Oregon has the highest published state estimate at 7.8% of adults in the Williams Institute's 2020–2021 report. Delaware is 7.5%, Vermont is 7.4%, and New Hampshire is 7.2%. The measure is LGBT identity, not gay identity alone. D.C. is listed separately at 14.3% in the 2020–2021 report because it is not a state. Some rows use models, and Oregon's 95% interval is 2.5% to 25.2%, so the order is not exact.
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The top 10 states by estimated LGBT adult share
The Williams Institute published Table 3 in December 2023 from pooled 2020–2021 BRFSS data. It orders states by the share of adults who identify as LGBT. Oregon is the top state row at 7.8%; D.C. is rank 1, so Oregon is rank 2. Delaware is rank 3 at 7.5%, Vermont rank 4, and New Hampshire rank 5.
Washington is rank 6 at 6.9%, while Colorado and Maine share rank 7 at 6.8% in the 2020–2021 source table. Nevada is rank 9 at 6.6%, and Massachusetts and Rhode Island share rank 10 at 6.5% in that same published order. The tied values remain tied here because rounded percentages do not show a meaningful difference between either pair of states.
Top 10 states plus Washington, D.C. by estimated LGBT adult share
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| Table 3 rank | State or district | Estimated LGBT adult share | 95% interval | Source method |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Washington, D.C. | 14.3% | 4.5%–38.1% | Model-based |
| 2 | Oregon | 7.8% | 2.5%–25.2% | Model-based |
| 3 | Delaware | 7.5% | 2.4%–24.7% | Model-based |
| 4 | Vermont | 7.4% | 6.7%–8.2% | Direct survey module |
| 5 | New Hampshire | 7.2% | 2.3%–24.3% | Model-based |
| 6 | Washington | 6.9% | 6.5%–7.4% | Direct survey module |
| 7 (tie) | Colorado | 6.8% | 6.2%–7.4% | Direct survey module |
| 7 (tie) | Maine | 6.8% | 1.8%–19.9% | Model-based |
| 9 | Nevada | 6.6% | 5.2%–8.3% | Direct survey module |
| 10 (tie) | Massachusetts | 6.5% | 5.9%–7.1% | Direct survey module |
| 10 (tie) | Rhode Island | 6.5% | 5.7%–7.2% | Direct survey module |
What does LGBT mean here? LGBT is the report's combined identity category. It includes lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender adults. The state table does not split the combined percentage into those identities.
How to read it: Percentages and ranks are reproduced as published. Tied ranks remain tied. The intervals are not alternate rankings: they show uncertainty in each estimate, and the source warns that model-based intervals are wide.
Download the table (CSV) ↓Why Washington, D.C. appears above the states
Washington, D.C. is not a state, but the December 2023 report includes it in the 2020–2021 comparison as a separate district row. Its estimated LGBT adult share is 14.3%, which is above every state estimate shown in Table 3. That placement explains why Oregon is the highest state estimate while D.C. is the highest row overall in this table.
The report says LGBT adults live in every region, but the table compares reported identity shares across adults. It does not measure acceptance, safety, laws, or the number of LGBTQ venues in a place. D.C.'s rank answers a population-share question, not a state ranking or a forecast about life there. Keeping the district in its own row makes the comparison easier to read without treating it as a state.
Share and total count answer different questions
A percentage ranks how common the reported identity is within a state's adult population, while a total count asks how many LGBT adults live there. In the Williams Institute's 2020–2021 estimate, California has the largest estimated number at about 1.5 million adults. California leads by total count because its adult population is much larger, but it does not appear in the top 10 by percentage share.
Use the share when you want to compare the relative size of the adult LGBT population between states. Use the total when you want the estimated number of people who identify as LGBT in each state. These measures answer different questions, so one ranking cannot replace or explain the other in a specific decision.
What the survey measured
The estimate comes from the 2020 and 2021 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, a state health survey used across the United States. The Williams Institute pooled those years to make state estimates more stable when survey participation varied. The report estimates that 5.5% of U.S. adults, about 13.9 million people, identify as LGBT across the country in that pooled analysis.
LGBT is a combined identity category that includes lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender adults in the source's national and state estimates. The report does not provide a state-by-state ranking for gay adults alone, lesbian adults alone, bisexual adults alone, or transgender adults alone. For national sex-specific identity shares, see the U.S. survey comparison, which answers a different question.
How this relates to a dating-pool question
State percentages can describe a broad population share, but they cannot tell you how many people in a particular age range are single. They also cannot show who is interested in dating or compatible with you, because the survey did not measure those outcomes. That boundary matters when a population statistic is used to think about a personal dating choice.
For a place and age range, the Oregon dating pool calculator shows the site's separate population estimate before any orientation adjustment. The calculator does not filter by LGBT identity, and it does not convert this state ranking into a dating estimate. Treat the two tools as different measures, then use each one only for the question it can answer.
Limits of the state ranking
These are estimates, not a complete count, because the optional BRFSS sexual-orientation-and-gender-identity (SOGI) module was not used by every state. The report models states without that module, including Oregon, Delaware, New Hampshire, Maine, and D.C., and marks those rows in the table. Appendix A2b gives wide all-adult 95% intervals for those rows: Oregon 2.5% to 25.2%, Delaware 2.4% to 24.7%, and New Hampshire 2.3% to 24.3%.
Maine ranges from 1.8% to 19.9%, while D.C. ranges from 4.5% to 38.1%. These intervals mean the published order is not a precise order of true state values, and the source also reports rounded percentages. The source combines two survey years, so the year range matters when a reader compares these estimates with newer data.
The ranking describes adults who reported an LGBT identity, not every form of attraction, behavior, household composition, or lived experience in a state. It does not measure the experience of every person in a state or predict how welcoming a place will feel. For household counts, see same-sex couple household statistics, which uses a different population measure and question.
