New poll reveals American attitudes toward nudity
A recent YouGov survey finds contradictions, discomfort, and telling gaps in U.S. views on nudity
A new YouGov poll released last week offers one of the most detailed looks taken at American attitudes toward nudity in recent history. The survey, conducted August 19–22, 2025, sampled 1,083 U.S. adults with a margin of error of ±4.2%. I first came across the results through Tom Perrin’s great Substack
, which pointed me to the topline report and the accompanying analysis.This survey is described as asking eight topline questions, but each included multiple sub-questions (36 in all) with detailed cross-tabs breaking down responses by gender, age, race, income, region, party ID, and even 2024 vote choice. On top of that, YouGov notes another 65 questions not publicly released. The highlights we’ve shared here barely scratch the surface of what this dataset can reveal.
YouGov, a UK-based firm with global reach, is known for its online polling and public opinion research. Its surveys are based on opt-in panels rather than random sampling, and are weighted to reflect the U.S. population by age, race, gender, education, region, and political affiliation. The firm is widely cited by major news outlets and regarded as a credible measure of public sentiment.
The full dataset is available here, and YouGov’s own write-up includes several detailed charts and visualizations that make the numbers easier to digest. For individuals, clubs and organizations, this is a rich resource worth reviewing.
What did the poll say?
The topline results of this poll are sobering. Only 24% of Americans say they love or like being naked. Nearly half (44%) are neutral, while 25% dislike or hate it. Asked about nudists themselves, just 17% expressed a positive opinion, while 27% were negative and 46% landed in the neutral camp. Oof.
Legally, Americans show broad support for nudity in designated settings. 85% believe it should be legal at private nudist sites, and 75% say the same for public nudist beaches. A majority (58%) also say nudity should be legal in one’s own garden (or yard, as we actually call it here in the states). Support falls sharply in everyday public spaces: only 8% say nudity should be legal at a normal public beach, 6% in a public pool, and 5% in a park or town center.
There is also a gap between legality and acceptability. While three-quarters say nudity should be legal at a nudist beach, only 63% say they find it acceptable. A similar pattern runs through the survey: people are more willing to tolerate nudity as a legal right than they are to endorse it socially.
The topless double standard remains stark. Eighty-five percent of Americans say it’s acceptable for a man to be topless at a beach, compared with just 27% who say the same for women.
Interestingly, despite their reservations, many Americans report having been nude or topless in public at least once. More than half (55%) say they have, including 26% who have skinny-dipped in natural waters, 18% who have been naked in a sauna, and 17% who have been naked in the countryside or their own garden.
When asked what they associate public nudity with, 37% chose sex and sexuality, while 30% linked it to non-sexual freedom. Two-thirds of Americans say they feel self-conscious about their bodies, particularly women (70% vs. 59% of men) and young adults under 30 (77%).
Takeaways
The poll highlights several contradictions. Many Americans participate in nude activities but remain unwilling to accept them socially. Legal tolerance often outpaces cultural comfort. And men are more likely to think toplessness should be acceptable for women than women themselves are.
And there is still so much more to uncover with careful review of the dataset. Some of it confirms what most nudists have long observed. Men are generally more permissive than women—for example, 38% of men vs. 23% of women say nudity should be legal while swimming in natural waters. The poll also found that Britons are consistently more accepting of nudity in gardens, beaches, and natural waters than Americans are.
Other data offers more nuanced takeaways. For instance, younger adults are more exploratory, with 29% of those under 30 saying they have skinny-dipped compared with 23% of those 65+, yet they are also the most body-conscious, with 77% of 18–29 year-olds describing themselves as self-conscious about their appearance. Racial differences show up as well: only 42% of Black respondents support “garden nudity” being legal compared to 59% of white respondents. Higher-income respondents are slightly more accepting in nudist settings (e.g., 88% of those earning $100k+ say nudity should be legal at a nudist site vs. 84% under $50k), and regional patterns suggest more openness in the Northeast and West than in the South.
Political divisions are often modest, but they are observable. Thirty-nine percent of Democrats associate nudity with non-sexual freedom, while 48% of Republicans associate it with sexuality. It is telling that this rare and valuable look at U.S. attitudes toward nudity comes not from an American firm, but from a British pollster. That fact alone says something about how neglected this issue is in American discourse.
This summer, Planet Nude conducted a detailed reader survey about attitudes toward nudity and body acceptance. That poll’s results are still being tallied and analyzed and will be summarized in a forthcoming report.
For US-based naturist advocates and advocacy organizations, this YouGov poll at least provides a credible glimpse at some of the challenges and opportunities before us. Is it the full picture? Not exactly. But it clearly contains some observable truths, and it is worth reviewing closely and taking seriously. 🪐
On one hand, possibly accurate, sadly. On the other hand barely over 1000 people polled means that it polled less than 20 people "per state", and anyone with an ounce of sense would recognize that attitudes about a lot of things, but especially nudity, whether or not its serial, women's rights, etc. all vary *wildly* between US states, to a point that, on some topics, its almost like 2-3 completely different countries. Let's see a poll that isn't such a tiny percentage of the whole population that it could easily be skewed, despite the apparent range of demographics, by purely being mostly southern states, or mostly the east coast, or some other quirk in the data set.
Interesting but.. I didn't download the full thing.. so I might sound stupid but, I think that the people who were answering this were 1. Nudist or naturists 2. People who basically like nudity cuz of pleasure.
I'm saying this because some of the answers are really like literally saying that.. + I know people in the states are stuck up , but no one asked those who are under 18, yet they are for sure the most. How do you say that.. self-aware body wise or something?..
I also find the result that the younger " adults" have skinny dipped more than old generations.. I don't know why but I find it absolutely not true.
I also find it interesting and in a way I learned that a while ago actually, that the the Richer people, are the more adventurous ones.. whether that means being a nudist or naturist.. or even swingers with expensive reservoirs or cruises etc.
All in all what all of this actually tells us?