How we did this

Pew Research Center conducted this study to understand how Americans view discrimination against various racial, ethnic, gender, religious and other groups in the U.S.

Note: Some groups are too small demographically to yield sufficient sample in this survey to report their views of discrimination against people like them, such as Jews, Muslims and people who are gay, lesbian or transgender.

For this analysis, we surveyed 3,589 adults from April 7 to April 13, 2025. Everyone who took part in this survey is a member of the Center’s American Trends Panel (ATP), a group of people recruited through national, random sampling of residential addresses who have agreed to take surveys regularly. This kind of recruitment gives nearly all U.S. adults a chance of selection. Interviews were conducted either online or by telephone with a live interviewer. The survey is weighted to be representative of the U.S. adult population by gender, race, ethnicity, partisan affiliation, education and other factors. Read more about the ATP’s methodology.

Here are the questions used for this report, the topline and the survey methodology.

Large majorities of Americans say numerous groups in the United States face at least some discrimination, including immigrants, transgender people and members of different racial and religious groups.

About eight-in-ten (82%) say immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally experience a lot of or some discrimination – including 57% who say they face a lot of discrimination, according to a new Pew Research Center survey of U.S. adults.

That is the highest share for any group among 20 included in the survey. Still, there is a widespread belief that many other societal groups also are discriminated against:

• 77% say people who are transgender face at least some discrimination, with 48% saying this group experiences a lot of discrimination.
• 74% say Muslims in the U.S. face a lot of or some discrimination, while a similar share (72%) say Jews face at least some discrimination. Roughly a third say there is a lot of discrimination against those in each of these groups.
• Nearly three-quarters of Americans say Black people (74%) and Hispanic people (72%) face at least some discrimination. About two-thirds (66%) say Asian people face a lot of or some discrimination.
• While there is a widespread perception that immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally face discrimination, 65% say immigrants who are legally in this country also face a lot of or some bias.
• 70% say people who are gay or lesbian encounter at least some discrimination.

There is also variation in perceptions of discrimination across other demographic categories:

Women and men. Nearly two-thirds of adults (64%) say women face at least some discrimination, with far fewer (34%) saying the same about men.

Religious groups. A 57% majority of adults say people who are religious are subject to a lot of or some discrimination; just a third say atheists in the U.S. face at least some bias. When asked about specific religious groups, far fewer Americans (43%) say evangelical Christians face a lot of or some discrimination than say this about either Muslims (74%) or Jews (72%).

Age groups. A much larger share of the public says older people (59%) than younger people (40%) face at least some discrimination in the U.S.

Where people live. Fewer than half of Americans say that people living in rural areas or city dwellers face a lot of or some discrimination. But a larger share say rural residents are subject to at least some discrimination (41%) than say this about people living in cities (33%).

These are among the key findings of a national Pew Research Center survey of 3,589 U.S. adults conducted April 7-13, 2025.

The survey also finds that perceptions of discrimination against racial and ethnic groups – Black people, Hispanic people, Asian people and White people – have declined over the past year. These changes have been largely driven by Republicans and Republican-leaning independents. There have been virtually no changes in the views of Democrats and Democratic leaners over this period.

Republicans and Democrats continue to have very different views of how much discrimination many groups face in the U.S. While there have been some shifts since last year, the partisan patterns are consistent. 

Democrats are more likely than Republicans to say most of the groups asked about face at least some discrimination. But there are exceptions among certain groups.

Groups that Republicans are more likely than Democrats to say experience a lot of or some discrimination:

• White people (55% of Republicans vs. 21% of Democrats)
• Evangelical Christians (57% vs. 31%)
• Men (42% vs. 27%)
• People who are religious (63% vs. 51%)

Democrats are more likely than Republicans to say that 15 of 20 groups included in the survey face a lot of or some discrimination. These are the widest differences:

• People who are gay or lesbian (90% of Democrats vs. 50% of Republicans)
• Black people (94% vs. 54%)
• Immigrants who are in the U.S. legally (84% vs. 45%)
• Hispanic people (90% vs. 54%)
• Women (80% vs. 47%)

Partisan differences extend to how much discrimination various groups face. For instance, while majorities in both partisan coalitions (94% of Democrats, 69% of Republicans) say that people who are in the U.S. illegally face at least some discrimination, Democrats are about twice as likely as Republicans to say they face a lot of discrimination (75% vs. 37%).

Similarly, majorities of Republicans and Democrats say transgender people and Muslims in the U.S. face at least some discrimination. But in both cases, far larger shares of Democrats than Republicans say they face a lot of discrimination.

For some groups, however, there is little to no partisan gap in these perceptions. Sizable majorities in both parties (77% of Democrats, 69% of Republicans) say Jews in the U.S. face at least some bias, including about three-in-ten in each party who say Jews face a lot of discrimination. And Democrats (44%) and Republicans (39%) are about equally likely to say people in rural areas face discrimination.

Declining shares of Americans say the country’s largest racial and ethnic groups face at least some discrimination, and this decline is driven primarily by Republicans.

Between 2024 and 2025, the shares of Republicans who say each group faces a lot of or some discrimination declined by roughly 10 percentage points for:

• Black people (66% in 2024, 54% now)
• Hispanic people (66% in 2024, 54% now)
• Asian people (66% in 2024, 51% now)
• White people (66% in 2024, 55% now)

The shares of Democrats who say these groups face at least some discrimination are essentially unchanged from last year.

Read Chapter 1 for more on Americans’ views of discrimination against racial and ethnic groups.

Related: Views of Race, Policing and Black Lives Matter in the 5 Years Since George Floyd’s Killing

Americans are also less likely to say Muslims and Jews face discrimination than a year ago. The shares saying Muslims (34%) and Jews (30%) experience a lot of discrimination are down 10 points from early last year. The share of Americans saying Muslims experience discrimination is now lower than at any point over the last eight years. But the share saying Jews face discrimination is higher than it was from 2017 to 2021.

Read Chapter 2 for more on Americans’ views of how much discrimination there is against Muslims, Jews and evangelicals.

The share of Republicans saying there is discrimination against people who are gay or lesbian has also declined. Half of Republicans now say gay and lesbian people face at least some discrimination, down from 59% in 2021 and 64% in 2017. Democrats (90%) continue to overwhelmingly say gays and lesbians experience discrimination.

Read Chapter 3 for more on Americans’ views of how much discrimination there is for women, men, transgender and gay and lesbian people.

Most Americans say there is at least some discrimination against Black, Hispanic and Asian people, while fewer than half say White people experience a lot of or some discrimination. These attitudes differ considerably across racial and ethnic groups.

Read the overview of this report for Americans’ views of all 20 groups asked about on the survey.

Overall, sizable majorities say Black people are subject to at least some discrimination. However, Black adults (70%) are far more likely than Hispanic (40%), Asian (39%) and White (28%) adults to say Black people face a lot of discrimination.

Similarly, majorities across groups say Hispanic people face at least some discrimination in the U.S. But Hispanic and Black adults see higher amounts of discrimination against Hispanic people than White and Asian adults do.

Majorities in each group also say that Asian people in the U.S. face a lot of or some discrimination. Still, Asian Americans are more likely to say Asian people experience discrimination (82% say a lot or some) than Black (69%), Hispanic (66%) and White Americans (64%) are.

Relatively few Americans say White people face at least some discrimination, yet a larger share of White adults (45%) say this than Hispanic (27%), Black (24%) and Asian adults (20%).

There are wide differences between Republicans and Democrats in their views of how much discrimination racial and ethnic groups experience.

Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents are more much likely than Republicans and Republican leaners to say that Black, Hispanic and Asian people face discrimination:

• 94% of Democrats say Black people face at least some discrimination, compared with 54% of Republicans.
• 90% of Democrats say the same about Hispanic people, compared with 54% of Republicans.
• 83% of Democrats say Asian people face widespread discrimination, versus 51% of Republicans.

By contrast, Republicans are far more likely than Democrats to say that White people face at least some discrimination (55% vs. 21%).

Within the GOP, views of discrimination differ by race and ethnicity. Hispanic Republicans (65%) are more likely to say Hispanic people face at least some discrimination than do White Republicans (53%). Asian Republicans (71%) are more likely than either White or Hispanic Republicans to say Asian people face discrimination. And White Republicans (62%) are far more likely than Hispanic (39%) and Asian Republicans (35%) to say White people face a lot of or some discrimination. (There were not enough Black Republicans in the sample to report their views.)

Democrats’ views of discrimination against racial and ethnic groups vary only modestly by race and ethnicity.

Smaller shares of Americans now say there is at least some discrimination against Black, Hispanic and Asian people than last year, with the changes driven primarily by Republicans.

• The share saying Black people face at least some discrimination has declined from 80% to 74% since last year. Among Republicans, these views have declined from 66% to 54%, while among Democrats it remains largely unchanged (92% in 2024, 94% today).
• A similar pattern is evident in views of discrimination against Hispanic and Asian people in the U.S., with overall declines driven by shifts among Republicans.

Republicans are also now less likely to say White people face at least some discrimination in American society (66% in 2024, 55% today). However, Republicans continue to be more than twice as likely as Democrats (21%) to say that White people face a lot of or some discrimination.

Compared with last year, perceptions of discrimination against Jews and Muslims have declined among both Republicans and Democrats (including independents who lean toward each party).

There also has been a modest decrease in the share of the public saying evangelical Christians face at least some discrimination, largely due to a change among Republicans.

Read the overview of this report for Americans’ views of all 20 groups asked about on the survey.

Muslims

• The share of Americans who say there is at least some discrimination against Muslims in the U.S. is now lower than at any point since Pew Research Center first asked this question eight years ago – 74% say this today, down from 82% last year and 87% in 2017.
• The share saying there is a lot of discrimination against Muslims has dropped 10 percentage points over the last year (from 44% then to 34% today).
• The decline has come among both Republicans and Democrats, though Democrats continue to be more likely than Republicans to say Muslims face at least some discrimination in our society.

Jews

• The share of Americans who say there is at least some discrimination against Jews has declined 10 points since last year – from 82% to 72% – though it remains higher than in 2017 to 2021.
• The share saying Jews experience a lot of discrimination is also down 10 points from last year (from 40% to 30%).
• There continue to be relatively modest partisan differences in views of discrimination against Jews in the U.S.: 77% of Democrats and 69% of Republicans say Jews are experiencing a lot of or some discrimination.

Evangelical Christians

• 57% of Republicans say evangelical Christians face at least some discrimination, down from 67% in 2024.
• Democrats are far less likely to perceive discrimination against evangelical Christians: 31% say this group experiences at least some discrimination, virtually unchanged from a year ago.

Atheists

• A third of U.S. adults say atheists face at least some discrimination. Democrats (41%) are much more likely than Republicans (24%) to say atheists experience at lot of or some discrimination.

People who are religious

• A majority of Americans (57%) say people who are religious face a lot of (17%) or some (40%) discrimination.
• Republicans (63%) are more likely than Democrats (51%) to say religious people experience at least some discrimination.

Nearly eight-in-ten Americans (77%) say there is a lot of (48%) or some (30%) discrimination against transgender people in society. And seven-in-ten Americans say there is a lot of or some discrimination in society against people who are gay or lesbian.

Read the overview of this report for Americans’ views of all 20 groups asked about on the survey.

Nearly two-thirds (64%) say women face at least some discrimination, while far fewer (34%) say men face a lot of or some discrimination.

There are wide partisan differences in these views:

People who are gay or lesbian

• Republicans and GOP leaners are now less likely to say people who are gay or lesbian face at least some discrimination (50%) than in 2021 (59%) or 2017 (64%).
• Democrats and Democratic leaners (90%) overwhelmingly continue to say people who are gay or lesbian experience a lot of or some discrimination.

People who are transgender

About nine-in-ten Democrats (91%) and six-in-ten Republicans (63%) say people who are transgender face at least some discrimination. Democrats are far more likely than Republicans to say transgender people experience a lot of discrimination (70% vs. 26%). This is the first year that discrimination against transgender people in U.S. society was asked about in this list.

Related: The Experiences of LGBTQ Americans Today

Women and men

• Nearly twice as many Americans say women face at least some discrimination in society than say this about men (64% vs. 34%, respectively).
• Democrats (80%) continue to be much more likely than Republicans (47%) to say women face a lot of or some discrimination.
• By contrast, Republicans (42%) are more likely than Democrats (27%) to say men face these levels of discrimination.
• These views have not changed much in recent years.

Women are more likely than men to say women in society face a lot of or some discrimination, and this pattern holds within each party.

Nearly three-quarters of women (72%) say there is at least some discrimination against women, while a narrower majority of men (54%) say the same. There are gender differences in both parties, but they are more pronounced among Republicans.

• 85% of Democratic women and 74% of Democratic men say women face at least some discrimination.
• A smaller majority of Republican women (57%) say women face discrimination, while 38% of Republican men say the same.

The pattern is reversed for views of discrimination against men:

• 51% of Republican men say men in society face at least some discrimination.
• Much smaller shares of Republican women (31%), Democratic men (28%) and Democratic women (26%) have the same view.

This report is a collaborative effort based on the input and analysis of the following individuals:

Research team

Jocelyn Kiley, Director, Political Research
Hannah Hartig, Senior Researcher
Baxter Oliphant, Senior Researcher
Gabe Borelli, Research Associate
Andrew Daniller, Research Associate
Andy Cerda, Research Analyst
Joseph Copeland, Research Analyst
Ted Van Green, Research Analyst
Shanay Gracia, Research Assistant

Communications and editorial

Nida Asheer, Senior Communications Manager
Mithila Samak, Communications Associate
David Kent, Senior Copy Editor

Graphic design and web publishing

Alissa Scheller, Senior Information Graphics Designer
Reem Nadeem, Digital Producer

Methodology

Andrew Mercer, Senior Research Methodologist
Dorene Asare-Marfo, Senior Panel Manager
Dana Popky, Associate Panel Manager
Arnold Lau, Research Methodologist

The American Trends Panel survey methodology

Overview

Data in this report comes from Wave 167 of the American Trends Panel (ATP), Pew Research Center’s nationally representative panel of randomly selected U.S. adults. The survey was conducted from April 7 to April 13, 2025. A total of 3,589 panelists responded out of 4,036 who were sampled, for a survey-level response rate of 89%.

The cumulative response rate accounting for nonresponse to the recruitment surveys and attrition is 3%. The break-off rate among panelists who logged on to the survey and completed at least one item is 1%. The margin of sampling error for the full sample of 3,589 respondents is plus or minus 1.8 percentage points.

The survey includes an oversample of non-Hispanic Asian adults in order to provide more precise estimates of the opinions and experiences of these smaller demographic subgroups. These oversampled groups are weighted back to reflect their correct proportions in the population.

SSRS conducted the survey for Pew Research Center via online (n=3,465) and live telephone (n=124) interviewing. Interviews were conducted in both English and Spanish.

To learn more about the ATP, read “About the American Trends Panel.”

Panel recruitment

Since 2018, the ATP has used address-based sampling (ABS) for recruitment. A study cover letter and a pre-incentive are mailed to a stratified, random sample of households selected from the U.S. Postal Service’s Computerized Delivery Sequence File. This Postal Service file has been estimated to cover 90% to 98% of the population.¹ Within each sampled household, the adult with the next birthday is selected to participate. Other details of the ABS recruitment protocol have changed over time but are available upon request.² Prior to 2018, the ATP was recruited using landline and cellphone random-digit-dial surveys administered in English and Spanish.

A national sample of U.S. adults has been recruited to the ATP approximately once per year since 2014. In some years, the recruitment has included additional efforts (known as an “oversample”) to improve the accuracy of data for underrepresented groups. For example, Hispanic adults, Black adults and Asian adults were oversampled in 2019, 2022 and 2023, respectively.

Sample design

The overall target population for this survey was noninstitutionalized persons ages 18 and older living in the United States. It featured a stratified random sample from the ATP in which non-Hispanic Asian adults were selected with certainty. The remaining panelists were sampled at rates designed to ensure that the share of respondents in each stratum is proportional to its share of the U.S. adult population to the greatest extent possible. Respondent weights are adjusted to account for differential probabilities of selection as described in the Weighting section below.

Questionnaire development and testing

The questionnaire was developed by Pew Research Center in consultation with SSRS. The web program used for online respondents was rigorously tested on both PC and mobile devices by the SSRS project team and Pew Research Center researchers. The SSRS project team also populated test data that was analyzed in SPSS to ensure the logic and randomizations were working as intended before launching the survey.

Incentives

All respondents were offered a post-paid incentive for their participation. Respondents could choose to receive the post-paid incentive in the form of a check or gift code to Amazon.com, Target.com or Walmart.com. Incentive amounts ranged from $5 to $20 depending on whether the respondent belongs to a part of the population that is harder or easier to reach. Differential incentive amounts were designed to increase panel survey participation among groups that traditionally have low survey response propensities.

Data collection protocol

The data collection field period for this survey was April 7 to April 13, 2025. Surveys were conducted via self-administered web survey or by live telephone interviewing.

For panelists who take surveys online:³ Postcard notifications were mailed to a subset on April 7.⁴ Survey invitations were sent out in two separate launches: soft launch and full launch. Sixty panelists were included in the soft launch, which began with an initial invitation sent on April 7. All remaining English- and Spanish-speaking sampled online panelists were included in the full launch and were sent an invitation on April 8.

Panelists participating online were sent an email invitation and up to two email reminders if they did not respond to the survey. ATP panelists who consented to SMS messages were sent an SMS invitation with a link to the survey and up to two SMS reminders.

For panelists who take surveys over the phone with a live interviewer: Prenotification postcards were mailed on April 4. Soft launch took place on April 7 and involved dialing until a total of three interviews had been completed. All remaining English- and Spanish-speaking sampled phone panelists’ numbers were dialed throughout the remaining field period. Panelists who take surveys via phone can receive up to six calls from trained SSRS interviewers.

Data quality checks

To ensure high-quality data, Center researchers performed data quality checks to identify any respondents showing patterns of satisficing. This includes checking for whether respondents left questions blank at very high rates or always selected the first or last answer presented. As a result of this checking, two ATP respondents were removed from the survey dataset prior to weighting and analysis.

Weighting

The ATP data is weighted in a process that accounts for multiple stages of sampling and nonresponse that occur at different points in the panel survey process. First, each panelist begins with a base weight that reflects their probability of recruitment into the panel. These weights are then calibrated to align with the population benchmarks in the accompanying table to correct for nonresponse to recruitment surveys and panel attrition. If only a subsample of panelists was invited to participate in the wave, this weight is adjusted to account for any differential probabilities of selection.

Among the panelists who completed the survey, this weight is then calibrated again to align with the population benchmarks identified in the accompanying table and trimmed at the 1st and 99th percentiles to reduce the loss in precision stemming from variance in the weights. Sampling errors and tests of statistical significance take into account the effect of weighting.

The following table shows the unweighted sample sizes and the error attributable to sampling that would be expected at the 95% level of confidence for different groups in the survey.

Sample sizes and sampling errors for other subgroups are available upon request. In addition to sampling error, one should bear in mind that question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of opinion polls.

Dispositions and response rates

How family income tiers are calculated

Family income data reported in this study is adjusted for household size and cost-of-living differences by geography. Panelists then are assigned to income tiers that are based on the median adjusted family income of all American Trends Panel members. The process uses the following steps:

1. First, panelists are assigned to the midpoint of the income range they selected in a family income question that was measured on either the most recent annual profile survey or, for newly recruited panelists, their recruitment survey. This provides an approximate income value that can be used in calculations for the adjustment.
2. Next, these income values are adjusted for the cost of living in the geographic area where the panelist lives. This is calculated using price indexes published by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. These indexes, known as Regional Price Parities (RPP), compare the prices of goods and services across all U.S. metropolitan statistical areas as well as non-metro areas with the national average prices for the same goods and services. The most recent available data at the time of the annual profile survey is from 2022. Those who fall outside of metropolitan statistical areas are assigned the overall RPP for their state’s non-metropolitan area.
3. Family incomes are further adjusted for the number of people in a household using the methodology from Pew Research Center’s previous work on the American middle class. This is done because a four-person household with an income of say, $50,000, faces a tighter budget constraint than a two-person household with the same income.
4. Panelists are then assigned an income tier. “Middle-income” adults are in families with adjusted family incomes that are between two-thirds and double the median adjusted family income for the full ATP at the time of the most recent annual profile survey. The median adjusted family income for the panel is roughly $74,100. Using this median income, the middle-income range is about $49,400 to $148,200. Lower-income families have adjusted incomes less than $49,400 and upper-income families have adjusted incomes greater than $148,200 (all figures expressed in 2023 dollars and scaled to a household size of three). If a panelist did not provide their income and/or their household size, they are assigned “no answer” in the income tier variable.

Two examples of how a given area’s cost-of-living adjustment was calculated are as follows: the Pine Bluff metropolitan area in Arkansas is a relatively inexpensive area, with a price level that is 19.1% less than the national average. The San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley metropolitan area in California is one of the most expensive areas, with a price level that is 17.9% higher than the national average. Income in the sample is adjusted to make up for this difference. As a result, a family with an income of $40,400 in the Pine Bluff area is as well off financially as a family of the same size with an income of $58,900 in San Francisco. 

© Pew Research Center 2025