Christianity seeing rebound, but 'generational replacement' lags: Survey
Survey shows religious upbringing is declining
A Pew Research Center survey examined the U.S. religious landscape, including the number of people who consider themselves religious or spiritual. FOX 9's Chenue Her has more on the story.
(FOX 9) - A research study that aims to determine the U.S. population’s religious makeup shows a decline in people identifying as "Christian" might have leveled off in recent years, but people are still praying and attending religious services less than they used to.
Christianity’s decline in popularity
Dig deeper:
The results from the 2023-24 Religious Landscape Study, conducted by Pew Research Center polling, show that after years of decline, those that define their religious affiliation as "Christian" have been relatively stable since 2019.
As a "nonpartisan, non-advocacy fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world," the Pew Research Center conducted two previous Religious Landscape Studies in 2007 and 2014, in addition to its newest from July 17, 2023, to March 4, 2024.
The latest national survey sought input from a sample of 36,908 people, designed to represent all 50 states.
Religious survey results
By the numbers:
In comparison to the surveys previously conducted, the newest Religious Landscape Study shows that while Christianity’s decline has begun to rebound after years of decline, the population that responded as "unaffiliated" has also leveled out.
According to the 2024 survey, 62% of U.S. adults describe themselves as Christians. During the 2007 survey, 78% of U.S. adults described themselves as represented by the religious denomination — bottoming out at 60% in 2022, before beginning a rebound to the latest level.
Between 2019 and 2024, the adult population that identified as Christian has been relatively stable, between 60% and 64%.
The largest subgroups of Christians in the U.S. identified as Protestants – now 40% of U.S. adults – and Catholics, now 19%.
At the same time, 29% of responders say they are religiously "unaffiliated".
The survey also showed that 44% of U.S. adult responders say they pray at least once a day, and 33% say they go to religious services at least once a month.
According to the 2024 survey, 35% of U.S. adults have switched religions since childhood, leading to net gains for the "unaffiliated" population, and net losses for the "Christian" population.
Representing political factions, the share of self-described political liberals who identify as Christians has taken a sharp decline in the last two decades, falling 25% since 2007, from 62% to 37%.
Among self-described conservatives, those who identify as Christian has declined as well, from 89% to 82%.
Spirituality and belief trends
Big picture view:
In terms of spiritual beliefs that are not necessarily confined to a religious denomination, the 2024 survey found that 86% believe people have a soul or spirit in addition to their physical body.
Meanwhile, 83% believe in God or a universal spirit, and 70% reported believing in an afterlife.
Although the numbers who identify as Christian have stabilized, the survey suggests that a decline in participation in religion could be seen in upcoming generations.
The youngest adults in the survey (ages 18 to 24) are less likely than today’s older adults (age 74 or older) to identify as Christian – 46% to 80% — pray daily (27% to 58%) and attend religious services regularly (25% to 49%).
The research suggests that one factor of the long-term trend is "generational replacement" – older, highly religious, heavily Christian generations are passing away, while the younger generations succeeding them are much less religious, with smaller percentages of self-identified Christians.
The full findings of the 390-page report can be found below:
The Source: The 2023-24 Religious Landscape Study, and previous studies, were conducted by the Pew Research Center and made public on Feb. 26, 2025.