Decline in stats for American Christianity appears to have leveled off for time being
But because older adults are more likely to be religious, future decline is likely
The number of Americans identifying as Christians has been steadily declining for at least two decades — but that trend appears to have leveled off for the time being, according to a massive study by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center.
However, because the study also found that young adults are far less likely to be religious than older adults, the long-term decline is likely to resume along with the deaths of older Americans.
When Pew conducted its first such study, in 2007, it found that 78 percent of U.S. adults described themselves as Christians. Today, that figure stands at 63 percent, basically the same as the 2020 figure of 64 percent.
The survey also found that 7 percent of Americans identify with a religion other than Christianity. About 1.7 percent of Americans identify as Jewish, while Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism each claimed about 1 percent of the population. Other non-Christian religions totaled just over 2 percent.
Meanwhile, those describing themselves as atheist, agnostic or “nothing in particular” totaled 29 percent, a figure that appears to have plateaued for the time being. The largest among those groups are those who claim no particular religious belief (19 percent). Self-described atheists make up about 5 percent, and agnostics 6 percent. Only 45 percent of adults 18 to 29 years old identify as Christians, a sharp contrast with 78 percent of those 65 and older. The age differential can also be seen in the median age of the religiously affiliated, 47 years, vs. the the religiously unaffiliated, 38 years.
The age gap can be seen as well in attendance at church or other religious services. About half, 49 percent, of Americans born in the 1940s or earlier attended religious services at least monthly, while for adults born in this century, the figure is half that, 25 percent. In fact, half of the youngest adults say they seldom or never attend religious services.
Pew’s report, the Religious Landscape Study, is based on a survey of 36,908 U.S. adults conducted in 2023 and last year. The sample size is large enough to provide reliable data from all the U.S. states as well as demographic information on the denominational and theological factions within American Christianity.
The survey also found that the overwhelming majority have some kind of spiritual belief. For example, 86 percent believe in the existence of a spirit or soul in addition to the physical body, and 83 percent believe in God or a universal spirit. A smaller number, but still a strong majority at 70 percent, believe in an afterlife, namely a heaven and/or hell.
The largest demographic group among Christians is Protestants, totaling about 40 percent of the population. They are followed by Catholics, at 19 percent. Other Christians total 3 percent, the largest group among them being the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at 2 percent. (Numbers don’t add to 63 percent because of rounding.)
Pew further divided Protestants into three groups based on partly on denominational affiliation. Evangelical Protestants as defined by Pew make up a bit less than a fourth, 23 percent, of the population. They are followed by mainline Protestants at 11 percent and historically black Protestants at 5 percent.
Some of the study’s findings have political implications: Those who see themselves as highly religious are more likely to be Republicans (61 percent) than the least religious (27 percent). This is especially true among whites, where 77 of the highly religious identify with or lean toward the Republican Party.