2.8 million Americans identify as transgender—25% under 17

Roughly 2.8 million Americans aged 13 and older now identify as transgender, making up about 1 percent of the US population.

According to a report published Wednesday by the Williams Institute, a research organization focused on sexual orientation and gender identity issues, 76 percent of transgender-identifying individuals in the United States are younger than 35, with 25 percent between the ages of 13 and 17. That means an estimated 724,000 teenagers identify as transgender. 

Researchers based their findings on survey data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System and Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System, combined with statistical modeling.

“Younger generations are more likely to identify as transgender, and we expect that trend to continue,” said lead author Jody Herman in a statement. “Youth and young adults are more likely to identify as transgender due to a variety of factors, including a greater willingness among younger individuals to disclose that they identify as transgender on surveys.”

The Williams Institute has tracked the number of people identifying as transgender since at least 2011. In 2022, it estimated the figure at 1.6 million.

The report said racial and ethnic breakdowns among transgender-identifying individuals closely mirror those of the broader US population. Among adults who identify as transgender, 33 percent identify as transgender women, 34 percent as transgender men, and 33 percent as nonbinary.

The Trump administration has moved to remove questions regarding gender identity from federal surveys. Earlier this year, the Census Bureau director dropped gender identity questions from its surveys following an executive order from President Donald Trump. 

Andrew Flores, one of the report’s authors, criticized the decision to remove such questions from national surveys.

“Federal datasets that include questions about sexual orientation and gender identity have provided critical information to researchers, clinicians, policymakers, and the public,” Flores argued. “Removal of these questions from federal surveys — such as the BRFSS and the YRBS — would significantly hinder the ability of researchers to assess the health, experiences, and needs of transgender people in the United States.”