More than half of both millennial and Generation Z people consider themselves independents, the most of any other generations.
A majority of both generations, 52%, report identifying as independents in a new Gallup poll published Thursday. The percentage of millennials who identify as such has increased 5% in each of the last two decades.
Only members of Generation Z who have already reached adulthood were polled. This generation generally includes those born between the late 1990s and the early 2010s. Gallup defines the generation as being born between 1997 and 2012.
Millennials are the only generation in which independent identification is growing. The three older generations, Generation X, baby boomers, and the Silent Generation, have all experienced some measure of decline in members who say they are independents.
Since 1992, the portion of baby boomers who are independents fell 13%. Similarly, the amount of the Silent Generation who identify as such has fallen 11%. The Silent Generation boasts the least amount of independents at just 26%.
Generation X only experienced a 1-percentage-point drop in members reporting to identify as independent. In 2022, the same share of the generation, 44%, consider themselves independents as they did in 1992.
Republican identification within generations increases with age accordingly, whereas Democratic identification is higher among baby boomers and the Silent Generation than it is within Generation X and among millennials. Thirty-one percent of Generation Z identify as Democrats, which is a larger share than its two generational predecessors, but still lower than the baby boomers and the Silent Generation, who are very much their senior.
This poll was conducted between January and July and included 6,565 adults. The margin of error is plus or minus one percentage point at the 95% confidence level.
