Americans identifying as LGBTQ+

Between 2013 and 2022, the percentage of Americans identifying as LGBTQ+ and the number of annual Citi Bike trips in New York City both grew steadily, correlating at 0.9658 across ten data points. The progressive urbanist reading writes itself: a society that is becoming more open about identity is also becoming more open about cycling infrastructure, and both happen in cities where you can do either without anyone looking at you sideways. The more statistical reading is that anything that grew in urban America between 2013 and 2022 will correlate with anything else that grew in urban America between 2013 and 2022. There was a lot of growing.

LGBTQ+ self-identification grew from roughly 3.5% to over 7% between 2013 and 2022, driven by generational shifts and reduced stigma. Citi Bike trips grew from approximately 6 million in its launch year of 2013 to over 30 million annually by 2022, driven by system expansion, increased station density, and the pandemic-era cycling boom. Both trends reflect the cultural and infrastructural evolution of American urban life over the same decade, but through entirely independent mechanisms—one social, one logistical.

A decade of parallel growth in social openness and urban infrastructure will produce correlations between any rising social metric and any expanding city service. The bike share and the survey response share a decade, not a cause.