Christianity in US stops decline after years of losses: Pew

The decline in the number of Americans who identify as Christian appears to be slowing down after years of losses, according to a Pew Research Center survey published Wednesday. 

The expansive Religious Landscape Study (RLS) study found the number of people in the U.S. who identify as Christian has been stable since 2019. It also discovered that the number of those who are unaffiliated with a religion, after years of uptick, has plateaued. 

Around 62 percent of Americans identify as Christians. Some 40 percent are Protestant, 19 percent are Catholic and three percent identify with other Christian groups, according to the survey. 

The share of Americans who identify as Christians has been hovering in the 60s from 2019 to 2024. In 2023, it was 63 percent, down from 78 percent in 2007.

Nearly three-in-10 Americans, 29 percent, are religiously unaffiliated. Among those, five percent are atheist, six percent are agnostic and the other 19 percent said they identify as “nothing in particular,” Pew found. 

Approximately seven percent of the U.S. population is non-Christian but religious. Two percent are Jewish, while Muslim, Hindu or Buddhist are each at one percent, according to the poll. 

“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 wrote. 

Researchers also noted that 37 percent of self-described liberals identify with Christianity, a 25-point drop from 2007 when it was 62 percent. Just over half of liberals, 51 percent, said they have no religion, a 24-point jump from 2007’s 27 percent. 

Although down substantially from 2007, 44 percent of Americans said they pray at least once a day, a figure that has remained consistent in the last four years. 

The survey was conducted from July 17, 2023, to March 4, 2024, among 36,908 respondents. The margin of error was 0.8 percentage points.