No amount of salsa stains on my tie can change this finding: Lawrence is below average when it comes to being culturally and ethnically diverse.

The folks at the financial website WalletHub have put together an interesting report on the most and least culturally diverse cities in America. The report looked at recent Census data for 501 of the largest cities in the country. It measured the amount of racial diversity, the amount of diversity in languages spoken and the amount of diversity in birthplaces of residents.

Lawrence ranked No. 303 in the report, putting it a bit below the national average. Lawrence also was slightly below average among Kansas communities, ranking sixth out of the 10 Kansas communities that were part of the report.

None of those numbers are necessarily a bad thing, but I do think some people may find them surprising. As a university community and a town that leans to the left politically, I think some people have this image of Lawrence as being a particularly diverse place. Those folks may be confusing a welcoming attitude and tolerance with actual diversity in terms of race and culture. In fact, university communities in general didn’t fare that well in the report.

Before I get into many of the numbers, a bit of explanation on the report is in order. In the past I’ve reported on statistics that show whites dominate Lawrence’s population. But that is not what this report is exactly measuring. It is trying to measure what community has the greatest mix of races and culture. So, Lawrence’s largely white population doesn’t score well in the report, but a community that largely has a black population wouldn’t score well either. Instead the authors are looking for which communities have the greatest mix of races, or the greatest mix of nationalities or the greatest mix of languages spoken. They use a a mathematical formula used in the business world to measure whether a market is competitive or monopolistic. (I don’t want to insult your intelligence, but for the one or two people who don’t already know this, that formula is called the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index, which among other things is great at predicting whether you are a nerd or a wonk.)

With that out of the way, here’s a look at how Lawrence ranked compared with other Kansas communities:

• No. 63: Kansas City, Kan.

• No. 187: Wichita

• No. 262: Olathe

• No. 285: Topeka

• No. 296: Overland Park

• No. 303: Lawrence

• No. 323: Manhattan

• No. 339: Lenexa

• No. 375: Salina

• No. 377: Shawnee

As I mentioned, university communities were not standouts in this report. I didn’t find any major university communities near the top of the list. Austin, Texas, was No. 70, but it is so large of a city I’m not sure it really fits the definition of a university town anymore. Among some of the more traditional regional college communities: Iowa City was No. 260; Stillwater, Okla., No. 291; Norman, Okla., No. 300; Columbia, Mo., No. 336; Fort Collins, Colo., No. 342; and Ames, Iowa, No. 359.

The report also looks at some state numbers. The Kansas results may surprise some. Kansas is not a hotbed of diversity nationally, but by at least one measure it fares better than most of its neighbors.

The report looked at the percentage of foreign born population for each state. Kansas had the highest foreign born population of any state in the region, except for Colorado. Here’s a look:

• Colorado: 9.95 percent foreign born

• Kansas: 7.09 percent

• Nebraska: 6.85 percent

• Oklahoma: 6.14 percent

• Iowa: 4.78 percent

• Missouri: 4.1 percent

• North Dakota: 3.89 percent

• South Dakota: 3.28 percent

Those numbers suggest that some of the most culturally and racially diverse places in Kansas may be midsize communities that were just a bit too small to be ranked in this report. Go to towns like Emporia, Garden City, Liberal and others that are home to major meat-processing facilities, and you will find whites and a variety of ethnic groups living and working side by side.

What does all this mean? I’m not sure. Look at the Kansas list for example. Shawnee, at the bottom of the list, likely would not trade its problems for those of Kansas City, which is at the top of the list. But in today’s environment, race, ethnicity and diversity are likely going to get more discussion, so it is good to have some data to go with the debate.