A new YouGov survey asked Americans how they feel about being naked, in which public situations they’ve been naked or topless, and in what settings they think it’s acceptable or unacceptable to be in the nude. Compared to people in the UK — where a similar YouGov survey was conducted in April — Americans are less likely to say it’s acceptable for people to be naked in settings such as their own garden or swimming in a natural body of water.
10% of Americans say they love being naked and 14% say they like it. About one in five (19%) dislike being naked and 6% hate it. Nearly half (44%) say they neither like nor dislike being naked.
Women are more likely than men to say they dislike or hate being naked (30% vs. 20%). Adults under 30 are more likely than older Americans to say they dislike or hate being naked (31% vs. 24%).
Americans are more likely to have a negative view of nudists and naturists than a positive one (27% vs. 18%), though nearly half (46%) say they have neither positive nor negative feelings. Women are more likely than men to have a negative view of nudists and naturists (32% vs. 21%).
37% of Americans associate public nudity more with sex and sexuality; 30% associate it more with non-sexual freedom. People who hate or dislike being naked are more likely than those who love or like it to associate public nudity more with sex and sexuality than with non-sexual freedom (44% vs. 31%).
There are a few situations in which majorities of Americans think it’s acceptable for an adult to be completely naked. 85% think it’s OK for someone to do so at a private nudist site. Slightly smaller majorities think it’s acceptable for someone to be naked at a public nudist beach (79%) or in their own garden (63%).
Nearly half (46%) of Americans think it’s acceptable for an adult to be completely naked in a sauna; nearly as many (40%) think this is unacceptable.
Around one-third of Americans think it’s acceptable for someone to be fully naked in two other situations: while swimming in a natural body of water (34%) and outside in the countryside (34%). Very few say it’s acceptable for an adult to be naked at a public beach (8%), outside in a town or city center (6%), in a public park (5%), or while swimming in a public swimming pool (5%).
The results of asking the same questions about public nudity in the U.S. and the UK show that Britons are more likely than Americans to find it acceptable for someone to be naked in a variety of scenarios.
Britons are more likely than Americans to say it’s acceptable for someone to be naked at a private nudist site (95% vs. 85%), at a nudist beach (93% vs. 79%), in their own garden (73% vs. 63%), and while swimming in a natural body of water (45% vs. 34%). (Americans had the option to say they prefer not to say on each option, which may have slightly lowered the measured acceptance of public nudity in some scenarios; opposition is similar to many of these in each country.)
Majorities of Americans think it should be legal for an adult to be completely naked at a private nudist site (85%), at a public nudist beach (75%), or in their own garden (58%). Smaller shares think it should be legal for someone to be naked in a sauna (44%), when swimming in a natural body of water (30%), or when outside in the countryside (29%).
Only 5% think it should be legal for an adult to be naked outside in a town or city center; the same percentage think it should be legal to be naked in a public park.
Nearly all Americans (85%) think it’s acceptable for a man to be topless at a public beach, including 73% who say this is completely acceptable. Far fewer (27%) say it’s acceptable for a woman to be topless at a public beach.
Men are about twice as likely as women to say it’s acceptable for a woman to be topless at a public beach (38% vs. 17%).
Adults under 30 are more likely than Americans 30 and older to say it’s acceptable for a woman to be topless at a public beach (36% vs. 25%). The reverse is true for men being topless at a public beach: Adults under 30 are less likely than older Americans to say this is acceptable (77% vs. 87%).
Britons are much more likely than Americans to say it’s acceptable for a woman to be topless at a public beach (62% vs. 27%). They’re also slightly more likely to say it’s acceptable for a man to be topless at a public beach (95% vs. 85%).
But have Americans themselves gone topless at the beach — or naked in any other public setting? 55% of Americans say they have been publicly naked or topless on at least one occasion. Men are more likely than women to say this (74% vs. 37%). 40% have been completely naked, including 44% of men and 36% of women.
35% say they’ve ever been topless at a public beach, including 68% of men and 5% of women. 26% of Americans have been swimming completely naked outside in a natural body of water, 18% have been completely naked in a sauna, 17% have been completely naked outside in the countryside, and 17% have been completely naked in their own garden.
Feelings about nudity correspond with experience being naked: People who love or like being naked are more likely than people who dislike or hate being naked to have had many of these experiences with nudity. The largest gap is on swimming in a natural body of water naked: 45% of people who enjoy being naked have done this, compared to 12% of those who don’t enjoy being naked.
Two-thirds (65%) of Americans feel fairly or very self-conscious about their physical appearance, including 25% who say they feel very self-conscious. Women are more likely than men to feel self-conscious about how their body and face look (70% vs. 59%). Younger adults are also more likely to feel self-conscious about their appearance: 77% of adults under 30 are self-conscious about this, compared to 62% of older Americans.
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See the results for this YouGov survey
— Carl Bialik and Taylor Orth contributed to this article
Methodology: This article includes results from an online survey conducted August 19 - 22, 2025 among 1,083 U.S. adult citizens. Respondents were selected from YouGov’s opt-in panel to be representative of adult U.S. citizens. The sample was weighted according to gender, age, race, education, 2024 presidential vote, 2020 election turnout and presidential vote, baseline party identification, and current voter registration status. 2024 presidential vote, at time of weighting, was estimated to be 48% Harris and 50% Trump. Demographic weighting targets come from the 2019 American Community Survey. Baseline party identification is the respondent’s most recent answer given around November 8, 2024, and is weighted to the estimated distribution at that time (31% Democratic, 32% Republican). The margin of error for the overall sample is approximately 4%.
Image: Getty
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