At a typical American school, one racial or ethnic group forms a clear majority. At the schools on this list, none does. These are the most racially diverse public elementary schools in the country, where White, Black, Hispanic, Asian, Native, and mixed-race children all attend in meaningful numbers, and the single largest group is often barely a third of the student body.
One place dominates the ranking so thoroughly: Anchorage, Alaska holds 10 of the top 15 spots. Anchorage combines a large Alaska Native population, decades of refugee and immigrant resettlement, and a steady flow of military families, producing neighborhoods that are regularly ranked among the most diverse in America. Its elementary schools show it plainly.
The 15 most diverse elementary schools
Percentages are the share of students in each group, from federal data. They may not total 100 because of rounding. The ranking uses a diversity index that peaks when students are spread evenly across all groups; the list is limited to schools with at least 300 students. Every school links to its allk12 profile.
| Rank | School | City | State | White | Black | Hispanic | Asian | Native/PI | Two+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Creekside Park Elementary | Anchorage | AK | 13% | 11% | 12% | 13% | 30% | 22% |
| 2 | Ptarmigan Elementary | Anchorage | AK | 14% | 7% | 15% | 16% | 29% | 20% |
| 3 | William Tyson Elementary | Anchorage | AK | 5% | 15% | 12% | 11% | 42% | 16% |
| 4 | Kasuun Elementary | Anchorage | AK | 25% | 4% | 13% | 14% | 24% | 20% |
| 5 | Williwaw Elementary | Anchorage | AK | 7% | 5% | 17% | 26% | 31% | 14% |
| 6 | Dr. Etheldra Davis Fairview Elementary | Anchorage | AK | 9% | 15% | 12% | 4% | 46% | 14% |
| 7 | Expedition Elementary | Puyallup | WA | 22% | 22% | 16% | 15% | 8% | 17% |
| 8 | Lister Elementary | Tacoma | WA | 13% | 23% | 18% | 15% | 9% | 22% |
| 9 | Susitna Elementary | Anchorage | AK | 24% | 2% | 11% | 21% | 23% | 19% |
| 10 | Chinook Elementary | Anchorage | AK | 26% | 2% | 11% | 11% | 32% | 18% |
| 11 | North Star Elementary | Anchorage | AK | 7% | 8% | 15% | 12% | 46% | 14% |
| 12 | Makalapa Elementary | Honolulu | HI | 21% | 8% | 20% | 23% | 11% | 16% |
| 13 | Muldoon Elementary | Anchorage | AK | 10% | 6% | 11% | 32% | 25% | 17% |
| 14 | Clark Elementary | Portland | OR | 25% | 20% | 15% | 21% | 8% | 11% |
| 15 | Katherine G. Johnson Elementary | Tacoma | WA | 27% | 15% | 19% | 10% | 9% | 21% |
The top 20 outside Anchorage
Set Anchorage aside and the list shifts south to Washington's Puget Sound. Twelve of the 20 most diverse elementary schools outside Anchorage are in Tacoma, Auburn, Kent, Federal Way, and Puyallup. Three are on Oahu, two in Portland, and the last three are spread across Sioux Falls, Tulsa, and Schenectady. Same method as above: at least 300 students, ranked by the same diversity index.
| Rank | School | City | State | White | Black | Hispanic | Asian | Native/PI | Two+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Expedition Elementary | Puyallup | WA | 22% | 22% | 16% | 15% | 8% | 17% |
| 2 | Lister Elementary | Tacoma | WA | 13% | 23% | 18% | 15% | 9% | 22% |
| 3 | Makalapa Elementary | Honolulu | HI | 21% | 8% | 20% | 23% | 11% | 16% |
| 4 | Clark Elementary | Portland | OR | 25% | 20% | 15% | 21% | 8% | 11% |
| 5 | Katherine G. Johnson Elementary | Tacoma | WA | 27% | 15% | 19% | 10% | 9% | 21% |
| 6 | Pearl Harbor Elementary | Honolulu | HI | 19% | 8% | 23% | 23% | 11% | 16% |
| 7 | Margaret Scott Elementary | Portland | OR | 18% | 23% | 26% | 11% | 11% | 10% |
| 8 | Arlington Elementary | Tacoma | WA | 22% | 19% | 26% | 10% | 8% | 15% |
| 9 | Lake Dolloff Elementary | Auburn | WA | 20% | 24% | 22% | 16% | 5% | 13% |
| 10 | Pine Tree Elementary | Kent | WA | 22% | 19% | 22% | 20% | 5% | 12% |
| 11 | Dick Scobee Elementary | Auburn | WA | 18% | 15% | 21% | 28% | 10% | 9% |
| 12 | Gustav H. Webling Elementary | Aiea | HI | 21% | 6% | 18% | 21% | 11% | 24% |
| 13 | Rainier View Elementary | Federal Way | WA | 22% | 12% | 28% | 17% | 9% | 12% |
| 14 | Helen Stafford Elementary | Tacoma | WA | 15% | 13% | 30% | 17% | 8% | 17% |
| 15 | Star Lake Elementary | Kent | WA | 15% | 14% | 30% | 16% | 10% | 15% |
| 16 | Terry Redlin Elementary | Sioux Falls | SD | 26% | 22% | 21% | 4% | 17% | 10% |
| 17 | Jarman Elementary | Tulsa | OK | 20% | 21% | 25% | 13% | 4% | 17% |
| 18 | Howe Elementary | Schenectady | NY | 22% | 21% | 22% | 17% | 2% | 16% |
| 19 | Meredith Hill Elementary | Auburn | WA | 23% | 14% | 21% | 25% | 5% | 13% |
| 20 | Sherwood Forest Elementary | Federal Way | WA | 22% | 13% | 29% | 17% | 7% | 13% |
Sioux Falls' Terry Redlin Elementary gets there partly through a Native and Pacific Islander share of 17%, the highest on this list. Tulsa's Jarman and Schenectady's Howe reach almost the same balance with nearly equal white, Black, and Hispanic shares of 20% to 25% each.
What the list is really showing
Look down the columns and the pattern is striking: at Creekside Park, the six groups run 13, 11, 12, 13, 30, and 22 percent. There is no majority to speak of. That even split is what the diversity index rewards, and it is rarer than people assume, because most schools, even in mixed cities, tilt heavily toward one or two groups.
The Anchorage schools lean on a large Native and Pacific Islander share, reflecting Alaska Native families, while the Washington schools around Tacoma and Puyallup and Honolulu's Makalapa reach their balance through bigger Black, Hispanic, and Asian populations. Different ingredients, same result: a room where no child is part of an overwhelming majority.
This measures balance across groups, not the presence of any one group. A school that is 90% Hispanic or 90% Alaska Native scores low here even though it is far from white-majority, because diversity as measured is about spread, not any single population dominating. For the bigger picture, see our rankings of the most diverse public high schools and the most diverse school districts in America.
Sources
Demographic figures from allk12's analysis of National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) data, 2024-25. Diversity is measured with a Gini-Simpson index across the racial and ethnic categories reported to the federal government.
