Americans who never attend church, by education
Percent of Americans saying they never attend, General Social Survey, 2017 (in percent)
Key finding
Highest: Less than a high school diploma (29%). Lowest: At least some college (23%).
- Less than a high school diploma: 29%
- High school graduates: 25%
- At least some college: 23%
Source: Lifeway Research, 4 Surprising Groups Not Showing up on Sunday · General Social Survey data as reported by Lifeway. Article published 2017-05-11.
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Questions about this statistic
What does this statistic show?
Highest: Less than a high school diploma (29%). Lowest: At least some college (23%). Less than a high school diploma: 29%. High school graduates: 25%. At least some college: 23%.
Who published this data?
Lifeway Research, 2017. Source: Lifeway Research, 4 Surprising Groups Not Showing up on Sunday (https://research.lifeway.com/2017/05/11/4-surprising-groups-not-showing-sunday/).
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More Attendance statistics
- Change in congregations' worship attendance over two years Lifeway Research, 2026
- Churchgoers' views on the amount of liturgical style in their church Lifeway Research, 2026
- Regular religious service attendance by age group Lifeway Research, 2026
- Average weekly worship attendance in Southern Baptist congregations Lifeway Research, 2018
- Pastors' view of worship attendance trend over the past five years Lifeway Research, 2018
- Americans who attended worship growing up and no longer go Lifeway Research, 2017
About this data
Leader Insights collects statistics about U.S. churches from published research by organizations such as Lifeway Research, Barna Group, Springtide, the American Bible Society and PRRI. 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. Figures are reproduced from the publishers named above; see the source for full methodology.