Within the past few years, there’s been a lot of talk about the changing face of America (as “National Geographic” called it last year), in terms of racial demographics. It’ll change a lot more in the coming generations. In 2013, Gallup conducted a poll to find how Americans felt about interracial marriage.

The 2013 Minority Rights and Relations poll found that 87% of American adults approve of interracial marriage, with 84% of whites and 96% of non-Hispanic blacks approving. (This latter distinction is important because Hispanics were counted 1968-2003.) The survey comprised 4K+ Americans, with 1K+ identifying as non-Hispanic blacks. Interracial marriage was defined as one between “whites and non-whites.”

Since the 2011 poll taken two years prior, whites’ approval crept up one percentage point to 84%, while non-Hispanic blacks’ approval held steady at 96%.

The study also examined how the approval broke down by age and geographic location. Unsurprisingly, the Millennials and Generation Z (18-29 age range) lead the charge, approving by 96%. The 30-49-year-olds approval rate tracks closely behind at 93%. For the older groups, there’s less approval (which makes sense as they reflect the times in which they grew up): Ages 50-64 approve at 84%, and ages 65+ approve at 70%.

In terms of geographic region, the West wins out with approval ratings of 93%. Next up, the East and Midwest tie with 86%. With the South, old habits die hard, and it brings up the rear with approval ratings of 83%.

I’m now interested to see how approval of other interracial relationships shake out, such Caucasian/Hispanic, Asian/Black, etc. I think Gallup needs to examine these next.

But it’s very interesting to see how things have changed over almost 60 years: When the study was first produced in 1958, only 4% of Americans approved of interracial marriage. Now, the percentage is heading that way for those who disapprove. The trends are positive for Team Love!