New polling data reveals a growing trend among Americans who are distancing themselves from the traditional two-party political system.

According to a recent Gallup survey, nearly 45% of adults in the United States now consider themselves independents. This marks a significant change from two decades ago, when only about one-third of Americans did not align with either the Democratic or Republican parties.

Gallup’s analysis suggests that this shift is largely fueled by dissatisfaction with the current ruling party. While this could potentially benefit Democrats in the upcoming midterm elections, it does not guarantee steadfast support. Over the past year, independents have leaned more towards the Democrats, although their perception of the party has not improved significantly. This indicates that the Democrats’ recent gains might be driven more by discontent with former President Donald Trump.

The trend is particularly pronounced among younger generations. Over half of Generation Z and Millennials identify as independents, contrasting with older generations who predominantly support a political party. This shift from previous patterns, where younger adults tended to align with Democrats or Republicans, may lead to more frequent and dramatic shifts in political power.

Democrats regain the edge with political independents

While independents have long been the largest political demographic in the U.S., their numbers have been steadily rising over the past 15 years. However, they often lean towards one party more than the other, despite not formally aligning with either.

This year, the Democratic Party gained the partisanship edge when independents were asked whether they lean more toward the Democratic or Republican Party. Nearly half, 47%, of U.S. adults now identify as Democrats or lean toward the Democratic Party, while 42% are Republicans or lean Republican. This is an indication of how Americans are feeling about their political affiliations, and it may not be reflected in voters’ actual registration.

This shifted the 3-year party affiliation advantage that the Republican Party held while President Joe Biden was in office, reverting to where the Democrats stood during Trump’s first term.

While that’s certainly not bad news for Democrats as they look to regain one or both houses of Congress in November, it’s likelier that they’re benefiting from independents’ unhappiness with Trump, rather than building lasting goodwill for themselves. Trump’s approval among independents has fallen steadily over the year, while Democrats’ favorability remains historically low.

Young people drive independents’ strength

Younger Americans are driving the recent rise in U.S. adults identifying as independents.

The Gallup polling found majorities of Gen Z and Millennial adults – who were born between 1981 and 2007 – now identify as independents. Independent identity is softer in older generations, where only about 4 in 10 in Gen X currently call themselves independents and roughly 3 in 10 older adults do.

Young adults today are more likely than previous generations to identify outside of the Democratic and Republican Party. While 56% of Gen Z adults call themselves independents, that’s higher than in 2012, when 47% of Millennials said they were independents, and 1992, when 40% of Gen X adults identified that way, according to the Gallup analysis.

That means that this trend isn’t likely to shift, unless the parties are able to change the way younger people see them.

Independent Americans are increasingly the moderates

Americans who identify as moderates increasingly don’t see themselves in either party, Gallup’s polling shows.

More independents have described their political views as “moderate” over the last decade, while Democrats and Republicans have grown less likely to identity as moderates.

About half of independents, 47%, called themselves moderates in 2025, compared to about 3 in 10 Democrats and about 2 in 10 Republicans.

At the same time, Democrats and Republicans have become increasingly polarized in their ideology. About 6 in 10 Democrats now call themselves liberal, while the share that consider themselves moderate is among the lowest it’s ever been. Among Republicans, 77% consider themselves conservative, and moderate identity is also at a low point.

That creates another challenge for the parties to contend with, since appeals to the center to win the growing pool of independents could risk alienating the most committed people in their base.