The Magic City may be the “mirror city” when it comes to how much it resembles the U.S. as a whole.

America is known for being a melting pot of cultures, a beautiful blend of freedom lovers from all over the world. Whether your family entered through Ellis Island, sought refuge from an oppressive regime, or moved west in search of a new frontier the mixture of various cultures is what makes America unique.

A recent study from WalletHub analyzed 379 of the largest metropolitan areas in the U.S. to find which cities best resemble the overall population. In other words, which metropolises are the most American in the sense that they accurately portray the diverse blend of people and things this country has to offer?

As it turns out, Alabama is much more than sweet tea, barbecue and football. Five cities within the state ranked in the top 100, with Birmingham leading at eighth. With the booming sports, music, arts, entertainment and food scene, city officials will take Birmingham’s recognition.

“It is no surprise to us that Birmingham ranks so high for its uniqueness,” said Michael Shattuck, director of research for the Birmingham Business Alliance.

The ranks are based on four separate categories: socio-demographic statistics, economic statistics, education statistics and housing statistics.

The socio-demographic factor was built on gender, age, race, household makeup and family relationship.

Housing included elements like renter-to-owner ratio, house price and average home square footage.

Economic statistics considered a vast amount of criteria comprising income, the unemployment rate, various job industries, length of workday and more.

Education considered the variance in levels of schooling from high school to college and beyond, for people ages 25 and older.  All factors were weighted equally to determine where cities fell on the list.

“More and more, Birmingham is appearing on the radar of companies looking to employ a wide and diverse population of talented and educated people,” Shattuck said. “And families of workers are finding that our community is a great place to raise a family, where they can earn a competitive salary and experience an affordable lifestyle and high quality of life.”

Birmingham ranked very high in economic and education statistics, which suggests the city is as diversified as the U.S. in terms of a varied job market and wide range of educated people. Mobile (42), Huntsville (49), Montgomery (66), and Tuscaloosa (81) also placed in the top 100.