Religion in America Statistics 2027: Latest 2026 Data and Trends

What share of Americans are Christian, how many have no religion, and how are belief and affiliation changing? The latest sourced figures from PRRI, Pew Research Center, Gallup, Barna Group and Lifeway Research. Every figure links to its original study. Updated October 2026.

Religion in America statistics at a glance

Statistic	Figure	Year	Source
U.S. adults who are religiously unaffiliated (PRRI, 2025)	28%	2025	PRRI
U.S. adults who are Christian (Pew, 2023-24; 78% in 2007)	62%	2025	Pew Research Center
U.S. adults with no religious affiliation (Gallup, 2025; 9% in 2000-03)	24%	2025	Gallup
Identify as Christian, ages 18-29 vs. 65 and older (PRRI, 2025)	54% vs. 76%	2025	PRRI
Christian share, ages 18-24 vs. 74 and older (Pew, 2023-24)	46% vs. 80%	2025	Pew Research Center
Identify with a religion, born 1995-2002 vs. oldest adults (Pew, 2025)	55% vs. 83%	2025	Pew Research Center
Ages 18-24 who left or became Christian (Pew, 2023-24)	26% left, 5% joined	2025	Pew Research Center
Adults raised in a religion who still identify with the same faith (Lifeway, 2026)	64%	2026	Lifeway Research
Switchers citing 'felt called to a new faith' as a very or extremely important reason (Lifeway, 2026)	48%	2026	Lifeway Research
Say religion is very important in their life (Gallup, 2025; 58% in 2012)	47%	2025	Gallup
U.S. adults who believe in God or a higher power (Barna, 2022)	77%	2022	Barna Group
Unaffiliated: Millennials vs. Silent Generation (Lifeway, 2021)	40% vs. 10%	2021	Lifeway Research

How many Americans are Christian, and how many have no religion?

Religious identity of Americans White Christians: 41% · PRRI, 2025
Share of U.S. adults who are Christian vs. religiously unaffiliated Christian 78%, 71%, 62%; unaffiliated 16%, 23%, 29% (2007, 2014, 2023-24) · Pew Research Center, 2025
Religiously unaffiliated adults at a new high 9% (2000-03), 21% (2020-21), 24% (2025) · Gallup, 2025
Religious identity of U.S. adults 62% Christian, 28% unaffiliated, 8% other religions (2026) · Lifeway Research, 2026
Religious makeup of Americans White Christians 41%, unaffiliated 28%, Christians of color 25% · PRRI, 2025
Religious identity of Americans White Christian 40%, unaffiliated 28% (2024) · PRRI, 2024

Who are the religiously unaffiliated?

Makeup of the religiously unaffiliated 63% nothing in particular, 20% agnostic, 17% atheist · Lifeway Research, 2024
Religious beliefs among religiously unaffiliated Americans 37% between belief and unbelief, 36% no belief, 12% strong belief · Lifeway Research, 2026
Religiously unaffiliated Americans who consider themselves spiritual 47% · Lifeway Research, 2026
What being spiritual includes for spiritual nones 65% inner self, 39% belief in God · Lifeway Research, 2026
Very or extremely important reasons for being a none 67% question religious teachings, 12% no time · Lifeway Research, 2024
What religiously unaffiliated Americans expect after death 48% no one knows, 1% hell · Lifeway Research, 2026

Religion by age and generation

Identify as Christian, by age group Ages 18-29 54%, 30-49 60%, 50-64 72%, 65+ 76% · PRRI, 2025
Religiously unaffiliated Americans by age group Ages 18-29 38%, 30-49 34%, 50-64 22%, 65+ 18% · PRRI, 2024
Christian and unaffiliated share, youngest vs. oldest adults Christian 46% vs. 80%, unaffiliated 43% vs. 13% · Pew Research Center, 2025
Young adults vs. oldest adults, 2025 Religion 55% vs. 83%, monthly attendance 26% vs. 43%, daily prayer 30% vs. 59% · Pew Research Center, 2025
Share identifying as religiously unaffiliated by generation Silent 10%, Boomers 17%, Gen X 25%, Millennials 40%, teens 32% (2021) · Lifeway Research, 2021
Teens and young adults who are religious Nones 33% · Springtide Research Institute, 2025

Religious switching

Religious switching among 18 to 24 year olds Became Christian 5%, left Christianity 26%, became unaffiliated 25% · Pew Research Center, 2025
Young adults leaving Christianity per conversion 5.2 to 1 · Leader Insights, 2025
Religious identity today of adults raised in a religion 64% same faith, 23% no religion, 11% another religion · Lifeway Research, 2026
Very or extremely important reasons for switching to a different religion 48% felt called, 45% needs not met, 24% married someone different · Lifeway Research, 2026
Age at which people switched religious identification 39% switched at 18-29, 29% at 13-17, 3% at 50+ · Lifeway Research, 2026
Childhood faith experiences of those who stayed Protestant vs. left 83% attended monthly (still Protestant) vs. 66% (now unaffiliated) · Lifeway Research, 2026

Belief and religious importance

U.S. adults' belief in God and spiritual openness 77% believe in God or a higher power, 44% more open than before the pandemic · Barna Group, 2022
Americans' beliefs about God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit 71% one God in three Persons, 49% Jesus a great teacher but not God (2026) · Lifeway Research, 2026
Americans who believe the Bible is accurate in all it teaches 49% · Lifeway Research, 2026
U.S. adults who believe hell is a real place of eternal punishment 57% · Lifeway Research, 2025
Religion is 'very important' in my life 58% (2012), 47% (2025) · Gallup, 2025
How often Americans pray 45% pray every day, 32% seldom or never, 22% weekly or monthly (2021) · Lifeway Research, 2021

Looking ahead to 2027: what the latest data points to

No 2027 statistics have been published yet. Here is what the newest readings suggest. We update this page as new research arrives.

Christian identification has been flat in recent surveys. Pew Research Center found 62% of U.S. adults identified as Christian in 2023-24, down from 78% in 2007, and PRRI's 2025 census put the religiously unaffiliated at 28% of adults. Gallup measures the unaffiliated differently and reported 24% in 2025, after four years at 21% to 22%. See the data.
The age gap is wide. PRRI found 54% of adults 18 to 29 identify as Christian against 76% of those 65 and older (2025), and Pew found 46% of 18 to 24 year olds are Christian against 80% of those 74 and older (2023-24). See the data.
Among young adults, more leave than join. Pew found 26% of 18 to 24 year olds left Christianity and 5% became Christian (2023-24). Pew also reported no clear evidence of a broad religious revival since 2020. These are single readings from different surveys, so they describe where things stand, not where they are heading. See the data.

Religion in America statistics: common questions

What percent of Americans are Christian?

It depends on the survey. Pew Research Center found 62% of U.S. adults identified as Christian in 2023-24, down from 78% in 2007, and Lifeway Research reported 62% in 2026. PRRI's 2025 census counted 41% white Christians and 25% Christians of color.

What percent of Americans have no religion?

PRRI's 2025 census found 28% of U.S. adults are religiously unaffiliated, and Pew Research Center found 29% in 2023-24. Gallup reported 24% with no religious affiliation in 2025, up from 9% in 2000-03. The surveys differ in method and wording.

Are young Americans less religious?

By these measures, yes. PRRI found 38% of adults 18 to 29 were religiously unaffiliated in 2024, against 18% of those 65 and over, and 54% of adults 18 to 29 identified as Christian in 2025 against 76% of those 65 and older. Pew found 55% of adults born 1995 to 2002 identify with a religion against 83% of the oldest adults (2025).

How many Americans change religions?

Lifeway Research, reporting 2026 data, found 64% of adults raised in a religion still identify with the same faith, 23% now have no religion and 11% follow another religion. Among 18 to 24 year olds, Pew found 26% left Christianity and 5% became Christian (2023-24).

Do Americans still believe in God?

Most do, with caveats. Barna Group found 77% of U.S. adults believe in God or a higher power (2022), and Gallup found 47% say religion is very important in their life (2025), down from 58% in 2012. Among the unaffiliated, Lifeway Research found 37% describe themselves as somewhere between belief and unbelief (2026).

Open all 1,870 statistics, free

Full charts, CSV and PNG downloads, citations, branded share images, boards and board briefs with a free account.

Create your free account

About this data

Leader Insights collects statistics about U.S. churches from published research. Every number is checked against the wording of the original source before it is published, and each statistic links back to the study it came from. Different studies define the same topic differently, so figures from different sources are not directly comparable; each is labeled with its publisher and year.