Lydia N. Bean is an American sociologist. She authored an ethnographic book, The Politics of Evangelical Identity (2014), about Evangelical communities on the Canada–United States border. Bean is a fellow at New America and a faculty research associate at the University of Texas at Arlington. She was an assistant professor of sociology at Baylor University. Bean has been a Democratic candidate for the Texas House of Representatives and was a candidate for the 2021 Texas's 6th congressional district special election.