "diversity" across socioeconomic, cultural, economic, household, and religious factors. While being in the upper fifth certainly isn't terrible, it's not impressive for the seventh largest city in the country.

The Alamo City earned a score of 68.79 out of a total 100 possible points, a 4.21-point difference separating it from Gaithersburg, Maryland – the No. 1 most diverse U.S. city – which earned an even score of 73 points.

San Antonio has unfortunately slipped from its former position as the 66th most diverse city in America in WalletHub's 2021 report.

The city performed the best in one overall major category, household diversity, earning No. 66 out of all 501 cities in the study. San Antonio's economic diversity earned it No. 114, while it fell behind when it came to religious and cultural diversity, earning respective ranks as No. 135 and No. 154. The city performed the worst in the overall category for socioeconomic diversity, at No. 181.

More specifically, San Antonio performed well in the rankings for its linguistic diversity (No. 69). The city fell the farthest behind in the rankings for birthplace diversity (No. 363) and age diversity (No. 288).

Here's how San Antonio performed within the study's remaining categories out of all 501 cities:

• 120th – Household-size and industry diversity
• 130th – Marital-status diversity
• 168th – Occupational diversity
• 199th – Worker-class diversity
• 212th – Household-type diversity
• 219th – Educational-attainment
• 227th – Income diversity
• 274th – Racial and ethnic diversity

"The most diverse cities demonstrate diversity in many dimensions – not just in race and gender but also everything from residents’ languages and birthplaces to their job types and household sizes," said WalletHub analyst Cassandra Happe in the report. "These cities blend together a multitude of different perspectives, helping people to better understand the world around them and become more empathetic. This exchange of ideas also tends to increase the economic success of diverse cities."

The three Texas cities that outshined San Antonio by earning spots in the overall top 10 most diverse U.S. cities were Houston (No. 4), Arlington (No. 5), and Dallas (No. 8).

Other Texas cities that earned spots in the report include Fort Worth (No. 22), Plano (No. 83), Austin (No. 70), Corpus Christi (No. 125), El Paso (No. 253), and Laredo (No. 468).

The most diverse cities in the U.S. are:

• No. 1 – Gaithersburg, Maryland
• No. 2 – Silver Spring, Maryland
• No. 3 – Germantown, Maryland
• No. 4 – Houston, Texas
• No. 5 – Arlington, Texas
• No. 6 – New York, New York
• No. 7 – Jersey City, New Jersey
• No. 8 – Dallas, Texas
• No. 9 – Charlotte, North Carolina
• No. 10 – Danbury, Connecticut

The full report can be found on wallethub.com.