The 10 Gayest States In The United States For 2026

Cities in Vermont

We’re going to move onto our next gayest state in the US, Oregon. Here, the gay population is 1.33%, and growing. The number of same sex couple households has increased by more than 30% in the last ten reporting years.

Portland leads the way in Oregon, for the number of gay residents. In fact, Portland is the 2nd most gay major city in America, where an estimated 1 in 19 residents is LGBT. Portland is so gay that the equal sign is seen more frequently here on car bumpers than on math tests. Cottage Grove and Troutdale are also popular cities for gays in Oregon.

Now the LGBT culture in Portland has such a long and storied history that there’s a wikipedia page devoted to the topic. The Burnside Triangle is a notable section of downtown Portland. It has been a meeting place for Portland’s LGBT community since the 1960s. Portland is also one of the few spots in the world where LGBT (and straight) couples have easy access to surrogacy, IUI, IUF and egg donation

Cities in Oregon

Cities in Hawaii

Moving on, we come to our fourth gayest state in America, Massachusetts, where they gay population is 1.32%. Northampton and Easthampton. Boston is the 6th gayest major city in America.

Massachusetts also just passed a bill that would ban conversion therapy for LGBT teens, which would make the state the 16th in the union to do so.

Former congressman from Newton, Barney Frank was an openly gay state representativ

Cities in Massachusetts

Our next gayest state in America is Delaware. In Delaware, the estimated gay population is 1.32%. Delaware is actually the third fastest growing state for gay americans. Since the last census was taken in 2010, Delaware’s same sex couple households has gone up by 41%.

Delaware State law bans discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, and the state has legally banned the practice of conversion therapy on minors since July 2018. Delaware is frequently referred to as one of the United States’ most LGBT-friendly states, and a majority of Delawareans support same-sex marriage.

Cities in Delaware

Cities in Washington

Cities in Maine

The state of Nevada ranks as the gayest in America this year. Nevada’s gay population has also increased dramatically – same sex couple households is up 43% since the last census.

Currently, Nevada’s gay population is 1.23%. Now, you might think Las Vegas would have the most gay Americans in Nevada, but Reno and Las Vegas are virtually tied when it comes to the percentage of gay residents. Although, you could make a case that Las Vegas has more gay people within its city limits at any given time.

Reno was actually called the Queerest Little City in the World by a leading author, who cited. The book is pretty interesting, and it talks about how the California Gold Rush on the Nevada border in Reno meant men outnumbered women 23-1, so men danced with one another and dressed like women. It was so popular Nevada actually banned cross dressing for a while.

The 5 Star Saloon — Oldest Continuously Operating Gay/LGBTQ Bar in the State of Nevada is in Reno as well. And The Reno Gay Rodeo was a pioneering transnational LGBTQ event that brought the idea of a “gay” rodeo to the American mainstream. It was the first rodeo created by and participated in by LGBTQ individuals in both Reno and Nevada

Incidentally, Reno has always been a rebellious city – it’s actually the divorce capital of the world, and it was the first city to allow gambling in America, in 1931.

Cities in Nevada

We’re going to move on to our next gayest state in our fine nation, which is California. In California 1.22% of the households are gay. There are several major areas where the LGBT community in California congregates, including the Palm Springs area, West Hollywood area of Los Angeles, and San Francisco.

Los Angeles ranks 8th highest in terms of number of same sex couples per household. The Palm Springs region, which includes the communities of Rancho Mirage, Desert Hot Springs and has a very large gay community, and in fact, has an entirely LGBT city council. Palm Springs has the nation’s 5th highest number of same-sex households at 8%. Former mayor Ron Oden estimated that about a third of Palm Springs is gay.

And of course, we could spend an entire video just talking about the history of the LGBT community in San Francisco 6.2% gay. The city itself has, among its many nicknames, the nickname “gay capital of the world”, and has been described as “the original ‘gay-friendly city'”. The Castro District is the center of the gay community in San Francisco.

Now, there’s a long list of well known and not so well known LGBT sports people who have inspired millions across the country. Many of them are from California. Tennis player Biliie Jean King was born in Long Beach. Olympic gold diving gold medalist Greg Louganis is from El Cajon. NBA player Jason Collins was born in Northridge – he was the first openly gay athlete to play in any of america’s 4 major sports. Robbie Rogers was America’s first ever US Mens national team soccer player to come out as gay. He was born in Rancho Palos Verdes. .

Cities in California

Things can get pretty hot and sweaty and gay out in the desert, which makes New Mexico a gay destination apparently

There are some 9942 gay households here out of 750k, good for a number in the 1.19% range.

The gayest place in New Mexico is Grants for those playing at home.

Cities in New Mexico