Gallup’s latest poll estimating the LGBTQ+ population found that 9% of U.S. adults identify as LGBTQ+ in some way, down slightly from 9.3% last year. Most of the people who identify as LGBTQ+ are bisexual.

The number shows a large increase since Gallup began asking the question in 2012, when only 3.5% of people said they were LGBTQ+.

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The poll asks people if they identify as heterosexual, gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, or as something else. “Gay” in this survey refers specifically to gay men. Respondents who chose the last option and explained what they identify as were put in a category labeled “Other LGBTQ+,” and that category included, for example, people who identify as queer or pansexual, according to Gallup.

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Most people who responded (86%) said they were heterosexual. 1.4% and 1.6% said they were lesbian or gay, respectively, and 5.3% said they were bisexual. 1.1% said they were transgender and 0.5% gave an identity that put them in the “Other LGBTQ+” category.

Young people are more likely to identify as LGBTQ+. 23.0% of people ages 18 to 29 said they were LGBTQ+, with 16.1% saying they’re bi. Meanwhile, only 2.3% of people over the age of 65 said they were LGBTQ+, and people in that group were more likely to identify as gay than as bisexual. So few people over the age of 65 said they were transgender that Gallup didn’t say how many identified as trans.

Women are almost twice as likely to identify as LGBTQ+ compared to men, with most of that coming from women who identify as bisexual. Only 2.5% of men said they were bi while 7.2% of women said they were bisexual. 2.5% of men said they were gay compared to 2.3% of women who said they were lesbian.

Democrats were much more likely to identify as LGBTQ+ at 14.2% compared to Republicans at 1.9%. People who live in urban areas are somewhat more likely to identify as LGBTQ+ compared to people who live in rural areas.

The poll was conducted in 2025 by telephone and included over 13,000 U.S. adults. The Gallup website explained that this data comes from polls conducted throughout the year, in which, as part of the demographic information collected, respondents were asked about their identities.

Around 5% of people did not respond at all to the question about LGBTQ+ identities.

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