Pew Research: A Third of Americans Sit Out Civic Life

Across cities, suburbs, and small towns, one thing holds constant: roughly a third of Americans are largely on the outside of civic life. That is the gap between the country we have and the country we could be.

A Pew Research Center survey finds that about 35% of urban residents, 30% of suburban residents, and 35% of rural residents fall into the "Outsider" group: the least engaged in civic and political life, and less likely than others to vote, volunteer, or follow the news. Pew notes that traits like age, income, and political identity often predict behavior better than where someone lives. We'd add this: the barriers to participation are ones policy can either dismantle or entrench.

The survey also identifies "Mobilizers," the small slice of Americans who are highly active across civic, political, news, and religious life. They make up just 9% of urban residents, 9% of suburban residents, and 10% of rural residents. These are the people who do it all. They are not concentrated in any one type of community. They are everywhere. And they are proof that engaged citizens exist in every kind of place. They just need support and a reason to act.

Suburban residents are somewhat more likely to be "Connectors," people who volunteer, donate, and join groups but are less involved in political action. That is a pipeline, not a dead end. Community investment and political action are not separate impulses. With the right organizing, one becomes the other.

Leading Ladies Vote is building that bridge. Our mission reaches across geographies because the fight for equal access, fair representation, and a functioning democracy belongs to all of us, in every community, in every corner of this country. Show up. Organize. Vote.

🔗 Read the full Pew Research report: How urban, suburban and rural Americans engage in society