More People Say Their Communities Are Good for Minorities

This article is the sixth in the “Gallup World Poll at 20” series, examining two decades of global trends using data collected in more than 140 countries since 2006. Additional articles in the series will be published throughout 2026.

LONDON — Today, more adults worldwide say their community is a good place to live for gay or lesbian people, immigrants, and racial and ethnic minorities than when Gallup first started surveying the world 20 years ago.

A median of 74% across at least 120 countries in 2025 said their community is a good place for racial and ethnic minorities, 66% for immigrants from other countries, and 40% for gay or lesbian people.

Over time, people’s perceptions of their local climate for gay or lesbian people have improved the most, doubling from a low point of 19% in 2011 to 40% last year, driven by countries where same-sex marriage has been legalized. However, perceived acceptance of gay or lesbian people still lags behind that of immigrants (66%) and racial and ethnic minorities (74%).

The world has gradually grown more accepting of racial and ethnic minorities than of immigrants, having been on par in 2009 (56%). However, since 2021, both indicators have been stable globally — and, despite the long-term increases, many around the world still say their local area is not a good place for minorities (ethnic minorities: 20%, immigrants: 28%, gay or lesbian people: 44%).

The More Accepting People Are of Minorities, the More Positive Their Outlook

Gallup also analyzed whether people’s belief about whether their community is hospitable toward various minority groups is related to how people feel about their own lives.

Among those who say their area is not a good place for any of the three minority groups, 21% rate their lives positively enough to be classified as "thriving” on Gallup’s Life Evaluation Index. That rises to 24% among those who see their area as a good place to live for one of the minority groups, 27% for two, and 40% for all three.

The same wellbeing benefit appears in people’s daily experiences. When more people perceive their community as a good place for minorities to live, more people report experiencing positive emotions and fewer people report having negative emotions.

People in more accepting communities are also more likely to be satisfied with their local area, to have people they can count on for help, to feel safe walking alone at night, and to be satisfied with their freedom to choose what they do in life.

This relationship does not prove causation, and it may be that people who are happier and more connected to their community naturally take a more generous view of those around them. But the pattern holds across every region of the world, in high-income and low-income countries alike.

U.S. Stands Out for Perceived Acceptance of Immigrants Based on Country of Birth

Migrants living in the U.S. are the most likely worldwide to see their community as a good place for immigrants to live. Across 2024 and 2025, 96% of U.S. residents born abroad said their local area is a good place for immigrants, ahead of Oman, the United Arab Emirates and Canada, all at 91%, and 18 percentage points above the global median.

What sets the U.S. even further apart is the gap between that figure and the opinions of native-born Americans. Four in five adults born in the U.S. (81%) say the same, a 15-point gap that exceeds any other advanced economy. No other Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) country shows a double-digit gap on this measure.

The U.S. is simultaneously the country where migrants feel most accepted and the country where native-born residents’ perceived acceptance of immigrants are most out of line with migrants’ own reports.

While views toward minorities have changed in much of the world over the past two decades, this patten has long been established in the U.S. In 2006 and 2007, 93% of those born abroad saw the U.S. as a good place for immigrants, 14 points higher than adults born in the U.S. (79%) and in line with the perception gap in 2024 and 2025.

Bottom Line

Over the past two decades, Gallup has documented the perception that communities are growing more accepting of minority groups. This trend matters beyond these specific minority groups, as countries where people feel accepted regardless of who they are also tend to be places where life looks better overall.

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For complete methodology and specific survey dates, please review Gallup's Country Data Set details. Learn more about how the Gallup World Poll works.