What Percentage of the Population is Gay?
California has the highest LGBTQ Population in 2026 (1,859,000), followed by Texas (1,053,000) and New York (913,000). Wyoming has the lowest (18,000).
LGBTQ Population, 2026
Darker means higher. Click a place to highlight it.
All 51 ranked
Highest first.
Distribution Median and middle halfThe median is the middle value: half of places are above it, half below. The middle half is the range holding the central 50% of places.More in the glossary →
Each dot is one state; the lines mark the median and the middle half.
Over time · 2012–2026
The top 5 in 2026, against the median.
- Median of all states
- California
- Texas
- New York
- Florida
- Illinois
Data
Click a column to sort, a row to highlight that place on the charts.
| # | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 |  California | 1,859,000 |
| 2 |  Texas | 1,053,000 |
| 3 |  New York | 913,000 |
| 4 |  Florida | 886,000 |
| 5 |  Illinois | 506,000 |
| 6 |  Pennsylvania | 490,000 |
| 7 |  Ohio | 462,000 |
| 8 |  Georgia | 425,000 |
| 9 |  North Carolina | 382,000 |
| 10 |  Michigan | 373,000 |
| 11 |  New Jersey | 343,000 |
| 12 |  Washington | 342,000 |
| 13 |  Massachusetts | 335,000 |
| 14 |  Virginia | 308,000 |
| 15 |  Arizona | 286,000 |
| 16 |  Indiana | 272,000 |
| 17 |  Maryland | 234,000 |
| 17 |  Colorado | 234,000 |
| 19 |  Tennessee | 223,000 |
| 20 |  Missouri | 217,000 |
| 21 |  Minnesota | 210,000 |
| 22 |  Wisconsin | 207,000 |
| 22 |  Oregon | 207,000 |
| 24 |  Louisiana | 169,000 |
| 25 |  South Carolina | 167,000 |
| 26 |  Alabama | 147,000 |
| 27 |  Nevada | 145,000 |
| 28 |  Kentucky | 144,000 |
| 29 |  Oklahoma | 138,000 |
| 30 |  Connecticut | 133,000 |
| 31 |  Iowa | 106,000 |
| 32 |  Utah | 104,000 |
| 33 |  Mississippi | 99,000 |
| 34 |  Arkansas | 95,000 |
| 35 |  Kansas | 92,000 |
| 36 |  New Mexico | 85,000 |
| 37 |  West Virginia | 68,000 |
| 38 |  Nebraska | 67,000 |
| 39 |  Maine | 60,000 |
| 40 |  Hawaii | 59,000 |
| 40 |  New Hampshire | 59,000 |
| 42 |  District of Columbia | 58,000 |
| 43 |  Idaho | 48,000 |
| 44 |  Rhode Island | 44,000 |
| 45 |  Delaware | 40,000 |
| 46 |  Montana | 30,000 |
| 46 |  Vermont | 30,000 |
| 48 |  South Dakota | 25,000 |
| 48 |  Alaska | 25,000 |
| 50 |  North Dakota | 20,000 |
| 51 |  Wyoming | 18,000 |
What correlates with LGBTQ Population (2026)?
Pearson r against 2,096 other state metrics sharing at least 31 states, 2 near-identical series hidden. Ranks are read by standing: a better rank counts as higher, whether rank 1 is the best place on a list or the worst. Correlation is not causation.
Higher together
Places that have a higher LGBTQ Population tend to score higher on these (or rank better)
Opposite directions
Places that have a higher LGBTQ Population tend to score lower on these (or rank worse)
Quick answers
- Which state has the highest LGBTQ Population?
- California has the highest LGBTQ Population in 2026, at 1,859,000, followed by Texas (1,053,000) and New York (913,000).
- Which state has the lowest LGBTQ Population?
- Wyoming has the lowest LGBTQ Population in 2026, at 18,000.
- What is the median LGBTQ Population across US states?
- The median is 147,000 across the 51 US states with data in 2026.
- Where does this what percentage of the population is gay? data come from?
- Rankodex compiles it from World Population Review.