REPORT: LGBT Are 2-6% Of U.S. Population (Varies By Survey)

The Williams Institute at UCLA Law School has issued a major new report analyzing the demographics of the LGBT populations in the United States. This excerpt from the executive summary highlights the important findings of the report:

Despite variations across the surveys related to the time period in which data were collected, data collection modes, and the wordings of LGB/T identity questions, findings suggest many consistencies across data sources in demographic characteristics of LGB/T identified adults in comparison to their non-LGB/T counterparts. These consistencies persist even among surveys where estimates of the prevalence of LGB/T identified adults vary. 

The proportion of adults who identified as LGB/T varied across the surveys from 2.2% in the NHIS to 4.0% in the Gallup data. These estimates imply that between 5.2 and 9.5 million adults in the United States identify as LGB/T. 

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Examples of consistent findings include:• LGB/T identity is more common among younger populations.• LGB/T populations generally share the racial and ethnic characteristics of non-LGB/T individuals.• Adults are more likely to identify as LGB/T in the Northeast and West than in the South and Midwest.

The report goes on to compare educational attainment, geographical distribution, racial/ethnic make-up and other characteristics of the LGB/T community.