Why Do Some Americans Leave Their Religion While Others Stay?
Many U.S. adults (35%) have moved on from the religion of their youth. Yet most Americans have not, including a majority – 56% – who still identify with their childhood religion.
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Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
Many U.S. adults (35%) have moved on from the religion of their youth. Yet most Americans have not, including a majority – 56% – who still identify with their childhood religion.
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In this post, we’ll highlight a few of our favorite visuals from 2025 and walk through how we made them and what makes them successful.
Here’s a look back at 2025 through 12 of our most striking research findings.
Most Black Americans are Christian, though the share who identify as such has fallen since 2007.
In general, U.S. adults who are Republican or lean toward the GOP are more religious than Democrats and Democratic leaners.
If the U.S. had 100 people, 62 would be Christians, including 40 Protestants, 19 Catholics, two Latter-day Saints and two who identify with other Christian groups.
As of 2020, Muslims made up a majority of Nigeria’s total population (56.1%), while Christians made up 43.4%.
Find out how adults in your state compare with other Americans on measures of spirituality, such as belief in souls, spiritual presences, an afterlife and more.
Explore our interactive database to find how religious adults are in your state based on service attendance, prayer, belief in God, and importance of religion.
U.S. Catholics are still getting to know Pope Leo XIV. But they like what they’ve seen so far, according to our recent survey.
Few Americans say God chooses presidential election winners because of their policies. Most U.S. Christians say that “good Christians” do not need to take a particular view on Trump.
Many religious “nones,” which include atheists and agnostics, in 22 countries hold religious or spiritual beliefs, such as in an afterlife or something beyond the natural world.
Nearly half of U.S. adults are connected to Catholicism. Read about going to Mass, Communion, confession and more.
After years of decline, the U.S. Christian share now shows signs of leveling off. The new Religious Landscape Study explores trends in identity, beliefs and practices.
The Global Religious Futures (GRF) project is jointly funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts and The John Templeton Foundation. Here are some big-picture findings from the GRF, together with context from other Pew Research Center studies.
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