The Christian population in America, which has been on a steady decline since 2007, appears to have hit a plateau, according to a recent study.
The Pew Research Center, in its 2023-24 Religious Landscape Study, found that the percentage of Americans identifying as Christians has stabilized at slightly above 60%.
The study, titled "Decline of Christianity in the U.S. Has Slowed, May Have Leveled Off," surveyed 36,908 adults across the United States. This is the third such study conducted over the past 17 years, each involving over 35,000 respondents.
According to Fox News, the first Religious Landscape Study (RLS) in 2007 found that 78% of U.S. adults identified as Christians. This figure dropped to 71% in the 2014 study and now stands at 62%, marking a 16-point decline since 2007.
However, the study noted a relative stability in the Christian population over the past five years. "For the last five years, between 2019 and 2024, the Christian share of the adult population has been relatively stable, hovering between 60% and 64%," the Pew report stated. "The 62% figure in the new Religious Landscape Study is smack in the middle of that recent range."
The report also highlighted other statistics that underscore this trend of stability. For instance, "33% say they go to religious services at least once a month," and "the share of Americans who say they pray daily has consistently held between 44% and 46% since 2021."
The Pew report suggested several theories to explain the overall decline in Christianity since 2007. "One driver of the long-term trend is generational replacement. Older, highly religious, heavily Christian generations are passing away. The younger generations succeeding them are much less religious, with smaller percentages of Christians and more nones," the report explained.
However, the report also pointed out that while younger generations are less religious overall, there is a degree of stability. "Americans born in 2000 through 2006 (those ages 18 to 24 in the 2023-24 RLS) are just as likely as those born in the 1990s (now ages 24 to 34) to identify as Christians, to say religion is very important in their lives, and to report that they attend religious services at least monthly."
Political affiliation also plays a role in religious identification. The report found that "Today, 37% of self-described liberals identify with Christianity, down from 62% in 2007, a 25-point decline. Meanwhile, 51% of liberals now say they have no religion, up from 27% in 2007, a 24-point increase. There are now more religious nones than Christians among liberals, a reversal since 2007."
On the conservative side, the report noted a similar trend, albeit less pronounced. "There also are fewer Christians and more nones among conservatives," the report stated. "But the changes in the religious composition of conservatives have been much less pronounced than among liberals, and a large majority of conservatives continue to identify with Christianity."
The report concluded that the "decline of Christianity and rise of religious nones has been much more pronounced among Democrats than Republicans." This observation underscores the complex interplay between religious beliefs and political affiliations in shaping the American religious landscape.
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