About this research

This Pew Research Center study goes beyond Americans’ partisan attachments and vote choices to explore the values and attitudes that underlie the political landscape and the Republican and Democratic parties. We did this by creating a political typology, which classifies the public into nine groups based on their responses to 30 questions about government, economics, immigration, elected officials and other topics. To learn more about this project, jump to “About the political typology.”

Why did we do this?

Pew Research Center conducts research to help the public, media and decision-makers understand important topics. We have studied Americans’ political values and attitudes, and their views on politics more broadly, for decades. This is the ninth version of the political typology; the first was conducted nearly 40 years ago.

Learn more about Pew Research Center.

How did we do this?

We surveyed 10,357 U.S. adults from Nov. 17 to 30, 2025. Everyone who took part in this survey is a member of the Center’s American Trends Panel. The survey represents the views of the full U.S. adult population. We then used a statistical technique called cluster analysis to divide people into nine groups. (For more on the process of dividing people into groups and surveys used for analysis, jump to Appendix B.)

Here are the survey questions used for this analysis, the detailed responses and the survey methodology.

The prevalence of Pew Research Center’s nine political typology groups varies considerably by age and across racial and ethnic groups. This variation mirrors these demographic divides in American politics today – both overall and in each of the partisan coalitions.

This analysis is part of Pew Research Center’s 2026 Political Typology. To learn more about the typology, start with the overview. To find which group is your best fit, take the quiz. 

What is the political typology?

Pew Research Center’s political typology divides the American public into nine political groups based on responses to 30 questions about people’s social and political values and beliefs.

The goal of this long-standing project is to go beyond partisan leanings or vote choices to provide a deeper understanding of the American political landscape. This is the ninth version of the political typology – the first was conducted nearly 40 years ago.

These questions were asked in a survey of 10,357 U.S. adults conducted Nov. 17-30, 2025, using Pew Research Center’s American Trends Panel – a nationally representative panel of randomly selected U.S. adults.

For more on the cluster analysis process used to create the groups, the questions used, and how we look at data across multiple surveys, visit Appendix B.

Take the typology quiz to find out which political typology group you fit into.

Race and ethnicity in the political typology

Hispanic, Black and Asian Americans are more concentrated than White Americans in groups on the left and center-left of the political typology, while White adults are more evenly distributed across the groups.

While that overall dynamic reflects long-standing patterns of partisan affiliation by race and ethnicity, the left-oriented typology groups that are most common varies across racial and ethnic groups.

Black and Hispanic adults are roughly twice as likely as White adults to have values that place them in Order and Opportunity Left, a majority-Democratic group that is more moderate on many social issues.

By comparison, White adults are less likely overall to be in left-oriented groups, but more likely than Hispanic and Black Americans to be Leftward Progressives or Loyal Liberals.

On the other end of the spectrum, White Americans are at least three times as likely as Hispanic, Black and Asian Americans to have values that place them in No Apologies Right. They are also much more likely to be Faith First Conservatives.

Asian adults are spread across most typology groups in shares similar to the overall public, though they are more likely than adults overall to fall into Order and Opportunity Left (23%) and Pragmatic and Polite Right (17%) – groups with more mixed political profiles.

White adults are also less likely than those in other racial and ethnic groups to be in Tuned-Out Middle.

Race and ethnicity within the parties

Among Republicans and Republican leaners

White Republicans are far more likely than Hispanic, Black¹ and Asian Republicans to be No Apologies Right or Faith First Conservatives: Nearly half (47%) are in one of these two groups. Another 36% of White Republicans are Unconventional Right or Pragmatic and Polite Right.

By comparison, Hispanic, Black and Asian Republicans are more likely than White Republicans to fall into groups that that tilt Democratic overall, primarily Order and Opportunity Left.

Among Democrats and Democratic leaners

Across racial and ethnic groups, more than six-in-ten Democrats fall into one of the four groups that tilt Democratic overall. But the mix of groups varies by race and ethnicity.

• Half of White Democrats are in one of the two most liberal groups (Leftward Progressives or Loyal Liberals).
• By comparison, 26% of Asian Democrats fall into one of these two groups, as do just 19% of Hispanic Democrats and 12% of Black Democrats.
• Instead, Black and Hispanic Democrats are much more concentrated than White Democrats in Order and Opportunity Left, a more center-left group.

Regardless of their racial or ethnic background, few in either partisan coalition land in the typology groups that are ideologically aligned with the other party.

Jump to the detailed tables to see the full distribution of typology groups by race, ethnicity and other demographic groups.

Age in the political typology

Americans’ political values vary by age. Younger adults are more likely to be in groups on the left, while older adults tend to cluster in more conservative groups. For example:

• While 7% of Americans overall are Leftward Progressives, that rises to 14% among adults ages 18 to 29. By comparison, just 2% of those 65 and older fall into this group.
• Younger adults are also much more likely than older adults to be Left-Out Left, a Democratic-leaning and economically liberal group that is disillusioned with politics (19% of 18- to 29-year-olds vs. 5% of those 65 and older).
• Older adults are more likely than younger adults to fall into No Apologies Right or Faith First Conservatives. About a quarter of those 50 and older (26%) are in one of these groups, compared with 16% of adults under 50.
• Older adults are also considerably more likely to be in the center-right Pragmatic and Polite Right: 21% of those 65 and older are in this group, compared with just 7% of those under 50.

Younger Americans also are substantially more likely than older adults to be in Tuned-Out Middle: 12% of those under 50 are in this group, compared with just 5% of those 50 and older.

Among Democrats and Democratic leaners

Younger Democrats are more likely to be Leftward Progressives, while older Democrats are more likely to be Loyal Liberals:

• 26% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents under 30 are Leftward Progressives. This drops to 15% among those ages 30 to 49 and to just 6% among those 50 and older.
• In contrast, 25% of those 50 and older are Loyal Liberals, while this group makes up 16% of adults under 30.

A similar pattern appears in the more center-left groups:

• 25% of Democrats under 30 are Left-Out Left, a share that declines with age – to just 12% among those 50 and older.
• Conversely, 31% of Democrats 50 and older are Order and Opportunity Left. That drops to 22% among those 30 to 49 and just 15% of those under 30.

Among Republicans and Republican leaners

• Older Republicans and GOP leaners are more likely than younger Republicans to be No Apologies Right (25% among those 50 and older vs. 13% of those under 50).
• Older Republicans also are more likely to be Pragmatic and Polite Right – 24% of those 65 and older are in this group, as are 14% of those 50 to 64. In contrast, just 9% of those under 50 are in this group.

Other age differences among Republicans are more modest: Younger Republicans are somewhat more likely to have values that place them in Unconventional Right, while older Republicans are somewhat more likely to be Faith First Conservatives.

Still, younger Republicans are more likely than older Republicans to fall into groups that tilt left overall, even though no more than a quarter of Republicans in any age group do so.

Jump to the detailed tables to see the full distribution of typology groups by age and other demographic groups.