Brick One of N.J.’s Least Diverse Towns, Analysis Shows

Brick Township, NJ Logo (Photo: Daniel Nee)

In a state known for its racial and ethnic diversity, Brick is one of the towns that bucks the trend, an analysis by a major New Jersey newspaper shows. 

The Newark Star-Ledger used a metric known as the diversity index to calculate which towns had the most homogeneous populations – regardless of which race was majority. The index “measures the likelihood, on a scale of 0 to 1, of picking two people of different races out of a certain population.” That means towns with lower numeric scores will have more residents of one particular race.

Brick was the seventh least-diverse town in New Jersey. The analysis showed that Brick scores a .24 on the index. Its population was 87 percent white, 8 percent Hispanic, 2 percent black and 2 percent Asian.

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Ocean County is also home to the least-diverse town in the entire state: Berkeley Township, which scored a .21 on the index, thanks to its 89 percent white majority.

The top ten towns included:

10. Cranford (White)
9. Union City (Hispanic)
8. Washington, Gloucester County (White)
7. Brick (White)
6. Washington, Morris County (White)
5. Raritan (White)
4. East Orange (Black)
3. Middletown, Monmouth (White)
2. Sparta (White)
1. Berkeley, Ocean (White)

The entire data set can be seen on the Star-Ledger’s website.