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At least 2.8 million Americans – including 724,000 in the 13-17 age bracket – identify as transgender, according to a recent analysis of data from federal and state health departments by the University of California, Los Angeles.

Of the 2.1 million adults who identify as transgender, about 33% are transgender women. About 34% are transgender men and 33% are transgender nonbinary adults, the UCLA study said.

"Chances are, you've met a transgender person, even if you don't know it," says Advocates for Trans Equality.

"That's true," says Sabrina Lindaman, 46, a transgender woman who lives in Springfield, Missouri. "Even if it's 1% of the population, and you're in a busy Walmart, you're there with a trans person."

The UCLA study updates, from previous reports, numbers and characteristics of those who are transgender, people whose gender identity differs from the gender they were believed to be at birth.

How many people in U.S. identify as transgender?

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The Williams Institute at UCLA published the study on Aug. 20. It comes in the wake of attacks on trans youth, the ongoing legislation targeting them, and a reduction in federal data collection by the Trump administration.

“It is unclear what data sources will be available to us in the future to update our estimates regarding those who identify as transgender,” the study noted.

Breakdown of gender identity

How age groups identify as transgender

How ethnic groups identify as transgender

The racial and ethnic distribution of those who identify as transgender are generally similar in comparison to the U.S. population, the UCLA study said.

The study concluded that percentages of U.S. adults who identify as transgender have remained relatively unchanged from previous studies. And while adults 18 to 24 are now "significantly more likely to identify as transgender," new findings indicate that those 25 to 34 are more likely to identify as transgender than those 65 and older.

The study did not directly address reasons for the increase, but other reports indicate Americans are becoming more comfortable with transgender issues.

That may come from a greater awareness of transgender people in culture, Lindaman says.

"Disney had a couple of TV shows that had trans characters," she says. One of them was the animated show "Win or Lose," but Disney later removed the character, a trans girl, from the series and added a Christian character. Another show, "Raven's Home," features a trans woman.

However, "Compare that to my childhood," Lindaman says, mentioning a scene from the 1986 movie "Crocodile Dundee," in which a transgender woman is assaulted by the main character after he mistakes her for a cisgender woman.

A cisgender person is one whose gender identity matches the sex assigned at birth.

Movie scenes like that are enough "to put you right back into the closet," Lindaman says. "But nowadays, kids see trans representation in a positive light."

More people know someone who is transgender or who uses transgender pronouns, according to a 2021 Pew survey.

Younger generations "are more openly exploring aspects of their gender identity,” the Hartford Healthcare's Institute of Living reported in 2022.

An interview with psychologist Walter Bockting in Columbia magazine's 2023 issue noted that while it's not easy to come out as transgender, "transgender people feel freer to be themselves now."

Younger people have grown up "seeing transgender individuals depicted positively in the media and meeting other transgender folks," Bockting said.

Nevertheless, younger people can find it much more difficult to identify as transgender, Lindaman says. "The social part is the hardest part," she says.

"My family is accepting, my friends are accepting," Lindaman says. "But I'm an exception."

Lindaman runs a support group and encounters young people who are unsure about coming out. Many worry about being cut off financially and emotionally by parents and family at a young age.

"I think a lot of people who want to do the transition at the youth level are worried about that," she says.

NOTE The UCLA study used data from the 2021-2023 Behavior Risk Factor Surveillance System and the 2021 and 2023 Youth Risk Behavior Survey.

CONTRIBUTING Greta Cross, David Oliver, USA TODAY

SOURCE USA TODAY Network reporting and research; Williams Institute, University of California Los Angeles; Reuters; glaad.org; Human Rights Watch

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: How many Americans now identify as transgender? Many are age 13-17.

Reporting by George Petras, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect