Americans who identify as ‘Christian’ down 15 points in 14 years to 63%

Nearly three-in-ten American adults — 29% — report having no religious affiliation, comprising a cohort known as “nones,” Pew Research Center reported Tuesday.

At the same time, the percentage of adults who identify as Christians has dropped to 63%, down 15 points from 2007’s 78% figure, the Washington, D.C.-based organization reported.

“The secularizing shifts evident in American society so far in the 21st-century show no signs of slowing,” wrote Gregory A. Smith, Pew’s associate director of research. 

The organization defines the unaffiliated as “people who describe themselves as atheists, agnostics or ‘nothing in particular’ when asked about their religious identity,” Mr. Smith added.

The study, based on data collected in 2020 and 2021 online and by mail, states that Protestant churches — whose members today comprise 40% of the adult population — have seen a 4% decline in affiliation during the last five years and are down 10% from 2011.

Pew reported 60% of Protestants replied “yes” when asked whether they consider themselves “born-again” or “evangelical” Christians, the balance either said “no” or declined to answer. 

White Protestants claim evangelical status at a rate of 48%, with 42% declining to answer or saying “no.” Evangelical Black Protestants, at 66%, are twice as numerous as non-evangelical Blacks at 33%, the study indicated.

America’s Roman Catholic affiliation numbers have held relatively steady, the study indicated. In 2021, 21% of Americans said they were Catholic, the same number that reported Catholic affiliation in 2014. This, Pew said, was a steadying of Catholic identification in the U.S., a number that had declined between 2007, when it was 27%, and 2014.

While many Americans identify with a given religious community, their expression may not be wholly vibrant. Pew said only 45% of U.S. adults pray every day, down from 58% in 2007. The number of those praying weekly or monthly was steady at 22% between 2007 and 2021, but those who said they seldom or never pray rose from 18% in 2007 to 32% today.

The complete Pew study is available online at https://www.pewforum.org/2021/12/14/about-three-in-ten-u-s-adults-are-now-religiously-unaffiliated/.