A new survey by Pew Research shows more than six in ten Americans identifying as Christians, with the total rebounding after the Covid years. The massive Religious Landscape Study (RLS) of 36,908 U.S. adults aims to fill the gap of the US census failing to ask about religion.
The main findings:
• 62% of U.S. adults describe themselves as Christians: 40% are Protestant, 19% are Catholic, and 3% are other Christians.
• 29% are religiously unaffiliated: 5% are atheist, 6% are agnostic, and 19% identify religiously as “nothing in particular.”
• 7% belong to religions other than Christianity: 2% are Jewish, and 1% each are Muslim, Buddhist or Hindu (all figures are rounded).
Other key measures have held steady:
• 44% of U.S. adults say they pray at least once a day. Though down significantly since 2007, this measure has held between 44% and 46% since 2021.
• 33% say they go to religious services at least once a month. Since 2020, the percentages saying this have consistently hovered in the low 30s.
Pew points out that supernatural beliefs are more widely held that declaring a Christian faith.
•86% believe people have a soul or spirit in addition to their physical body.
• 83% believe in God or a universal spirit.
• 79% believe there is something spiritual beyond the natural world.
• 70% believe in heaven, hell or both.
Compared to 2007 when the first Pew Religious Landscape Study was conducted:
• Evangelical Protestants now make up 23% of U.S. adults, down from 26%.
• Mainline Protestants account for 11% of U.S. adults, down from 18%.
• Members of historically Black Protestant churches make up 5% of U.S. adults, down from 7%.
• The share of Americans who identify with nondenominational Protestantism is growing.
• Many other Protestant denominational families (including Baptists, Methodists, Lutherans and others) have declined as shares of the population.
While the overall proportion of Christians in the US has stabilised the long term may see decline, with less interest in religion by younger people.
Pew reports: “More than half of people who say religion was very important in their families while they were growing up also say religion is very important to them today. By contrast, among people who say religion was not too important or not at all important to their families during childhood, just 17% say religion is very important to them today.
“The survey finds a similar pattern on questions about religious attendance. People who grew up attending religious services regularly (at least once a month) are more than twice as likely as those who didn’t grow up attending services regularly to say they now attend religious services at least monthly.”
The political affiation of Christians, and the effect of race was examined in depth.
Information is © 2025 Pew Research Center
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