With Pride season getting ready to rain down upon us like so much glitter, consumer information site NerdWallet decided to rank the country’s most gay-friendly cities, based on municipal laws, community and peer support, and safety and tolerance.
NerdWallet used the Human Rights Campaign’s Municipal Equality Index, included the percentage of same-sex households in the region from the U.S. Census, and accounted for the number of hate crimes for sexual orientation per 100,000 residents in a city’s overall score.
And the top 10 gay-friendliest cities are:
Rank | City | Equality index | Percentage of households that are same-sex partners | # gay hate crimes per 100,000 residents | Overall gay friendliness score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Palm Springs, CA | 95 | 8.60% | 11.1 | 72 |
2 | San Francisco, CA | 100 | 2.60% | 2.6 | 69.4 |
3 | Seattle, WA | 100 | 1.80% | 1 | 69.3 |
4 | Long Beach, CA | 100 | 1.40% | 0.6 | 68.8 |
5 | Cambridge, MA | 100 | 1.10% | 0 | 68.8 |
6 | Los Angeles, CA | 100 | 0.80% | 0 | 68.1 |
7 | Portland, OR | 100 | 2.00% | 2.7 | 68 |
8 | Philadelphia, PA | 100 | 0.60% | 0 | 67.7 |
9 | San Diego, CA | 100 | 1.10% | 1.4 | 67.4 |
10 | New York, NY | 100 | 0.70% | 0.8 | 67.1 |
You can see NerdWallet’s complete rankings here.