At first glance, the population of the Centraville neighborhood in Lowell, MA is relatively heterogeneous. For example, part of Centraville matches the national percentages for gender distribution, with 49.1% males and 50.9% females, while part of it is very slightly skewed towards male, with 49.3% males and 50.7% females (U.S. Census Bureau, 2000). The median ages of both tracts, 27.6 and 31.4, is somewhat lower than the national median age of 35.3 years old. (U.S. Census Bureau, 2000). Furthermore, Centraville appears to have significantly less elderly people than the national average, with 6.2% and 10.8% of people over 65, in comparison to a national average of 12.4%. (U.S. Census Bureau, 2000). .

             However, while Centraville may appear superficially heterogeneous, it actually has a more racially diverse population than most of the United States. The nation is 75.1% white, while Centraville's two tracts are 67.4% white and 68.6% white. (U.S. Census Bureau, 2000). However, it would be fair to say that certain races are underrepresented in Centraville. While African Americans make up 12.3% of the nation's population, they make up less than 5.4% of the population of Centraville. (U.S. Census Bureau, 2000). In contrast, Centraville's Hispanic population is much larger than the national average. Hispanics make up 12.5% of the U.S. population. (U.S. Census Bureau, 2000). Centraville's Hispanic population ranges between 14% and 24.5%. Furthermore, Centraville's population of Asians is significantly greater than the national average of 3.6%, with percentages ranging from 10.2 to 16.5. With this diverse population, it should come as no surprise that approximately 40% of the people in Centraville speak a language other than English at home. (U.S. Census Bureau, 2000). .

             The average household in Centraville is larger than the average household nationwide, which has 2.59 people. (U.S. Census Bureau, 2000). In contrast, the tracts in Centraville report average households of 3.