Political Independence Hits New Peak as Nearly Half of U.S. Adults Reject Party Labels

A new Gallup survey shows 45% of U.S. adults now identify as political independents, driven largely by younger generations, with a majority of Gen Z rejecting formal party affiliation.

By yourNEWS Media Newsroom

The share of Americans who identify as political independents has climbed to a record high of 45%, according to new polling data that underscores a widening generational divide in party affiliation across the United States.

The findings, released by Gallup, show that in 2025 the proportion of adults identifying as independents rose by two percentage points, while those identifying as Democrats or Republicans each stood at 27%, according to results from Gallup’s latest survey.

Younger Americans are driving the shift away from party labels. A majority of Generation Z—56%—now identify as independents, the highest share among any generation. By comparison, 47% of millennials identified as independents as young adults in 2012, while 40% of Generation X did so in 1992. Older generations remain more likely to align formally with a political party.

Among those who identify as independents, partisan leanings remain uneven. When asked which party they tend to support, 20% said they lean Democratic, 15% lean Republican, and 10% said they do not lean toward either party. Republican leaners declined by three percentage points from 2024, while Democratic leaners increased by three points over the same period. Overall identification with either major party fell by one percentage point from last year.

Taken together, an average of 47% of Americans identified as Democrats or independents who lean Democratic, compared with 42% who identified as Republicans or Republican leaners. That shift breaks a three-year pattern in which Republicans held the advantage in overall party affiliation.

The poll also measured ideological identification. In 2024, 35% of adults described their views as “very conservative” or “conservative,” compared with 28% who identified as “very liberal” or “liberal,” while 33% described themselves as “moderate.” Although conservatives retained an edge, the seven-point gap represents the smallest advantage Gallup has recorded in annual averages dating back to 1992.

The survey was conducted in 2025 by ReconMR using a combined random sample of 13,454 U.S. adults. The results carry a margin of sampling error of plus or minus one percentage point.