Diversity

Greater Cleveland/Akron is a rich blend of cultures, races, religions, and ideas. For more than 225 years, immigrants and newcomers have settled here following family, job opportunities, and the American Dream.

Neighborhood Diversity

Diversity in Greater Cleveland/Akron ranges widely and includes diversity of ancestry, national origin, race, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, religion, age, disability, gender identity, thought, and more. The diversity detailed in this chapter are the topics most frequently brought up by the candidates and new hires that EA supports.

Cleveland, Akron, and their inner-ring suburbs are quite diverse and attract a variety of residents as they are close to the universities, hospitals, city amenities, and business districts. The diversity of each surrounding neighborhood and suburb is unique and understood well by your EA Project Manager. Please let us know which areas of diversity are important to your lifestyle and happiness.

Thornton Park Ice Rink in Shaker Heights

Ethnic Diversity

One World Day at the Cleveland Cultural Gardens

The Cleveland Cultural Gardens.

Like many Midwestern states, the percentage of foreign-born residents in Ohio is lower than the US as a whole. 5% of Ohio residents are immigrants, while another 5% are native-born US citizens with at least one immigrant parent.

Ohio has many statewide initiatives including Global Cleveland, a nonprofit dedicated to welcoming international people and growing Northeast Ohio's economy. (Check out our EA Staff visit to Global Cleveland.) The International Institute of Akron is also dedicated to welcoming and connecting immigrants to our region.

Even though our region's percentage of recent immigrants is relatively small, Greater Cleveland/Akron residents represent ethnicities from around the world. The Cleveland Cultural Gardens is a celebration of these ancestries. Over 30 dedicated gardens, designed and cultivated by distinct cultural or nationality groups, adorn the drive along Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard and East Boulevard in Rockefeller Park. (Click here to read about the Garden's One World Day on our blog.)

Largest Ancestries in Greater Cleveland

German: 20.4%
Slavic: 18.9% (8.2% Polish, 3.2% Slovak, 1.8% Slovene, 1.5% Czech, 1.5% Russian, 1.1% Ukrainian, 1.0% Croatian, 0.6% Serbian, Rusyn, Yugoslav)
Irish: 14.5%
British: 11.3% (8.0% English, 1.8% Scottish, 0.8% Scot-Irish, 0.7% Welsh)
Italian: 9.9%
Hungarian: 3.7%
Puerto Rican: 2.8%
French and French Canadian: 1.9%
Scandinavian: 1.2% (0.7% Swedish, 0.3% Norwegian, 0.2% Danish)
Arab: 1.0%

Largest Ancestries in Greater Akron

German: 15.9%
Irish: 10.6%
British: 10.3% (6.5% English, 1.7% Scottish, 0.9% Welsh, 0.6% Scot-Irish, 0.6% Other)
Italian: 6.7%
Slavic: 4.3% (2.4% Polish, 0.8% Slovak, 0.6% Russian, 0.5% Croatian)
Hungarian: 2.0%
African: 1.8%
French: 1.6%
Dutch: 1.0%
Greek: 0.6%

*Greater Cleveland/Akron residents self-identify with over 120 countries of origin.

Racial Diversity

The US Census Bureau and its 2020 Census provide a wealth of information regarding our region's population and racial diversity. The Bureau's QuickFacts webpage can be used to view demographics for any city, township, or village in Greater Cleveland/Akron.

The 2020 Census Diversity Index measures the possibility that two people chosen at random will be from different races and ethnicity groups. The Diversity Index for the US is 61.1% and 40.4% for Ohio. Cuyahoga County (Cleveland) is the most diverse county in Ohio with a Diversity Index of 58.7%. Click here to search the 2020 Census Diversity Index and more data for the US, Ohio, and our region's counties.

Census Reporter is another great resource for better understanding the racial diversity of not only specific cities, townships, and villages but also statistical areas including the Cleveland-Akron-Canton, OH Combined Statistical Area, the Cleveland-Elyria, OH Metropolitan Area, and the Akron, OH Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Additional information regarding the racial diversity in specific Greater Cleveland/Akron neighborhoods or suburbs can be found in the Suburbs and Neighborhood Chapters of Your Curated Info.

Diversity Index

Religious Diversity

Only a few Midwestern or Northern industrial cities match the variety of religious life in our region. Protestants from New England began to arrive in the early 1800s. In the 1840s, Jews and Catholics arrived to create a pluralistic city. African American, Protestant, and Eastern Orthodox Churches were added in large numbers at the turn of the last century. After World War II, the religious landscape broadened even further to include groups such as Jehovah's Witnesses, Bahais, Buddhists, and Muslims. The religious traditions adapted, sometimes creatively and willingly and sometimes painfully and reluctantly, to the diverse urban environment.

Through all the changes, our region's churches, mosques, and synagogues have addressed spiritual needs in addition to social concerns through education, philanthropy, moral reform, and social action. Older Cleveland neighborhoods, such as Tremont and Ohio City, are speckled with houses of worship, some over 150 years old. Many have changed affiliations several times as their congregations departed for the suburbs, leaving their church buildings to be reimagined into new worship and/or community gathering spaces.

If you are interested in the history of religious diversity in Greater Cleveland/Akron, we encourage you to visit these sites to learn more.

Today, every resident in Greater Cleveland/Akron can easily find a comfortable house of worship to suit their interests and beliefs as over 100 religious bodies are represented according to the Association of Religious Data Archives report on the seven counties that makeup our region. The most common religious bodies are listed to the right.

Islamic Center of Cleveland

Largest Religious Bodies in Greater Cleveland/Akron

Catholic Church
Non-denominational Christian Churches
United Methodist Church
National Missionary Baptist Convention of America
United Church of Christ
Muslim
Jehovah's Witnesses
American Baptist Churches in the U.S.A
Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod(LCMS)
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc.
Assemblies of God
Christian and Missionary Alliance
Orthodox Judaism
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Southern Baptist Convention
Amish Groups
Reform Judaism
Episcopal Church
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

If you are actively involved in a church, mosque, synagogue, or any house of worship in your current hometown, we encourage you to share this with your EA Project Manager who can point you in the direction of a similar congregation in Greater Cleveland/Akron. We understand how important these connections can be.

Generational Diversity

Age Distribution in Cleveland-Akron-Canton Combined Statistical Area

Greater Cleveland/Akron is a generationally diverse region and is home to the Greatest Generation, Gen Alpha, and everyone in between. Our age distribution is consistent with the US's age distribution.

21% of our region's population is under age 18, 60% is considered working age (ages 18-64), and 19% is age 65 or older.

The median age in our region is 40.3 while the median age in the US is 38.8.

LGBTQIA+ Resources

In Greater Cleveland/Akron, you will find PRIDE, a thriving LGBTQIA+ community, allies, and a variety of resources for all. Below is a list of some invaluable resources.

Advocacy and Community

AIDS Taskforce of Greater Cleveland

CANAPI (Community AIDS Network Akron Pride Initiative)

Equality Ohio

Human Rights Campaign of Cleveland

LGBT Community Center of Greater Cleveland (Pride in the CLE)

LGBTQ Allies Lake County (Lake County PRIDE)

PFLAG Akron

PFLAG Cleveland

PFLAG Kent Rustin LGBTQ+ Resource Center (Community Space for Black LGBTQ+ Community)

Studio West 117 (A first-of-its-kind 300,000 SF neighborhood created for and by the LGBTQIA+ community.)

Trans Ohio