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By Andrew Stanton
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Support for seceding from the United States has increased in nine states since 2024, even as nationwide support for such action has decreased, according to a new poll.
Why It Matters
Rising support for secession in some states may signal a deeper erosion of national cohesion at a time when political polarization has risen. Shifts since 2024 reflect changes in the federal government. As President Donald Trump returned to office, support for secession in several Democratic states has risen, but in more conservative states, there has been a decline in support for seceding from the U.S.
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The likelihood of secession remains even as the nation remains divided about key issues, including immigration. Still, some Americans have continued advocating for secession movements in recent years.
What to Know
A new poll from YouGov measured how Americans feel about the possibility of seceding from the United States, finding that attitudes vary state by state.
Overall, 18 percent of Americans say they would like to see their state secede from the U.S., according to the poll. That marks a decrease from 2024, when 23 percent backed secession.
Republicans’ support for secession has dropped significantly since 2024, from 29 percent to 14 percent, as they regained control of Washington. But secession support among Democrats has barely budged from 21 percent to 22 percent. Among independents, support for secession also showed little movement, from 19 percent to 18 percent.
Connecticut saw the greatest jump in support for secession—from 9 percent to 22 percent.
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Minnesota, which has been the epicenter of the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement, followed with support rising to 23 percent from 13 percent two years earlier.
Other states that saw an increase in secession support included Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, South Carolina and Washington.
Each of those states, except for South Carolina, backed former Vice President Kamala Harris over Trump in the 2024 presidential race.
California is the state with the highest share of residents supporting secession at 29 percent; that is down from 29 percent in 2024.
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Oklahoma saw the biggest drop in support for secession compared to 2024, from 28 percent to only 11 percent. Nebraska dropped from 25 percent to 10 percent, while Idaho saw the third-largest drop, from 20 percent to 7 percent.
The polls surveyed 26,590 adults from January 30-February 2, 2026, and 35,307 adults from February 2-5, 2024.
A plurality of Americans—18 percent—say that if their state were to secede, they would like to see it form a new independent country with other states. Sixteen percent would like to see their states form a new country on their own, while 14 percent would like to see their states join Canada. An additional 2 percent would like to see their states join Mexico, while one percent would prefer to join the United Kingdom.
What People Are Saying
The YouGov polling report reads: “Around one-quarter (27%) of Americans believe that states should have a right to secede if their population supports it; 39% believe they should not have a right to do so. Most people who support their state seceding believe secession should generally be allowed (82%), compared to only 14% of people who oppose their state seceding.”
Ryan Griffiths, professor at Syracuse University, told Syracuse University Today in October 2025: “There is a growing interest in secession, or what some refer to as a national divorce between Red and Blue America. There is a developing literature on this topic, and one Axios poll found that 20% of Americans support a national divorce.
"The key factor driving this interest in secession is polarization. Whether it is the Red-State secessionists, the BlueExiters, the California Independence Party, or the Texas Nationalists, they all point to unstoppable polarization and political dysfunction as the reason secession is necessary. They have lost faith in the American political system.”
Former Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Georgia Republican, said in a post to X in 2023: “America is in a constitutional crisis. The admin is enabling a full scale border invasion and harboring illegal migrants. The courts are engaging in judicial tyranny. The government is politically weaponized against the people. Soon national divorce may be our only option.”
What Happens Next
While support for secession shifts and wavers over the years, it is unlikely that any state will actually secede from the U.S.
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