Religion in the United States

Geography Politics State , Federal District , and Territorial Tribal Tribal sovereignty Native American recognition in the United States Federally recognized tribes Federally recognized Alaska Native tribes State-recognized tribes Indian reservation list Hawaiian home land Local Corruption Democratic backsliding Elections Electoral College Red states and blue states Foreign relations foreign policy Imperial presidency Ideologies Anti-Americanism exceptionalism nationalism Parties Democratic Republican Third parties Scandals Economy Society Outline Category Portal Despite official separation of church and state , many churches in the U.S. take strong stances on political subjects. Percentage of population claimed by religious groups Religion in the United States is an integral part of the culture of the United States . The U.S. is one of the most religious of all the developed nations of the world. Gallup International reports that 42 percent of American citizens regularly attend religious services , compared to 15 percent of French citizens, 10 percent of UK citizens , and 25 percent of Israeli citizens. The American religious tradition is primarily Christian, but the Constitutional guarantee of freedom of religion and the diversity of the population means that no one religion holds sway over the entirety of the population. Also, a tradition of separation of church and state developed early in the nation's history contributes to this diversity. Culture "wars" often have roots in religious differences, but religious violence is rare and on a small scale. The considerable majority of presidents have had some affiliation with Protestant Christianity , several early holders of the office being Deists , with at least four Unitarians and a single Roman Catholic . (See the list of U.S. Presidential religious affiliations .) Politicians frequently discuss their religion when campaigning, and many churches and religious figures are highly politically active, though to keep their status as tax-exempt organizations they must not officially endorse a candidate.

This article primarily covers the current status of religion in the United States. The Washington National Cathedral , in Washington, D.C. , is a cathedral of the Episcopal Church . Religion in the United States is remarkable both for its high adherence level, compared to other developed countries, as well as for its diversity. The First Amendment to the country's Constitution prevents the government from having any authority in religion , and guarantees the free exercise of religion. A majority of Americans report that religion plays a "very important" role in their lives, a proportion unusual among developed nations , although similar to the other nations of the Americas . Many faiths have flourished in the United States , including both later imports spanning the country's multicultural immigrant heritage, as well as those founded within the country; these have led the United States to become the most religiously diverse country in the world. The majority of Americans (76%) identify themselves as Christians , mostly with Protestant denominations. Non-Christian religions (including Judaism , Buddhism , Islam , and Hinduism ), collectively make up about 4% to 5% of the adult population. Another 15% of the adult population identifies as having no religious belief or no religious affiliation. According to the American Religious Identification Survey, religious belief varies considerably across the country: 59% of Americans living in Western states (the " Unchurched Belt ") report a belief in God, yet in the South (the " Bible Belt ") the figure is as high as 86%. The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., is the largest Catholic church in the United States . Several of the original Thirteen Colonies were established by English settlers who wished to practice their own religion without discrimination: the Massachusetts Bay Colony was established by Puritans , Pennsylvania by Quakers , Maryland by Catholics , and Virginia by Anglicans . Although some individual states retained established religious confessions well into the nineteenth century, the United States was the first nation to have no official state-endorsed religion. Modeling the provisions concerning religion within the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom , the framers of the Constitution rejected any religious test for office, and the First Amendment specifically denied the federal government any power to enact any law respecting either an establishment of religion or prohibiting its free exercise, thus protecting any religious organization, institution, or denomination from government interference. The decision was mainly influenced by European Rationalist and Protestant ideals, but was also a consequence of the pragmatic concerns of minority religious groups and small states that did not want to be under the power or influence of a national religion that did not represent them. Stands Alone in its Embrace of Religion" . Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. 2007 . Farrar, Straus and Giroux, pg. 10 ("For the first time in recorded history, they designed a government with no established religion at all.") Marsden, George M. 1990.

Geography Politics State , Federal District , and Territorial Tribal Tribal sovereignty Native American recognition in the United States Federally recognized tribes Federally recognized Alaska Native tribes State-recognized tribes Indian reservation list Hawaiian home land Local Corruption Democratic backsliding Elections Electoral College Red states and blue states Foreign relations foreign policy Imperial presidency Ideologies Anti-Americanism exceptionalism nationalism Parties Democratic Republican Third parties Scandals Economy Society Outline Category Portal Religion in the United States is characterized by a diversity of religious beliefs and practices. Various religious faiths have flourished, as well as perished, in the United States. A majority of Americans report that religion plays a very important role in their lives, a proportion unique among developed countries . The majority of Americans identify themselves as Christians , while close to a quarter claim no religious affiliation . According to a 2014 study by the Pew Research Center , 70.6% of the American population identified themselves as Christians, with 46.5% professing attendance at a variety of churches that could be considered Protestant , and 20.8% professing Roman Catholic beliefs. The same study says that other religions (including Judaism , Buddhism , Islam , and Hinduism ) collectively make up about 6% of the population. According to a 2012 survey by the Pew forum, 36 percent of Americans state that they attend services nearly every week or more. According to the 2013 Gallup poll, Mississippi with 61% of its population described as very religious (say that religion is important to them and attend religious services almost every week) is the most religious state in the country, while Vermont with only 22% as very religious is the least religious state. Religion in the United States (2014 census - Pew Forum) Christianity (70.6%) No religion (22.8%) Judaism (1.90%) Islam (0.90%) Other religions (3.40%) Not stated (0.60%) "Among Wealthy Nations U.S. Stands Alone in its Embrace of Religion" .

Self-identified religious affiliation in the United States (2023 The Wall Street Journal - NORC poll) Protestantism (26.0%) Catholicism (21.0%) "Just Christian" (20.0%) Judaism (2.00%) Buddhism (2.00%) Mormonism (1.00%) Unitarianism (1.00%) Islam (1.00%) Nothing in particular (12.0%) Agnostic (8.00%) Atheist (4.00%) Other (2.00%) Religion in the United States is widespread, diverse, and vibrant, with the country being far more religious than other wealthy Western nations . An overwhelming majority of Americans believe in a higher power , engage in spiritual practices such as prayer , and consider themselves religious . Christianity is the most widely professed religion, predominately composed of Evangelicals , Catholics , and mainline Protestants . Freedom of religion is guaranteed in the First Amendment to the United States Constitution . Many scholars of religion credit this and the country's separation of church and state for its high level of religiousness; lacking a state church , it completely avoided the experiences of religious warfare and conflict that characterized European modernization . Its history of religion has always been marked by religious pluralism and diversity . In colonial times, Anglicans , Quakers , and other mainline Protestants , as well as Mennonites , arrived from Northwestern Europe . Various dissenting Protestants who had left the Church of England greatly diversified the religious landscape. The Thirteen Colonies were initially marked by low levels of religiosity. The two Great Awakenings — the first in the 1730s and 1740s, the second between the 1790s and 1840s — led to an immense rise in observance and gave birth to many evangelical Protestant denominations. When they began, one in ten Americans were members of congregations; by the time they ended, eight in ten were. The aftermath led to what historian Martin Marty calls the "Evangelical Empire", a period in which evangelicals dominated U.S. cultural institutions. They supported measures to abolish slavery , further women's rights , enact prohibition , and reform education and criminal justice . In the 18th century, deism found support among American upper classes and intellectual thinkers. The Episcopal Church , splitting from the Church of England, came into being in the American Revolution . New Protestant branches like Adventism emerged; Restorationists like the Jehovah's Witnesses , the Latter Day Saint movement , Churches of Christ and Church of Christ, Scientist , as well as Unitarian and Universalist communities all spread in the 19th century. During the immigrant waves of the mid to late 19th and 20th century, an unprecedented number of Catholic and Jewish immigrants arrived in the United States. Pentecostalism emerged in the early 20th century as a result of the Azusa Street Revival . Unitarian Universalism resulted from the merge of Unitarian and Universalist churches in the 20th century. The U.S. has the largest Christian and Protestant population in the world . According to Gallup , 75% of Americans report praying often or sometimes while 72% report that religion plays a very or fairly important role in their lives. Judaism is the second-largest religion in the U.S., practiced by 2% of the population, followed by Hinduism , Buddhism , and Islam , each with 1% of the population. Mississippi is the most religious state in the country, with 63% of its adult population described as very religious, saying that religion is important to them and attending religious services almost every week, while New Hampshire , with only 20% of its adult population described as very religious, is the least religious state. Congress overwhelmingly identifies as religious and Christian; both the Republican and Democratic parties generally nominate those who are. The Christian left , as seen through figures such as Martin Luther King Jr. , Jimmy Carter , and William Jennings Bryan ; along with many figures within the Christian right have played a profound role in the country's politics. The religiosity of the country has grown greatly over time; it was far more irreligious at the American Founding than in the present day. Throughout its history, religious involvement among American citizens has gradually grown since 1776 from 17% of the US population to 62% in 2000. According to religious studies professors at Baylor University , perceptions of religious decline are a popular misconception . They state that surveys showing so suffer from methodological deficiencies, that Americans are becoming more religious, religion is thriving, and that Atheists and Agnostics make up a small and stable percentage of the population. However, Americans have increasingly identified themselves as "nones" — a substantial majority of which believe in a God — for reasons debated among sociologists. "A new survey explores how and where Americans seek divine connection — and who they pray for" . The survey, which was released Thursday on the National Day of Prayer, showed that 85% of Americans participate in some kind of spiritual practice, with the most common being prayer. The vast majority of people — approximately 80 percent — describe themselves as both spiritual and religious. Still, a small but growing minority of Americans describe themselves as spiritual but not religious, as figure 3.4 shows. In 1998, 9 percent of Americans described themselves as at least moderately spiritual but not more than slightly religious. That number rose to 16 percent in the 2010s. Protestant Faith in America (2nd ed.). Melton's Encyclopedia of American Religions (8th ed.). Religion in America: The Basics (2nd ed.). The New York Times . Only after the violent attacks on religion in the French Revolution did alarm about the low level of religion in America escalate and enthusiasm for religion catch fire. "Christians continue to dominate Congress even as fewer Americans identify as religious: survey" . The Great Dechurching: Who's Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It Take to Bring Them Back? . What is often overlooked is that when people say they no longer go to church or affiliate with a religious institution, that doesn't mean they leave all vestiges of religion behind...They left the religious label behind but not their belief. In the same way, a lack of church attendance doesn't necessarily mean someone has given up on the idea of God. Among those who report never attending church in the General Social Survey, the share who don't believe in God is about 20 percent. But the share of these never attenders who say they believe in God without any doubts is also about 20 percent. Despite the fact that about 40 percent of Americans never attend church and 30 percent say they have no religious affiliation, just one in ten Americans says God does not exist or that we have no way to know if God exists. Religious belief is stubborn in the United States, and while someone may not act on that belief by going to a house of worship on Sunday morning, that doesn't mean they think their spiritual life is unimportant. In Cipriani, Roberto; Garelli, Franco (eds.). While much of the media - as well as non-religious advocacy groups - honed on the fact that "unaffiliated" category was growing, Pew stressed their finding that most unaffiliated adults had religious and spiritual leanings. According to the Pew survey, 68% of the unaffiliated said they believed in God; more than a third described themselves as "spiritual but not religious"; and 21% said they prayed every day. This report provided evidence that that people who check "nothing in particular" are not uniformly non-religious; many are individuals who are unaffiliated with traditional religious structures like churches or synagogues but still engage in religious practices and hold religious beliefs. What I discovered was that while many people have walked away from a religious affiliation, they haven't left all aspects of religion and spirituality behind. So, while growing numbers of Americans may not readily identify as Christian any longer, they still show up to a worship service a few times a year or maintain their belief in God. The reality is that many of the nones are really "somes."...The center of the Venn diagram indicates that just 15.3 percent of the population that are nones on one dimension are nones on all dimensions. That amounts to just about 6 percent of the general public who don't belong to a religious tradition and don't attend church and hold to an atheist or agnostic worldview. Finally, among those who describe themselves as religiously unaffiliated – also known as "nones" – 72% say they believe in a higher power of some kind. No rich country prays nearly as much as the U.S, and no country that prays as much as the U.S. is nearly as rich... Stubbornly pious Americans threw a wrench in the secularization thesis. Deep into the 20th century, more than nine in 10 Americans said they believed in God and belonged to an organized religion, with the great majority of them calling themselves Christian. That number held steady—through the sexual-revolution '60s, through the rootless and anxious '70s, and through the "greed is good" '80s. But in the early 1990s, the historical tether between American identity and faith snapped. Religious non-affiliation in the U.S. started to rise—and rise, and rise. By the early 2000s, the share of Americans who said they didn't associate with any established religion (also known as "nones") had doubled. By the 2010s, this grab bag of atheists, agnostics, and spiritual dabblers had tripled in size. History does not often give the satisfaction of a sudden and lasting turning point. History tends to unfold in messy cycles—actions and reactions, revolutions and counterrevolutions—and even semipermanent changes are subtle and glacial. But the rise of religious non-affiliation in America looks like one of those rare historical moments that is neither slow, nor subtle, nor cyclical. You might call it exceptional.

Religious affiliation of adults in the United States, per Pew Research Center (2023-2024) Protestant (40.0%) Catholic (19.0%) Christian (Other) (4.00%) Other religions (7.00%) Religiously unaffiliated (29.0%) Did not answer (1.00%) Religion in the United States is both widespread and diverse, with higher reported levels of belief than other wealthy Western nations . Polls indicate that an overwhelming majority of Americans believe in a higher power (2021), engage in spiritual practices (2022), and consider themselves religious or spiritual (2017). Christianity is the most widely professed religion, with the majority of Americans being Evangelicals , Mainline Protestants , or Catholics , although its dominance has declined in recent decades, and as of 2012 Protestants no longer formed a majority in the US. The United States has the largest Christian and Protestant population in the world . Judaism is the second-largest religion in the US, practiced by 2% of the population, followed by Hinduism , Buddhism , and Islam , each with 1% of the population. States vary in religiosity from Mississippi , where 63% of adults self-describe as very religious, to New Hampshire where 20% do. The elected legislators of Congress overwhelmingly identify as religious and Christian; with few exceptions, both the Republican and Democratic parties nominate those who are. Among the historical and social characteristics of the United States that some scholars of religion credit for the country's high level of religiousness include its Constitutional guarantees of freedom of religion and legal tradition of separation of church and state ; the early immigration of religious dissenters from Northwestern Europe ( Anglicans , Quakers , Mennonites , and other mainline Protestants ); the religious revivalism of the first (1730s and 1740s), and second (1790s and 1840s) Great Awakenings , which led to an enormous growth in Christian congregations—from 10% of Americans being members before the Awakenings, to 80% belonging after. The aftermath led to what historian Martin Marty calls the "Evangelical Empire", a period in which evangelicals dominated US cultural institutions. They influenced measures to abolish slavery , further women's rights , enact prohibition , and reform education and criminal justice . New Protestant denominations were formed ( Adventism , Jehovah's Witnesses , the Latter Day Saint movement (Mormonism), Churches of Christ and Church of Christ, Scientist , Unitarian and Universalist , Pentecostalism ). Outside of Protestantism, an unprecedented number of Catholic and Jewish immigrants arrived in the United States during the immigrant waves of the mid to late 19th and 20th century. Social scientists have noted that beginning in the early 1990s, the percentage of Americans professing no religious affiliation began to rise from 6% in 1991 to 29% in 2021 —with younger people having higher rates of unaffiliation. Similarly, polling indicated a decline in church attendance, and the number of people agreeing with the statement that religion is "very important" in their lives. Explanations for this trend include lack of trust in numerous institutions, backlash against the religious right in the 1980s, sexual abuse scandals in established religions, the end of the Cold War (and its connection of religiosity with patriotism), and the September 11 attacks (by religious Jihadists ). Many of the "Nones", those without a religious affiliation, have belief in a god or higher power and spiritual forces beyond the natural world. As of 2024, Christianity's decline may have leveled off or slowed, according to the Pew Research Center, though according to the Public Religion Research Institute it has continued to decline. American adults under the age of 40 are less likely to pray than their elders, less likely to attend church services and less likely to identify with any religion – all of which may portend future declines in levels of religious commitment Mitchell, Travis (November 23, 2021). The combined nine-in-ten Americans who believe in God or a higher power (91%) were asked a series of follow-up questions about the relationship between God and human suffering. Still, a small but growing minority of Americans describe themselves as spiritual but not religious, as figure 3.4 shows. In 1998, 9 percent of Americans described themselves as at least moderately spiritual but not more than slightly religious. That number rose to 16 percent in the 2010s.. "Protestants no longer the majority in U.S." CBS News . "Christians continue to dominate Congress even as fewer Americans identify as religious: survey" . The New York Times . How U.S. religious composition has changed in recent decades" . Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life . Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life . Christian majority could fade in coming decades, models find" . Q+A with Sociologist Christian Smith" . Not all 'nones' are nonbelievers. While the "nones" include many nonbelievers, 70% of "nones" say they believe in God or another higher power, and 63% say they believe in spiritual forces beyond the natural world...Roughly two-thirds of "nones" say they think humans have souls or spirits in addition to their physical bodies. This includes 60% of agnostics and 78% of U.S. adults whose religion is "nothing in particular." By comparison, 31% of atheists believe a person has a soul or spirit in addition to a body.