The study, which asked respondents in 81 U.S. cities to select the political party label that best describes how they see themselves – regardless of how they may have voted in the past, found that Boston, Providence, R.I., and Hartford, Conn. have the highest percentages of adults who consider themselves to be “Independents.” 

In contrast, Pittsburgh, Lexington, K.Y., and Oklahoma City, O.K. have the smallest percentages of self-identified Independents. 

Nationally, 27% of adults consider themselves to be politically Independent.

Scarborough’s survey also examined “Leaning Independents” — those adults who described themselves in Scarborough’s study as “Independent, but feel closer to Democrat,” or “Independent, but feel closer to Republican.”

Seattle and Providence, R.I. had the highest percentages of Democrat-leaning Independents (17%), while Salt Lake City and Spokane, W.A. had the highest percentages of Republican-leaning Independents (15%).

Nationally, 9% of adults identified themselves as Democrat-leaning Independents, while 8% of adults characterized themselves as Republican-leaning Independents.

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