Where Do Most Gays and Lesbians Live?

Question: Where Do Most Gays and Lesbians Live?

Gallup conducted a poll in 2012 asking the question, "Do you, personally, identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender?" to determine where in the US gays, lesbians and transgender people live.

Answer: The place in the United States with the highest percentage of LGBT people is Washington, DC with 10% of respondents saying they identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender. The results of the Gallup Poll are as follows:

Top Places in the US for LGBT Population

1. Washington, DC 10%
2. Hawaii 5.1%
3. Vermont 4.9%
4. Oregon 4.9%
5. Maine 4.8%
6. Rhode Island 4.5%
7. Massachusetts 4.4%
8. South Dakota 4.4%
9. Nevada 4.2%
10. California 4.0%
11. Washington 4.0%

There were a few interesting places on this Top Ten list. South Dakota and Massachusetts have the same number of LGBT people?

It's also interesting that South Dakota made the Top Ten List and North Dakota was at the very bottom of the list with just 1.7% of the population claiming to be LGBT.

How accurate are these numbers? It's hard to measure sexual orientation. Researchers are simply going by the responses to a question that was asked on a phone call. People in more liberal places such as California and Vermont may have an easier time answering "yes" to a question about being LGBT than people in more conservative places.

Some things are not surprising. The majority of the people who identify as LGBT live in states that are the most liberal in the country. And with the exception of South Dakota (how did that end up on the top 10 list?) all of the states with an LGBT population of 4% or more have laws that protect the LGBT population by banning discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity and by allowing them to register as domestic partners or legally marry.

What states have the least amount of LGBT people? North Dakota is at the bottom of the list. You might be surprised that one of the states actually has legalized same-sex marriage. Lowest Percentage of LGBT people.

You can see the full list here.