March 2021 update at the end of original article (see below).
Unicorns. Yes, we said unicorns. You know, those majestic mystical creatures from Arthurian legend (Arthurian right??). The majestic horse-like beasts with a single, solitary horn protruding from the top of their head.
Revered for their ability to bestow good luck on whoever is lucky enough to see one, and bringing good fortune to their companions, unicorns are the stuff of high legend.
But most people don’t really that such creatures exist. Or do they?
As always, we’re on the case to uncover the truth about how many people believe in unicorns.
We delved deep and we worked hard to find the answer for you, our readers. According to our best estimate, 8% of the adult US population believes that unicorns are real. Not quite one in ten, but close (around 1 in 12).
Women are slightly (just slightly if at all) more likely to say they believe in unicorns than men.
| Gender | Male | Female |
| Yes | 6% | 9% |
| No | 94% | 91% |
Not much difference between the sexes on this one.
A much more pronounced difference can be found when looking at belief in unicorns by age. Doing that, we see that those between the ages of 18 and 24 are much more likely than those older to hold this belief.
We’re not sure what happens at around the age of 25 – but something happens that most people stop thinking that unicorns are roaming around deep within the forests of England. From there, belief levels remain fairly consistent, with the percentage climbing to around 11% among those aged 55 to 64, before falling again.
| Age | 18 to 24 | 25 to 34 | 35 to 44 | 45 to 54 | 55 to 64 | 65 to 74 |
| Yes | 22% | 6% | 6% | 7% | 11% | 7% |
| No | 78% | 94% | 94% | 93% | 89% | 93% |
The moral of the story may be that it is nice to be young, it is nice to have a youthful outlook on life, where everything is possible – even the mythical unicorn.
UPDATE 2021
Since unicorns are so fun to think about, we revisited this question in March of 2021. Interestingly and surprisingly, the number of Americas who said they believed in unicorns this time around came in at a whopping 25%!
Now, we know what you’re thinking…and we checked everything we could think of that might explain such a different result. We looked at sample size, sample type, sample source, time of year, weather on polling days, our statistical analysis…and came up with nothing that could really explain this….except that the question was worded and framed a bit differently than the first time around.
Still, we wonder if something else is going on?
Could it be that people are a bit emotionally drained from the presently contentious (even bitter) political climate, compounded by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic (and all that has entailed), that people simply want to believe, or are more open to the possibility, of things like unicorns?
For the record, we’re not saying whether we believe unicorns exist or not. Sometimes, we think they do, and sometimes, we’re doubtful. Sometimes we wish they did, and sometimes, well, we just don’t care all that much.
The lesson here seems to be that sometimes, maybe, perhaps…there are times when we just need unicorns – and maybe this is one of those times.
Let us know what you think!