The drop in the number of Americans who identify as Christian appears to be slowing down in recent years after a long period of a higher level of decreases, according to a Pew Research Center survey published on Wednesday.
The extensive Religious Landscape Study (RLS) study found the number of people in the U.S. who identify as Christian has been stable since 2019 and that the number of those who are unaffiliated with a religion, after years of growing in number, has leveled off.
Other results from the poll include the following:
- 62% of Americans identified as Christians (40% were Protestant, 19% Catholic, and 3% identified as another Christian group).
- The share of Americans who identify as Christians has been between 60% to 64% from 2019 to 2024, compared to 78% in 2007.
- Religiously unaffiliated adults (atheists, agnostics, or "nothing in particular") make up 29% of the population in the latest RLS, a number that has plateaued in recent years after a long period of sustained growth.
- A total of some 7% of the U.S. population is non-Christian but religious — including 1.7% Jewish, 1.2% Muslim, 1.1% Buddhist, and 0.9% Hindu.
Researchers of the study wrote that "the long-term decline in the Christian share of the population and growth of religious 'nones' is demographically broad-based. There are fewer Christians and more 'nones' among men and women; people in every racial and ethnic category; college graduates and those with less education; and residents of all major regions of the country."
Researchers also noted that 37% of self-described liberals identified with Christianity, a 25 percentage point drop from 2007 when it was 62%. Meanwhile, 51% of liberals said they have no religion, a 24 percentage point jump from 27% in 2007.
The survey was carried out from July 17, 2023, to March 4, 2024, among 36,908 respondents. The margin of error was 0.8 percentage points.