Religiosity Has Declined in Recent Decades

As recently as 1990, 90% of Americans identified as Christian and 5% were religiously unaffiliated. Recent data show that less than two-thirds of Americans now identify as Christian and at least a quarter are religiously unaffiliated. This represents a seismic institutional shift in Americans’ religiosity in a few decades.  

Data from multiple sources offer insight on the state of religiosity in the United States. Gallup found that 68% of Americans identified as Christian in 2023. The General Social Survey found that 64% of Americans were Christian in 2022. Pew Research finds that 62% of all adults identified as Christian in 2023-24. All of these surveys estimate that about 7% of Americans practice Judaism, Islam, or other faiths.

The most significant change in our nation’s religiosity is an increasing percentage of Americans who are religiously unaffiliated. These are people who identify as atheist, agnostic, or having “no religion.” Recent estimates of religiously unaffiliated Americans vary: Gallup estimates 22%, the General Social Survey finds 27%, and Pew estimates 29%. By comparison, a mere 5% of Americans were religiously unaffiliated in 1990.

Younger Americans are far less religious than older Americans. Data from Pew shows that 83% of people born before 1954 identify with a religion. Conversely, only 57% of people born between 1995-2007 identify with a religion. Younger generations are less likely to pray daily, less likely say religion is very important, and less likely to attend religious services. Nationally, much of the decline in religiosity is due to less religious younger generations replacing more religious older generations over time.

Compounding this trend, Americans have become less religious as they have aged in recent decades. Gen Z and older Americans have experienced slight declines in religiosity over time, but Americans in middle adulthood—folks in their thirties and forties—have discarded religion at higher rates. Historically, changing one’s religious beliefs after thirty was rare.

Young people are less involved in formal religion, but retain high levels of spirituality. Pew data show that among 18- to 24-year-olds, only 27% report praying daily and only 25% attend religious services. Among this same age group, 82% believe that people have a soul or spirit and 71% believe that there is something spiritual beyond the natural world. There are only modest differences among young people and older generations on these questions.

Several factors contributed to the mass religious disaffiliation that began in the 1990s. Reasons for not practicing a religion vary: some Americans are disenchanted, others dislike organized religion, some are unsure of their faith, and others report being too busy to attend. There have been clergy scandals that led some to lose trust in religious institutions. There are increasing rates of religious intermarriage. Additionally, the association of Christianity with conservative policies has driven some liberals away from religion.

Declining religiosity might not reflect a shortcoming of organized religion or the leadership of any particular congregation. Rather, declining religiosity reflects Americans’ widespread withdrawal from civic and social institutions in recent decades. Empty church pews and unstaffed volunteer fire departments reflect a common issue—the erosion of community connections. Americans have shifted away from collective, in-person activities in favor of Netflix and doomscrolling. Americans are starved for connection and community, religious or secular.

After a precipitous decline in religiosity between 1990 and 2020, recent data suggest that religiosity has leveled off. The percentage of Americans who self-identify as Christian, attend religious services, and pray all show several years of post-pandemic stability as of 2023-24. Time will tell if this is a new normal. Future religiosity in the United States will by shaped by the practices of religious institutions, rates of interfaith marriages, patterns of immigration, legislation, fertility patterns across groups, and ever-evolving cultural attitudes toward religion.

Roscoe Scarborough, Ph.D. is chair of the Department of Social Sciences and associate professor of sociology at College of Coastal Georgia. He is an associate scholar at the Reg Murphy Center for Economic and Policy Studies. He can be reached by email at rscarborough@ccga.edu.