Analysis of census data shows Vermont has highest proportion of same-sex couples; how does your state rank?

Proportion of LGBTQ population by state
(Gallup map; click the image to enlarge it or click here for the interactive version)

The state with the highest ratio of same-sex couples is Vermont, one of the most rural states, and it "has the seventh-highest rate of LGBTQ people in the nation, according to a survey analysis from the Williams Institute" at UCLA, Erin Petenko reports for VTDigger. She notes a recent report that the number of people identifying themselves as LGBTQ is rising nationwide: "About 7 percent of adults said they considered themselves to be lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or something 'other than heterosexual' in 2021, compared to 3.5% of respondents in 2012, according to Gallup."

Data on the LGBTQ+ population has been difficult to pin down. The 2020 decennial census was the first to collect data on same-sex couples, Petenko reports.

The District of Columbia has the highest overall percentage of LGBTQ people, at 9.8%, but Idaho has the highest percentage of LGBTQ individuals with children, at 44%, according to Gallup.