Recent estimates from the Williams Institute reveal that around 2.8 million Americans aged 13 and over identify as transgender. This group represents approximately 1% of the US population within that age bracket.
Interestingly, about three-quarters of those identifying as transgender are aged 35 or younger. A report released on Wednesday noted that 25% of these individuals fall within the 13 to 17 age range. The researchers drew upon data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) and the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS).
Further details indicate that around 2.1 million adults identify as transgender, roughly making up 0.8% of those over 18 in the US. Among youths aged 13 to 17, approximately 3.3%—which equates to about 724,000—consider themselves transgender.
According to Jody Herman, the lead author of the report and a senior scholar at the Williams Institute, there’s an observable trend of younger generations identifying as transgender, a phenomenon expected to persist. She suggests that various factors have made it easier for youth and young adults to openly acknowledge their gender identity.
The findings align with a national survey on LGBTQ identification. In February, a Gallup poll showed that 23.1% of Generation Z identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or simply non-heterosexual, compared to 14.2% of Millennials and 5.1% of Generation X.
The Williams Institute has been tracking transgender populations in the US since at least 2011. According to a 2022 estimate, about 1.6 million Americans identified as transgender at that time.
In terms of geographic distribution, the report indicates that most transgender individuals in the United States—around 279,000—reside in the South. About 175,000 live in the West, while the Midwest has approximately 156,000, and the Northeast has around 114,000.
When breaking down the numbers further, it turns out that 33% of transgender adults are transgender women, 34% are trans men, and the remaining 33% identify as non-binary.
This report emerges amid efforts by the Trump administration to eliminate public health data and information regarding transgender identities from federal platforms. A notice on the YRBSS CDC webpage, which was utilized by the Williams Institute for their analysis, warns that the page’s content promotes “gender ideology”—claiming it diverges from the traditional binary view of gender as strictly male or female.
The advisory states that the administration categorically rejects such ideology, equating it with harmful practices that undermine women’s dignity and rights. Specific orders were issued to federal health agencies, including the CDC, to restore previously removed online datasets, each of which now begins with a disclaimer against “gender ideology.”
Furthermore, the White House attempted to exclude gender identity inquiries from national investigations concerning crime victimization and sexual violence. In February, former US Census Director Robert Santos informed NPR that efforts were underway to omit these questions from various studies initiated during Trump’s tenure.
Andrew R. Flores, a visiting scholar at the Williams Institute and a contributor to the report, expressed that the absence of federal datasets containing sexual orientation and gender identity questions would severely limit researchers’ ability to understand the health and needs of transgender individuals in the US.
