Adult US LGBT population now at 11.3M
An analysis by the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law of a Gallup Daily Tracking survey showed that the adult US LGBT population might be around 11.3 million people.
The Williams Institute conducted the analysis of the survey to get a more detailed demographic look at those who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender.
In their analysis, the institute estimated an 4.5 percent of the total US population identify as LGBT and that they tend to be younger and poorer than the general population.
US LGBT population by the numbers
They also reported that the adult LGBT population skewed younger with 56 percent under the age of 35 versus 28 percent of the non-LGBT population.
Meanwhile, 23 percent at the age 50 or older identified as part of the LGBT population, against 47 percent of the non-LGBT adult.
Kerith Conron, research director at the Williams Institute, said: “Younger people are more likely to actually live as LGBT and to identify that way because they are growing up in a time when it’s more acceptable to acknowledge those feelings and to act on them.”
Conron likewise said that this was probably because more LGBT people felt more comfortable identifying their sexual orientation in survey questions.
The Williams Institute had earlier estimated the US LGBT population at 3.5 percent based on other survey data in 2011.
Other polls and surveys had estimated the population at a common but unattributed figure of 10 percent.
But in anonymous and private surveys, around 10 percent said they have same-sex attraction even though they don’t identify as LGBT.
Other data points of the US LGBT population
The institute also found that among the US states, Washington, DC had the highest percent of LGBT people at 9.8 percent, followed by Oregon at 5.6 percent, and Nevada at 5.5 percent.
On the other hand, North Dakota had the lowest with 2.7 percent.
The LGBT population was also found to be more economically disadvantaged with a household income below US$24,000.
Among other things, the analysis determined that LGBT people of color had a slightly higher percentage as compared to the general population– though they do come from all ethnic groups.
What’s more, the Williams institute determined that the transgender population was at 0.6 percent, or around 1.4 million US adults.
Gallup survey of US LGBT population
The Gallup survey had asked 350,000 people in every state this question: “Do you, personally, identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender?”
The survey noted that 58 percent of LGBT people are female while 42 are male. However, the survey didn’t give any other option for nonbinary or gender non-conforming people.
Likewise, 58 percent of LGBT people identified as white, 21 percent as Latinx, 12 percent as Black, five percent as more than one race, two percent as Asian, one percent as Native American, and one percent as Pacific Islander.
Furthermore, 29 percent of those who identify as LGBT in the US have children.