US LGBTQ+ Travel Index 2025

These are the Best US States for LGBT+ Travellers

The US LGBT+ Travel Index is a report ranking the most gay friendly US states which are the best US travel destination for LGBT travellers to visit.

After a few years with very little travel thanks to the pandemic, it’s great to see that people are travelling more than ever. Despite new seemingly anti-LGBTQ laws, destinations are still hoping to attract LGBTQ+ travellers.

In a post-pandemic world, domestic travel was the first to bounce back but with a new administration in 2025, it’s expected many LGBTQ+ travellers will want to leave the country for international has seen a huge boom in the last few years though and we expect this to continue with Americans continuing to explore more of their very own great country.

That’s why we here at OutOfOffice.com have compiled a new study ranking the best states for LGBTQ+ travellers to visit.

We analysed factors including legal protection for LGBT+ people, LGBT+ population, costs, things to do and overall happiness, to determine which are the best US states for LGBT+ travellers.

Read on below for the full results of our US LGBT+ Travel Index, updated for 2025.

Results

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Coming out in the top spot as the best US state for LGBT+ travellers is sunny California. The sunshine state has so much to offer, from one of the most gay-friendly cities – San Francisco, to the beaches of Malibu, and the star-studded streets of Los Angeles.

California ranked well almost across the entire board, only being let down by cost – with it being one of the more expensive states to visit. However, it scored well for LGBT+ safety, boasts a high LGBT+ population, and of course, has plenty of entertainment options to offer. It has also been named as the 5th happiest state in the entire US according to World Population Review (who wouldn’t be happy with all that sunshine) which meant it scored high for overall happiness.

In second place as another of the top US states for LGBT+ travellers is Washington. The state of Washington also has full legal protection in place for hate crime against LGBT+ people and the state has one of the highest rates of LGBT+ population. Washington also ranked high for fun things to do, including thriving nightlife options, a host of national parks to explore, and the beautiful city of Seattle to wander around.  States like Florida have seen recent issues around its legislation which has meant it is being perceived as less friendly to the community than it used to be and the main reason it’s slipped from the top ten this year.

OutOfOffice.com founder Darren Burn commented: “In these uncertain and unprecedented times our prediction is that some American citizens will now feel more comfortable travelling outside the US rather than inside. Those that do want to stay within the US will likely be looking at popular LGBTQ+ destinations such as Key West (one of the most welcoming towns in Florida for our community), Hawaii and California.”

Methodology

To compile the US LGBT+ Travel Index we analysed the below factors and sources:
● LGBT+ Safety & State Equality Index
● LGBT+ Population & Movement Advancement Project
● Costs & World Population Review
● Things to Do & Wallethub
● Overall Happiness & World Population Review

For each category every state was given a score out of 5. For overall happiness this score was double-weighted. The scores across each category were then totalled together to give the total score for each state. The total scores were then used to rank the final results. Full dataset available upon request.