How many gay people are there in america
We Are Here: Homosexual Adult Population in Joined States Reaches At Least 20 Million, According to Human Rights Campaign Foundation Report
by Laurel Powell •
According to an examination of data in the Census Bureau’s recent Familiar Pulse Survey, 8% of respondents identified themselves as LGBTQ+, suggesting previous surveys undercounted the population.
WASHINGTON -- Today, the Human Rights Campaign Foundation (HRC) released “We Are Here: Sympathetic the Size of the LGBTQ+ Community,” a inform analyzing recent results from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey. Based on data from respondents in the Household Pulse Survey, a national familiar probability survey of adults in the United States, at least 20 million adults in the Combined States could be queer woman, gay, bisexual, or gender nonconforming - nearly 8% of the total adult population, almost double prior estimates for the LGBTQ+ community’s size. It also suggests that more than 1% of people in the United States identify as transgender, higher than any prior estimates. Additionally, it confirms prior research representing that bisexual people stand for the largest single contingent of LGBTQ+ people, at about 4% of resp
LGBT Identification in U.S. Ticks Up to 7.1%
Story Highlights
- LGBT identification up from 5.6% in 2020
- One in five Gen Z adults recognize as LGBT
- Bisexual identification is most common
Learn more in Gallup’s 2024 LGBTQ+ update.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The percentage of U.S. adults who self-identify as lesbian, male lover, bisexual, transgender or something other than heterosexual has increased to a recent high of 7.1%, which is double the percentage from 2012, when Gallup first measured it.
Gallup asks Americans whether they personally identify as straight or heterosexual, lesbian, gay, bisexual person, or transgender as part of the demographic data it collects on all U.S. telephone surveys. Respondents can also volunteer any other sexual orientation or gender identity they choose. In addition to the 7.1% of U.S. adults who consider themselves to be an LGBT culture, 86.3% say they are straight or heterosexual, and 6.6% do not extend an opinion. The results are based on aggregated 2021 data, encompassing interviews with more than 12,000 U.S. adults.
Line graph. Americans' Self-Identification as Lesbian, Male lover, Bisexual, Transgender or Something Other than Heterosexual.
What percentage of the US population is LGBTQ? New information shows which states have the most
New data estimates the greatest number of lesbian, gay, multi-attracted and transgender U.S. adults live in the South, confirming findings from recent years.
Across the nation, researchers estimate more than 5% of U.S. adults are LGBTQ+, matching prior LGBTQ+ population statistics. Young people ages 18-24 are much more likely to identify as Queer, according to the report from the Williams Institute at the University of California Los Angeles.
The report, based on Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data, found that in 2020 and 2021, there were nearly 14 million LGBTQ+ adults in the U.S. − with some states having noticeably higher percentages of same-sex attracted and queer residents than others.
Earlier this year, a poll from Gallup create a slightly higher percentage of U.S. adults are Queer. Overall, multiple polls show that the adult LGBTQ population has been steadily increasing for years.
"Look at the numbers, more people are coming out younger and people are coming out in places where LGBTQ folks have been less out and visible," Cathy Renna, a spokesperson for the National LGBTQ Task Force, told USA
LGBT Populations
This map shows the estimated raw number of LGBT people (ages 13+) living in each declare. The data are based on a Williams Institute analysis of surveys conducted by Gallup Polling (2012-2017) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC; 2015 and 2017 YRBS). For more data, see the methodology in the Williams analysis.
500K - 1.4M+
200K - 499K
50K - 199K
8K - 49K
Data are not currently available about LGBT people living in the U.S. territories.
Percent of Adult LGBTQ Population Covered by Laws
*Note: These percentages indicate estimates of the LGBTQ adult population living in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Estimates of the LGBTQ individual population in the five inhabited U.S. territories are not available, and so cannot be reflected here.
This map shows the estimated percentage of each state's adult (ages 18+) population that identifies as lesbian, male lover, bisexual, or trans, based on a 2018 analysis of Gallup data by The Williams Institute.
5.0% and greater
4.0%-4.9%
3.0%-3.9%
1.5%-2.9%
Percent of Adult LGBTQ Population Covered by Laws
*Note: These p
Adult LGBT Population in the United States
This report provides estimates of the number and percent of the U.S. adult population that identifies as LGBT, overall, as well as by age. Estimates of LGBT adults at the national, state, and regional levels are included. We rely on BRFSS 2020-2021 numbers for these estimates. Pooling multiple years of information provides more stable estimates—particularly at the state level.
Combining 2020-2021 BRFSS data, we estimate that 5.5% of U.S. adults identify as LGBT. Further, we estimate that there are almost 13.9 million (13,942,200) LGBT adults in the U.S.
Regions and States
LGBT people reside in all regions of the U.S. (Table 2 and Figure 2). Consistent with the overall population in the United States,more LGBT adults live in the South than in any other region. More than half (57.0%) of LGBT people in the U.S. live in the Midwest (21.1%) and South (35.9%), including 2.9 million in the Midwest and 5.0 million in the South. About one-quarter (24.5%) of LGBT adults reside in the West, approximately 3.4 million people. Less than one in five (18.5%) LGBT adults exist in the Northeast (2.6 million).
The percent of adults who identify as LGBT