Houston again anointed the most diverse city in the U.S. by new report

We're No. 1

Houston is once again the most diverse city in America, says a new report. Photo by Zview/Getty Images

Diversity is currently at the forefront of the U.S. conversation, as anti-Asian hate crimes have spiked nearly 150 percent in 2021 and the Derek Chauvin trial currently broils in Minneapolis.

But now, a new study sheds some good news on the Bayou City, as Houston has once again claimed its title as the most diverse city in America. Finance website WalletHub released its report on 2021's Most Diverse Cities in America, and Houston tops out not only as the most diverse city, but also as the most diverse big city in the U.S.

To crown the diversity champion, WalletHub compared the profiles of more than 500 of the largest cities across five major diversity categories: socioeconomic, cultural, economic, household, and religious.

The annual report drills down into metrics and creates a point system on items such as industry diversity, income, age, religious affiliation, education, language, worker class, and marital status.

Towards that end, here's a breakdown of Houston's rankings (with 1 equaling most diverse and 250 equaling "average"):

  • 49th – educational-attainment diversity
  • 40th – racial and ethnic diversity
  • 26th – linguistic diversity
  • 246th – birthplace diversity
  • 15th – industry diversity
  • 173rd – occupational diversity
  • 228th – marital-status diversity

While not standing out in any one particular measurable, Houston narrowly edged out Jersey City, New Jersey with an overall diversity score of 71.87; Jersey City scored a 71.7. The next major city behind Houston is New York City at No. 3 (71.59).

Dallas follows closely behind at No. 4 overall and a ranking of 71.52. Dallas scored best in religious diversity (43rd overall) and cultural diversity (43rd overall), followed by socioeconomic diversity (68th), household diversity (159), and economic diversity (190).

Elsewhere in Texas, Arlington follows at No. 8 overall and a score of 71.19. The city scored best in cultural diversity (38) and religious diversity (90), followed by socioeconomic diversity (111), economic diversity (117), and household diversity (237).

Fort Worth comes in at No. 25 and a score of 70.12. It scored best in cultural diversity (60), followed by socioeconomic diversity (95), economic diversity (119), religious diversity (161), and household diversity (245).

Meanwhile, Austin ranked 38th overall with a score of 69.67. The Capital City scored an impressive No. 3 overall in socioeconomic diversity, followed by cultural diversity (74), household diversity (192), economic diversity (205), and religious diversity (253).

Further down the list is San Antonio at No. 66 overall and a 68.6 score. San Antonio scored best in household diversity (92), followed by religious diversity (102), cultural diversity (137), economic diversity (143), and socioeconomic diversity (205).

Houston's top ranking should come to no surprise to locals. The city topped WalletHub's diversity ranking in 2019.

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This article originally ran on CultureMap.

The Bayou City has staked its claim as most diverse city in the nation. Photo by Tim Leviston/Getty Images

Houston crowned most diverse city in America by new report

We're No. 1

Last year, many locals cried foul when Houston was named the No. 2 most diverse city in the nation, behind — gasp! — Jersey City, New Jersey. But a new report confirms what we here already know: Houston is, indeed, the most diverse city in the country.

The new ranking comes courtesy of personal finance website WalletHub, which, in 2018, placed Houston in a dubious second place. "Yes, Jersey City may be listed as more ethnically diverse," Dr. Stephen Klineberg, noted local demographic expert, told CultureMap last year. "But it's much smaller." (Some consolation: Last year's WalletHub report found Houston was the most diverse big city in America.)

To crown the diversity champion, WalletHub compared 501 of the most populated cities in America across five key dimensions: socioeconomic diversity, cultural diversity, economic diversity, household diversity, and religious diversity. The report drills down into metrics such as industry diversity, income, age, religious affiliation, education, language, worker class, and marital status.

While not standing out in any one category, Houston toppled Jersey City by achieving an overall diversity score of 71.6; Jersey City scored a 71.52. Houston scored best in industry diversity (No. 16) and racial and ethnic diversity (No. 33), while scoring lowest in marital status diversity (No. 226).

Elsewhere in Texas, Dallas comes in at No. 5 overall, with an overall ranking of 71.12. Arlington follows at No. 9, with an overall ranking of 70.87. Fort Worth comes in at No. 25, with an overall score of 69.88. Further down the list is Austin at No. 42, with an overall score of 69.2. Plano comes in at No. 57, with an overall score of 68.55, while San Antonio follows at No. 62 with an overall score of 68.42.

The least diverse city in America? The scenery apparently doesn't change much in Provo, Utah, which comes in last on WalletHub's list.

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This article originally ran on CultureMap.



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4 Houston health tech startups advancing medical innovation

meet the finalists

Houston has been driving medical innovation for decades. And thanks to leading hospitals, cutting-edge research and breakthrough technologies, the region’s healthcare ecosystem continues to improve how patients are diagnosed, treated and cared for.

The Health Tech Business category in our 2025 Houston Innovation Awards will honor an innovative startup within the health and medical technology sectors.

Four forward-thinking businesses have been named finalists for the 2026 award. This year's finalists, selected by our esteemed panel of judges, range from a startup developing miniaturized medical technologies for space to a company using AI to help develop cancer treatment plans.

Read more about these businesses, their innovative founders, and how they're shaping the future of health care below.. The 2026 winners will be announced on InnovationMap.com in mid-November.

Bairitone Health

Bairitone Health is bringing anatomy imaging for sleep apnea to the home environment. The company's platform maps users' anatomy during natural sleep using a facial patch to determine the root cause of airway obstruction. It then offers effective therapies for each patient.

The company was founded in 2022 in the Texas Medical Center's Biodesign program by CEO Meagan Pitcher, CTO Onur Kilic and chief medical officer Britt Cross. It was a member of Activate Houston's inaugural cohort and has participated in numerous accelerators and incubators. The company raised an oversubscribed seed round for $2.4 million earlier this year and received Breakthrough Device Designation from the Food and Drug Administration in April.

InformAI Inc.

InformAI Inc. develops fit-to-purpose AI solutions for the clinical setting. Its RadOncAI product recently received FDA 510(k) clearance. The product uses AI to create a first-pass radiation therapy dose plan for complex head and neck cancers in an effort to eliminate bottlenecks in radiation planning and ultimately cancer treatment. The company has also developed AI products for sinus disease detection and 3D organ reconstruction.

CEO Jim Havelka founded the company in 2017. It is participating in the Mayo Clinic Accelerate Platform. It has raised about $4 million in seed funding and has received numerous non-dilutive grants from the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health and the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas. The company shared in its application that it plans to launch a Series A fundraising round and submit an FDA 510K application for its organ reconstruction product, Voluquant, by the end of 2026.

Prana Surgical

Prana Surgical is developing a minimally invasive surgical platform for small, hard-to-reach lung nodules that may be cancerous. The company's Prana System cleared U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval earlier this year.

Prana Surgical was originally founded as Prana Thoracic in 2022. It has participated in numerous accelerators, including the Texas Medical Center Innovation Accelerator in 2023 and the IGNITE Health accelerator in 2022. It raised $6 million in Series A funding rounds in 2023 and 2024 , with a Series B currently ongoing. The company said in its application that it is currently moving into the next stage of clinical validation and revenue generation in the U.S., in addition to preparing its manufacturing and commercial infrastructure for broader use.

Skybound MedTech

Skybound MedTech develops technologies that aim to address the health risks of long-duration spaceflight. Its compact, miniaturized medical technologies can deliver complex therapies without a physician.

CEO Matthew Kuhn, who previously founded Taurus Vascular, founded Skybound last year. The company emerged from stealth in January after raising a $1.25 million Series A round. It plans to advance its lead dual-use platform into critical preclinical validation in November, the company shared in its application. It is currently raising a $25 million Series A round and is pursuing federal research partnerships with DARPA and ARPA-H.

Generation Park lands new facility to scale xeno-organ production

Organ innovation

Maryland-based United Therapeutics Corp. has opened a new 77,448-square-foot facility to manufacture xeno-organs in Northeast Houston’s growing biotech hub, Generation Park.

The new Houston location is United Therapeutics’ third Designated Pathogen-Free (DPF) site, named for transplant pioneers Dr. Bartley P. Griffith and Dr. Robert A. Montgomery. The company says the new facility will enable it to scale commercial production of its xeno-organs once they receive regulatory approval.

An existing DPF facility in Virginia is supporting clinical trials for the xeno-organs, and a third site in Minnesota will also focus on commercialization with the Houston site, according to the company.

Xeno-organs are organs taken from a non-human animal source and transplanted, implanted or infused into a human recipient.

Currently, United Therapeutics is advancing clinical trials to support a Biologics License Application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for its investigational-stage xenotransplantation, UKidney, UThymoKidney and UHeart products. The products all involve working with the genes from humans and pigs.

In 2025, Chron.com reported the company was working to construct an estimated $96 million facility to breed genetically engineered animals. Head of investor relations at United Therapeutics Dewey Steadman told the Houston Business Journal in 2025 that the pigs’ DNA will be edited. In November 2024, a 53-year-old woman in Alabama received a transplanted kidney from UKidney that had 10 gene edits. She had the transplant removed in April 2025, after her body rejected it.

The Dr. Bartley P. Griffith and Dr. Robert A. Montgomery Xenograft Production Facility requires a “strictly controlled, biosecure barrier environment, including air filtration, filtered water, filtered feed supplies, and state-of-the-art decontamination entryways,” according to the company. Being pathogen-free means it includes calibrated air and water conduits to support the transplantability of xenograft products and to prevent contamination. For energy considerations, the building also features solar arrays.

“With our third xenograft production facility now open and clinical trials underway, United Therapeutics is moving closer to its goal of providing transplantable organs to the people who need them,” Martine Rothblatt, chairperson and CEO of United Therapeutics, said in a news release. “It is fitting that this facility is named for Dr. Griffith and Dr. Montgomery, whose first-in-human surgeries turned xenotransplantation from a theoretical possibility into a clinical reality.”

The facility, which wrapped construction in August, is located at 11848 Common Dock Dr. in Generation Park, which will house manufacturing sites for pharmaceutical heavyweights Bristol Myers Squibb and Eli Lilly. Last fall, Eli Lilly tapped Generation Park for its $6.5 billion manufacturing plant, and Bristol Myers Squibb made a $2.3 billion investment in August to bring its state-of-the-art site to the master-planned commercial district.

Elon Musk's SpaceX reports profit as AI and satellite businesses booms

Booming Business

SpaceX reported a bigger quarterly profit than expected on Tuesday, October 20, as its satellite communications and artificial intelligence businesses boomed.

The company, run by Elon Musk, posted a profit for the three months through September 2026 of $4.4 billion, or 35 cents per share, reversing a year-ago loss and easily topping Wall Street's expectations. Revenue soared to $14.6 billion, up 161%.

On a conference call with analysts, Musk suggested a merger with his electric car company Tesla might be in the works, something that has been rumored for months. He said both companies formed “special committees” of independent directors to discuss the issue, though he played down the chances of an imminent deal.

“Some people out there assume that a SpaceX and Tesla merger is a certainty,” he said. “I think that would be overstating it.”

The AI business became SpaceX's largest by revenue in the third quarter, although the Starlink satellite service remains the biggest profit generator.

“They beat across all metrics and the Starlink business looks to be accelerating,” said Dan Ives, an analyst at Yorkville Ives. “This is just what (Wall) Street wanted.”

The stock rose 7.5% in after-hours trading.

Musk also told analysts that for next month's launch of its Starship rocket, SpaceX will attempt to grab both the booster and ship with mechanical arms upon return to base, a key step toward demonstrating it can reuse the massive spacecraft.

“The only way that we can extend consciousness beyond Earth on a sustained basis is with a fully reusable orbital launch vehicle,” Musk said, calling the attempt, if successful, “a massive technology milestone.”

SpaceX hopes to get Starship on a regular launch pattern in preparation for NASA's upcoming lunar missions.

The company already has huge contracts with the federal government, and House Democrats have called for investigations into those contracts and Musk’s work with the Department of Government Efficiency. Musk has spent $276 million since July in support of Republican candidates.

In a filing for its initial public offering in June, SpaceX warned that a change in control of Congress could have a “material and adverse impact on our growth and competitive position.”

Musk recently drew criticism from politicians in Washington after speeds for a military version of SpaceX's satellite communications service were slowed for Ukraine following President Donald Trump's deal to get more diesel oil from Russia amid a push to end the war. The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that it was Musk who ordered the slowdown, impeding Ukraine’s use of drones along the front. SpaceX did not immediately respond to an Associated Press request for comment on the Journal story.

Both Trump and Musk have denied responsibility for the slowdown.

As midterm elections near, Musk on Monday promised to give one share of SpaceX to “every kid in America” next year, though he provided no details on how the distribution would be carried out. With communities nationwide protesting the construction of large data centers and concerns about AI safety, AI companies are trying to build goodwill. Anthropic pledged to commit 5% of its shares to a new “public benefit” fund.

SpaceX shares have been under pressure over concerns that the company was spending too much on major projects to compete with rivals such as Anthropic. The company said capital expenditures totaled $19.6 billion last quarter, nearly triple the figure from a year earlier, and it forecast spending would grow to $35 billion to $40 billion in the current quarter.

Shares of SpaceX closed Tuesday at $147.79, down from a peak near $201 after its IPO, which made Musk the world’s first trillionaire at the time. But the share prices for SpaceX and Tesla have since dropped, reducing his net worth to $925 billion, according to Forbes magazine.

Tesla reports third-quarter financial results Wednesday. Last week, Tesla unveiled a new Roadster sports car that in some versions may include thrusters allowing it to briefly fly using SpaceX technology — though experts say anything usable for drivers is a long shot.

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