Top 10 Most LGBTQ+ Friendly US States: 2024 Study
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New study reveals that the most LGBTQ+ friendly US state is California, with over 45 CenterLink LGBTQ community centers.
The most LGBTQ+ friendly state is California, earning a score of 91 which reflects legal protection for queer people and a support network of community centers. The State Equality Index of 2023 describes the status of legislative support as ‘Working Towards Innovative Equality,’ the best out of four categories. In addition to equality laws, the state has over 45 CenterLink LGBTQ community centers.
District of Columbia takes the second place in the ranking of the most LGBTQ+ friendly states with the same ‘Working Towards Innovative Equality’ category for State Equality Index and 14% of state population being the members of LGBTQ+ community, the highest percentage in the United States.
| State | Population | Adult LGBTQ Population | Adult LGBTQ Population % | CenterLink LGBTQ Community Centers | LGBTQ Community Center per queer person (100K) | 2023 State Equality Index | Score |
| California | 39,538,223 | 3,637,516 | 9.2% | 46 | 1.26 | Working Toward Innovative Equality | 91.0 |
| District of Columbia | 672,738 | 94,183 | 14% | 1 | 1.06 | Working Toward Innovative Equality | 82.4 |
| Vermont | 643,077 | 39,228 | 6.1% | 2 | 5.10 | Working Toward Innovative Equality | 81.8 |
| New York | 20,201,249 | 1,656,502 | 8.2% | 22 | 1.33 | Working Toward Innovative Equality | 80.4 |
| Colorado | 5,773,714 | 635,109 | 11% | 4 | 0.63 | Working Toward Innovative Equality | 76.5 |
| Nevada | 3,104,614 | 329,089 | 10.6% | 3 | 0.91 | Working Toward Innovative Equality | 76.40 |
| Delaware | 989,948 | 73,256 | 7.4% | 2 | 2.73 | Working Toward Innovative Equality | 76.2 |
| Washington | 7,705,281 | 770,528 | 10% | 5 | 0.65 | Working Toward Innovative Equality | 75.1 |
| Oregon | 4,237,256 | 444,912 | 10.5% | 2 | 0.45 | Working Toward Innovative Equality | 74.3 |
| New Mexico | 2,117,522 | 199,047 | 9.4% | 2 | 1.00 | Working Toward Innovative Equality | 74.1 |
- Vermont holds third place, earning a score of 81.8. Vermont has the smallest queer population out of the top 10 most LGBTQ+ friendly, with only 6.1%, but it gets the state the highest average of community centers in the ranking.
- New York is in fourth place with a high state equality index and 22 CenterLink LGBTQ+ community centers. With over 1.6M adults identifying with LGBTQ+, New York has a high average of 1.33 community centers per 100K queer people.
- Colorado takes the fifth place in the ranking of the most LGBTQ+ friendly states with a score of 76.5. The state has the second-highest percentage of queer adults, with 11%, being second only to the District of Columbia.
- Nevada follows closely with sixth place and a 76.4 score. Nevada is another state with a high LGBTQ+ population, with 10.6%. Three CenterLink community centers give the state an average of 0.91 centers per 100K queer people, 5 times less than for Vermont.
- Delaware holds the seventh place with progressive and pro-equality laws. The state also has a high average of community centers with 2.73, two times more than in California or New York. Washington takes the eighth place with a 75.1 score. 10% of the adults in the state are LGBTQ+ which are supported by protective legislation that earned the state “Working Towards Innovative Equality” category in the 2023 State Equality Index.
- Oregon is ninth with a 74.3 score, almost 17 points behind California. LGBTQ+ demographic is similar in numbers to Nevada, but Oregon has fewer queer community centers, with only 2, which brings the average to 0.45 per 100K LBGTQ+ population.
- New Mexico closes the ranking with tenth place and a 74.1 score. The adult LGBTQ+ population in the state amounts to almost 200K people, and 2 CenterLink community centers are exactly 1 center per 100K queer people on average.
