These states have the most LGBTQ residents: Research
California has the largest number of LGBTQ Americans, according to new research, while Washington, D.C., has the greatest percentage of LGBTQ residents and the South claims a larger share of LGBTQ adults than any other region.
A report published by the Williams Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles found an estimated 5.5 percent of U.S. adults, or about 13.9 million people, identify as LGBTQ, based on data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from 2021-22.
About 14.3 percent of D.C.'s population identifies as LGBTQ, while Oregon and Delaware, coming in at second and third, have LGBTQ populations of 7.8 and 7.5 percent, respectively,
Vermont and New Hampshire are close behind — 7.4 and 7.2 percent, respectively, followed by Washington state at 6.9 percent and Colorado and Maine, where LGBTQ residents accounted for 6.8 percent of each state's population.
California, the largest state by population, has the most LGBTQ residents — 1,549,600 — followed by Texas's 1,071,300 and Florida's 898,000. New York is close behind with 853,600 residents before the number drops to 586,500 in Pennsylvania, followed by 557,600 in Ohio. The top 10 is rounded out by Michigan, Illinois, Georgia and Washington.
Nearly 36 percent of LGBTQ Americans live in the South, which researchers defined as stretching from Texas and Oklahoma to Florida and north through Delaware. Kentucky, West Virginia, and D.C. are also included, per USA Today.
The Midwest holds 21.1 percent of LGBTQ Americans, while the Northeast has 18.5 percent.
The report separately found young adults — ages 18 to 24 — take up the largest share of LGBTQ Americans, at 15.2 percent. That's equal to nearly 1 in 6 young adults in the U.S., or about 4,659,600 people.
The share of those identifying as LGBTQ decreases by age, with those 65 and older only taking up about 1.8 percent, or 924,300 people.