New polling data has found that Americans’ religious affiliations have not greatly changed since 2020, appearing to stabilise following decades of substantial shifts. Source: CNA.
Data collected by the polling firm Gallup surveyed 12,000 adults and found that from 2000 to 2020, the percentage of people with no religious affiliation spiked, while Protestant and Catholic populations declined.
In 2000, 57 per cent of Americans identified as Protestant or nondenominational Christians. Over the following 20 years, this group dropped more than 10 points to 46 per cent. The Catholic population experienced a smaller yet still notable decline over the same time period, decreasing from 25 per cent to 22 per cent.
The largest change over the two decades was the increase in American adults who said they had no religious affiliation. In 2000, only 8 per cent of those surveyed said they did not practice a religion, but in 2020 the number had jumped to 20 per cent.
Yet research from 2020 to 2024 revealed that American adults’ religious affiliations have become more stable, experiencing little to no change in numbers from year to year.
In 2020, 22 per cent of Americans identified as Catholic and in 2024 the population remained similar at 21 per cent. The Protestant population also only slightly declined from 46 per cent to 45 per cent.
The study looked at people who practice “other religions” including those who consider themselves Mormon, Jewish, Muslim, or another religion and found that this group has only increased by 1 percentage point since 2020.
Following the large 12-point increase in nonreligious adults from 2000 to 2020, the group only increased by 2 points from 2020 to 2024. As of 2024, 22 per cent of Americans, or one in five, said they had no religious preference.
Millennials are primarily responsible for the increase in adults with no religion, with 31 per cent reporting they have no affiliation. This amount has almost doubled from 16 per cent in the 2000 to 2004 survey.
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