A new report shows same-sex households have increased 40 percent statewide. Tamara Lindstrom sat down with an expert to find out what the new information could mean.

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TOMPKINS COUNTY, N.Y. -- New numbers reveal a changing perception of American households.

"We may think of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people living in large metropolitan areas and urban areas and in fact, the census shows us something very different," said Lis Maurer, LGBT program director at Ithaca College.

A report released by UCLA's Williams Institute shows a forty percent increase in households headed by same-sex couples in New York State over the last ten years.

In the 2010 census, more than 65,000 households reported as same-sex couples, or about nine out of every 1,000 homes in the state. Tompkins County ranked third highest in the state, with 15 same-sex households per 1,000.

"My hunch, based on past census data reporting, is that people feel dramatically more comfortable giving a true report of their household composition," Maurer said.

The professor says the data may give same-sex couples a feeling of security within their communities.

"I can open a newspaper and see a snapshot of the city of Ithaca, of Newfield, of Groton, of Ulysses and say here are the different demographics of all different kinds of households in New York State and in my local community. That shows me there are people like me doing this. There are successful people who live in my community who have relationships who feel comfortable reporting those relationships to the federal government."

While the data reveals a snapshot of the makeup of families in New York and nationwide, Maurer cautions the numbers may not paint the whole picture.

"The census asks about same sex people who live in couples together. So it's not a count of all the LGBT people in the state or in America. It's only a count of those couples who live together in a relationship and are willing to be known as such. And so I think the numbers are very helpful, and very powerful. And they have limits."

Even with those limits, Maurer says the new data could have an impact.

"For instance, I have heard of legislators saying LGBT issues isn't something we're concerned about, I don't have any LGBT constituents," Maurer said. "Census numbers, they're numbers but they put a real face on our population."

Showing same-sex couples living in nearly every county nationwide.

To see the entire census snapshot, visit www3.law.ucla.edu/williamsinstitute/pdf/Census2010Snapshot_NewYork.pdf