Record number of US adult population are LGBTQ+, census data suggests
There are an estimated 26.5million LGBTQ+ adults in the US (Image: Getty Images)
LGBTQ+ people now make up 12% of the adult population in the US, according to a Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Foundation analysis of US Census Bureau data, estimating roughly 26.5million people nationwide.
The analysis drew on more than 2.4million entries from the Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey, collected between 2021 and 2024.
HRC president Kelley Robinson said in a statement, as per Them: “LGBTQ+ Americans are everywhere,” adding: “There are 25million of us across the country, and we now have critical mass in almost every state in the nation. We’re not a niche constituency, and no campaign, brand, or employer can afford to treat us like one.”
In 2025, Gallup found that 9.3% of the US adult population identified as part of the LGBTQ+ community, an increase of 3.5% from their first analysis in 2012.
The new stats suggest there is now a record number of US adults who identify as LGBTQ+.
Data from the US Census Bureau released earlier this year showed that there were more female same-sex couple households in the country than men.
What the analysis found
The findings also challenge the idea that LGBTQ+ people are concentrated only in a handful of areas stereotypically seen as safe. LGBTQ+ people make up more than 10% of the population in 40 states, including in red states such as Georgia, Arizona and Texas.
Of the 25.6million LGBTQ+ people recorded in the analysis, 53% are aged 18 to 34.
The analysis also found bisexual people constitute over 7% of the US adult population, and make up the majority of LGBTQ+ adults. This was also seen in Gallup’s 2025 analysis, which found that 5.2% of those surveyed were bisexual, compared to 1.4% who were lesbians, 2% who were gay, 1.3% who were transgender, or just under 1% who described themselves with another LGBTQ+ identity.
The demographic breakdown found Hispanic adults are 18% of the LGBTQ+ population compared with 13% of non-LGBTQ+ adults, while Black adults are 9% of the LGBTQ+ population compared with 12% of non-LGBTQ+ adults.
The Household Pulse Survey data used in the analysis was collected between 2021 and 2024. It is reportedly the last major attempt by the US government to document data on gender identity before Trump’s administration removed sexuality and gender questions from hundreds of federal surveys.
Share your thoughts! Let us know in the comments below, and remember to keep the conversation respectful.