Record Number of Americans Now Identify as Political Independent, Gallup Finds
The nation’s political system may offer only two major parties, but a record number of Americans are turning away from both and choosing a different label: Independent, according to a new survey.
The Gallup poll of 13,000 U.S. adults found that 45 percent of Americans now identify as Independent, citing frustration with leaders in both parties and declining to align with either side. It is the highest percentage Gallup has recorded since it began tracking the question in the early 1990s. Barely one-fourth of Americans identify as Republicans (27 percent), while an equal percentage consider themselves Democrats (27 percent).
The boost in Independent identification, Gallup said, is “partly attributable to younger generations of Americans” continuing to identify as Independents at “relatively high rates as they have gotten older.”
For example, a majority of Millennials (54 percent) and Gen Zers (56 percent) identify as Independent. Millennials include individuals born between 1981 and 1996, while Gen Zers encompass those born between 1997 and 2007. Among members of Generation X (1965-1980), 42 percent call themselves Independent. Around one-third of Baby Boomers (33 percent – born 1946-1964) and the so-called Silent Generation (30 percent, born before 1946) identify as Independent.
Today’s young adults, Gallup said, are more likely than those of past years to reject both major parties.
“The higher rate of political independence also results from younger adults today being more likely than young adults in the past to identify as Independents,” a Gallup analysis said. “The 56 percent of Gen Z adults identifying as Independents today compares with 47 percent of millennials in 2012 and 40 percent of Gen X adults in 1992.”
When asked if they lean one way or another, Independents give Democrats a slight edge, with the 45 percent of political Independents “breaking down into 20 percent Democratic leaners, 15 percent Republican leaners and 10 percent non-leaners.”
That marks a three-point decline in Republican leaners and a three-point increase in Democratic leaners from the previous year, Gallup said.
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Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
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Originally published January 13, 2026.
