Hometown glory

Irving edges out New York and San Francisco as the most diverse area in thecountry

The Academy of Bangla Arts and Culture in Irving is one of the city's manydiverse offerings.
Photo courtesy of Susruta Chatterjee
The Academic Decathlon team at MacArthur High School in Irving is anotherexample of the area's diversity.
Photo courtesy of Irving ISD
The 75038 zip code in Irving was recently rated the most diverse neighborhood inthe country with no group out of four garerning more than 26 percent of thepopulation.
Courtesy photo

Texas stereotypes just got a little more outdated. Not only are our cities largely devoid of cowboys and cattle ranchers, but they're also more culturally diverse than New York and San Francisco.

Real estate website Trulia has declared Irving's 75038 zip code as the most diverse neighborhood in America. The study, as reported in Forbes, looked at the 100 most populous metros in America.

The 75038 zip code in Irving has no ethnic majority; the area has a near even breakdown across four races.

Just east of DFW Airport and under Highway 114, the zip code includes the neighborhoods of Broadmoor Hills and Song. The area has no ethnic majority and basically has an even breakdown across four races.

Trulia’s report lists the ethnic makeup in a swath of Irving as 26 percent Asian, 25 percent black, 23 percent Hispanic and 23 percent white.

Diverse neighborhoods tend to spur higher population growth and a faster rate of price growth than more homogeneous neighborhoods, the report found. Most of the diverse neighborhoods were not in the heart of the city or particularly well-known to outsiders. What’s more, they’re not typically dense neighborhoods.

Behind Irving, Queens in New York and the Treasure Island neighborhood of San Francisco finished out the top three.

The only other Texas representative, Lakemont, was No. 4 on the list. Houston also ranked fourth in overall metro diversity, though California carried the top 10 with four cities (including No. 1 San Jose).

The South is considerably varied, especially compared with New England and parts of Ohio and Pennsylvania.

On the least diverse side, Pittsburgh had the highest concentration of whites at 87 percent. El Paso got Texas on the list with the least diverse metro with a non-white majority. The West Texas city is 82 percent Hispanic.

Overall, California and Hawaii were the most diverse states. But the South is also considerably varied, especially compared with New England and parts of Ohio and Pennsylvania, which were found to be the least diverse.

Ironically, the Trulia report says that as diverse neighborhoods grow and prices increase, it could actually result in less diversity. On average, blacks and Hispanics have lower incomes than whites and could be pushed out of areas where rent and home values go up suddenly.

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2 Dallas universities earn top spots in U.S. News' rankings for 2025

SMU Facebook

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Two prestigious Dallas universities – Southern Methodist University and The University of Texas at Dallas – have come out on top among the best universities in Texas for 2025, according to U.S. News and World Report's just-released list of the Best Colleges for 2025.

Southern Methodist University claimed No. 5 in Texas, and ranked No. 91 nationally in a two-spot slip from last year's ranking. The private institution has a 90 percent first-year retention rate, and an "actual" graduation rate of 83 percent. SMU costs $60,709 in tuition and fees for students each year, and according to the school's profile, it has an acceptance rate of 61 percent.

In April, SMU's graduate business school ranked No. 3 in U.S. News' ranking of the best graduate schools in Texas, with the graduate education school and the Dedman School of Law also earning No. 3 rankings in their respective categories.

SMU very recently topped the charts as the No. 1 Christian college in America in Niche's new rankings for 2025.

In a glowing review of the university, one former student said SMU is an "academically solid" school for eager learners.

"I had a very meaningfully academic experience," the reviewer wrote. "Yes, there is fun and games, but one obtains a very solid education and can stand shoulder to shoulder in one's field with graduates from any school."

SMU's cross-Metroplex rival, Texas Christian University, ranked No. 6 in Texas and No. 105 nationally for 2025.

University of Texas at Dallas students have new reason to be proud of their school. Facebook/UT Dallas

Just behind TCU, Richardson's University of Texas at Dallas placed No. 7 in the Texas rankings, and moved up six spots to claim No. 109 nationally. The public university costs $14,644 in tuition and fees for in-state students, and has an acceptance rate of 65 percent. UTD has a first-year retention rate of 88 percent, and a 75 percent "actual" graduation rate.

U.S. News' top 10 best colleges in Texas in 2025 are:

No. 1 – Rice University, Houston
No. 2 – University of Texas at Austin
No. 3 – Texas A&M University, College Station
No. 4 – Baylor University, Waco
No. 5 – Southern Methodist University, Dallas
No. 6 – Texas Christian University, Fort Worth
No. 7 – The University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson
No. 8 – University of Houston
No. 9 – University of St. Thomas, Houston
No. 10 – Texas Tech University, Lubbock

The full rankings can be found on usnews.com.

best colleges dallas rankings southern methodist university universities us news & world report

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2 Dallas universities earn top spots in U.S. News' rankings for 2025