Once a cultural cornerstone, Christianity in America is now navigating a rapid and profound decline, as the rise of the religiously unaffiliated reshapes the nation's spiritual landscape.
Key Takeaways
- In 2021, 63% of U.S. adults identified as Christians, down from 78% in 2007
- 29% of U.S. adults were religiously unaffiliated ("nones") in 2021, up from 16% in 2007
- 1% of U.S. adults identified as Jewish in 2021
- 23% of U.S. adults attended religious services weekly in 2021, down from 36% in 2000
- 35% of U.S. Protestants attended church weekly in 2023
- 33% of U.S. Catholics attended mass weekly in 2023
- 72% of U.S. adults believe in God with absolute certainty in 2022
- 15% of U.S. adults do not believe in God in 2022
- 81% of Protestants believe the Bible is the literal word of God in 2019
- 55% of 70% Christian affiliation in 1990 dropped to 64% in 2020
- Unaffiliated rose from 5% in 1972 to 29% in 2021
- Catholic share declined from 24% in 2007 to 20% in 2021
Christian affiliation is falling while religious disaffiliation rises sharply, especially among youth.
Historical Trends
- 55% of 70% Christian affiliation in 1990 dropped to 64% in 2020
- Unaffiliated rose from 5% in 1972 to 29% in 2021
- Catholic share declined from 24% in 2007 to 20% in 2021
- Protestant share fell from 51% in 2007 to 41% in 2021
- Church membership dropped from 70% in 1999 to 47% in 2020
- Weekly attendance fell from 42% in 2000 to 34% in 2018
- Religiously important declined from 70% in 1965 to 49% in 2021
- Evangelical share stable at 25% from 2007-2021
- Mainline Protestant decline from 18% to 14% 2007-2021
- Nones among youth rose from 10% in 1990 to 40% in 2020
- Bible literalism dropped from 65% in 1981 to 20% in 2021
- Belief in God fell from 98% in 1950s to 81% in 2022
- Heaven belief stable at 72% from 2001-2021
- Mormon growth slowed from 2% in 2007 to 1% in 2021
- Muslim population tripled from 0.4% in 2007 to 1.1% in 2021
- Jewish affiliation declined from 2% to 1% 2007-2021
- Black Protestant stable at 7% from 2007-2021
- Hispanic Catholics fell from 25% to 19% of total pop 2007-2021
- White Christians dropped from 54% to 42% 2007-2021
- Southern Baptist membership peaked 2006 at 16M, now 13M in 2022
- Episcopal Church membership halved since 1960s to 1.6M in 2020
- Attendance post-COVID dropped 10% further in 2022
- Nones projected to 35% by 2030
- Christians projected to 54% by 2050 from 64% in 2020
- 48% of 1937 Gallup poll were church members, peaked 76% in 1947
- Prayer daily from 64% in 2006 to 52% in 2021
- 35% of adults Protestant in 1972 GSS, now 40%
- Catholic self-ID stable but practice down 20% since 1980s
Historical Trends Interpretation
While a nation built on prayer is finding more reasons to send thoughts than kneel for them, the data suggests America's religious landscape isn't so much collapsing as it is undergoing a dramatic, quiet renegotiation where the pews are emptying but the pew-sitters are holding their ground.
Religious Affiliation
- In 2021, 63% of U.S. adults identified as Christians, down from 78% in 2007
- 29% of U.S. adults were religiously unaffiliated ("nones") in 2021, up from 16% in 2007
- 1% of U.S. adults identified as Jewish in 2021
- 1% of U.S. adults identified as Muslim in 2021
- 21% of U.S. adults identified as Protestant in 2023
- 24% of U.S. adults identified as Catholic in 2023
- 5% of U.S. adults identified as non-Christian faiths in 2023
- 24% of U.S. adults had no religious preference in 2023
- 40% of Americans aged 18-29 were religiously unaffiliated in 2021
- 11% of Americans aged 65+ were religiously unaffiliated in 2021
- 44% of U.S. adults identified as evangelical Protestants in 2014
- 14% of U.S. adults identified as mainline Protestants in 2014
- 20% of U.S. adults identified as Catholics in 2014
- 2% of U.S. adults identified as Orthodox Christians in 2020
- 1.1% of U.S. adults identified as Buddhist in 2020
- 69% of Americans identified as Christian in 2014
- 26% of Americans were unaffiliated in 2018 per ARIS
- 76% of Americans identified with a religion in 2018 per GSS
- 4% of U.S. population was Jewish in 2020
- 3.6 million Americans identified as Mormon in 2014
- 1.7% of U.S. adults were Hindu in 2021
- 0.9% of U.S. adults were Sikh in 2020 estimates
- 55% of U.S. Christians identified as Protestant in 2022
- 35% of U.S. Christians identified as Catholic in 2022
- 10% of U.S. Christians identified as other denominations in 2022
- 28% of Generation Z Americans were religiously unaffiliated in 2020
- 17% of Baby Boomers were religiously unaffiliated in 2020
- 2.4% of U.S. adults identified as Unitarian Universalist in 2014
- 0.4% identified as Jehovah's Witnesses in 2014
- 0.7% identified as Quaker in 2014
Religious Affiliation Interpretation
America's religious landscape is undergoing a quiet but profound reformation, where the rising tide of the "nones" suggests that while God isn't dead, a growing number of Americans are respectfully taking a sabbatical from organized religion.
Religious Beliefs
- 72% of U.S. adults believe in God with absolute certainty in 2022
- 15% of U.S. adults do not believe in God in 2022
- 81% of Protestants believe the Bible is the literal word of God in 2019
- 28% of Catholics believe the Bible is literal word of God in 2019
- 74% of Americans believe in heaven in 2021
- 59% of Americans believe in hell in 2021
- 33% of religiously unaffiliated believe in God
- 92% of evangelicals believe in God with certainty
- 63% of mainline Protestants believe Satan exists
- 58% of Americans believe Jesus was God incarnate in 2021
- 26% of Americans believe in reincarnation in 2021
- 69% of Black Americans believe in God with certainty
- 80% of white evangelicals oppose abortion in most cases
- 60% of Catholics support legal abortion
- 47% of Americans believe creationism over evolution
- 89% of Latter-day Saints believe the Bible is literal
- 83% of Muslims believe in sharia as divine law
- 68% of Jews believe in afterlife
- 55% of Hindus believe in karma
- 29% of unaffiliated believe in spiritual energy
- 38% of Americans say religion is very important
- 75% of weekly attenders say religion very important
- 11% of nones say religion very important
- 40% of Americans believe angels and demons are active
- 65% of Republicans believe Bible is literal
- 14% of Democrats believe Bible literal
- 50% of Americans under 30 believe in God
- 76% of Americans over 65 believe in God
- 85% of Southerners believe in God with certainty
Religious Beliefs Interpretation
The statistics paint a picture of a nation that is, in many ways, a theological mosaic held together by the stubborn glue of certainty, where the lines of scripture, doctrine, and personal conviction are drawn with wildly different pens—some in permanent marker, others in faint pencil, and a few with the enthusiastic but blurry crayon of spiritual-but-not-religious energy.
Worship Attendance
- 23% of U.S. adults attended religious services weekly in 2021, down from 36% in 2000
- 35% of U.S. Protestants attended church weekly in 2023
- 33% of U.S. Catholics attended mass weekly in 2023
- 25% of Americans prayed daily in 2021
- 49% of evangelicals attended services weekly in 2021
- 33% of mainline Protestants attended weekly in 2021
- 24% of Catholics attended weekly in 2021
- 81% of weekly attenders considered religion very important in 2023
- 15% of religiously unaffiliated attended services weekly in 2021
- 37% of Americans read the Bible outside religious services at least monthly in 2021
- 65% of Black Protestants attended weekly in 2021
- 45% of Latter-day Saints attended weekly in 2021
- 39% of Jews attended services monthly or more in 2020
- 42% of Muslims attended mosque weekly in 2017
- 52% of Hindus engaged in daily prayer in 2014
- 62% of Buddhists meditated daily or weekly in 2014
- 20% of Americans attended religious services almost never in 2023
- 58% of Republicans attended weekly or nearly weekly in 2023
- 31% of Democrats attended weekly or nearly weekly in 2023
- 75% of weekly churchgoers are married
- 22% of Gen Z attended monthly or more in 2020
- 38% of Millennials attended monthly or more in 2020
- 48% of U.S. adults feel a deep sense of spiritual peace weekly
- 27% of non-religious Americans feel spiritual peace weekly
- 68% of Southerners attended religious services weekly in 2021
- 20% of Northeasterners attended weekly in 2021
Worship Attendance Interpretation
While the Sunday morning pews are getting noticeably roomier across America, the core congregation—evangelicals, Black Protestants, and the faithfully married—are still holding the doors open, suggesting religion is not so much collapsing as it is condensing into a more intense, committed, and politically polarized core.
Sources & References
- Reference 1PEWRESEARCHpewresearch.orgVisit source
- Reference 2NEWSnews.gallup.comVisit source
- Reference 3PRRIprri.orgVisit source
- Reference 4NORCnorc.orgVisit source
- Reference 5THEARDAthearda.comVisit source
- Reference 6GSSgss.norc.orgVisit source
- Reference 7BARNAbarna.comVisit source
- Reference 8CARAcara.georgetown.eduVisit source