Rosa Rubicondior: Religion in America - People Continue To Leave Declining Religions

Americans' Religious Engagement Holds at Lower Levels

The latest Gallop survey on religion in America shows those saying religion is important in their lives dropping to at 47% (a decline from 75% in 1952) with a slight uptick for the 'Nones' and attendance at religious services still low.

This is despite increasingly vociferous religious fundamentalism and the apparent rise of far-right White Christian Nationalism, spurred on by the Trump administration's professed support for Christian fundamentalism.

These figures are from a survey conducted between May and December 2025.

The percentage of Americans who say religion is very important in their lives has levelled off below 50% since 2015 and shows no sign of a recovery from the steep downward trend from 60% in 2005. Between 1950 and 1965 this figure was above 70%.

Over the same period, those saying religion is not very important in their lives has continued its upward trend and now stands at 28%, up from about 16% in 2005 and just 5%-7% in the 1950's and 60s.

Those saying religion was fairly important in their lives has remained more or less constant between 20%-30% and now stands at 25%.

Breaking those figures down into the different demographic groupings, only three demographics- Catholics, Jewish Americans and Republicans - show an increase in the important of religion in their lives. Almost all other demographics show a steep decline. What is not clear from these figures it to what extent the shift in recent years from white Protestant political support from Democrat to Republican as the Republican Party has been converted into the political wing of Christian fundamentalism.

Between 2001 and 2005 majorities in almost all demographic groups said religion was very important in their lives, the exceptions being young adults, Jewish adults, high income Americans and West Coast residents.

Between 2021 and 2026, six of these groups have continued to regard religion as important to their lives - Latter-day Saints, Republicans, Protestant or nondenominational Christians, Black adults, adults aged 65 and older, and Southerners. Slim majorities of several other groups — lower-income Americans, women and those aged 50 to 64 — also say religion is very important.

By contrast, Jewish adults (32%) and those aged 18-29 (33%) are the least likely to consider religion to be very important in their lives.

The largest declines on this measure over the two five-year periods have been among Democrats (down 23 percentage points, to 37%) and Black adults (down 22 points, to 63%). The only group that has become more likely to say religion is very important is Jewish adults (up 10 points to 32%).

While the proportion of Americans saying religion is important in their lives has declined, the remarkable increase in the 'Nones' (those saying they have no religion affiliation, which includes but is not exclusive to, Atheists), has resumed it sharp upward trend and now stands at a record for a Gallop survey at 24% having been static as about 21% for the previous 10 years. In 1948, this figure was just 2%! Over the same period, those self-identifying as Protestant or non-denominational Christian has declined from 69% to 44%.

Most worrying for those with a personal stake in keeping people coming to church, is the continued trend in American demographics of the young rejecting religion as expressed by the largest group of 18-29 year-olds having no religious affiliation, at 35%. This is the group which by and large is producing the next generation of Americans. Much of the decline in religious affiliation and in the importance of religion can be attributed to generational change, as members of the younger age group enter the older age groups while retaining their religious affiliation or lack thereof.

Reflecting the decline in religious importance in the lives of Americans, there has been a similar decline in the numbers of those attending religious services. Those attending once a week has declined from 44% in 1992 to 31% in 2025 - a figure that would delight most Christian churches in Europe. In the UK, for example, this figure is around 11%-13% for the Anglican Church. Over the same period, those Americans who seldom or never go to church has risen from 41% in 1992 to 57% in 2025. Those attending monthly has remained static at 10% over the same period.

The reason for this decline can again be found in the different attendance figures in the different age demographics, with the younger age group ahead of the trend and contributing to it as they move into the older cohorts. Both those with a religious affiliation and those without are less likely to attend a place of worship with a substantial majority never (40%) or seldom (21%) attending. These figures decrease as the age group ages but is still a slim majority (51%) even in the 65+ group (never 24%; seldom 27%).

Although America clearly still has a long way to go before the ‘Nones’ achieve the clear majority status they now have in the UK—where they outnumber all other religious demographics combined—these trends are nevertheless encouraging, especially given the mass movement away from religion among younger people. As these shifts feed into the next generations, the trend is likely to accelerate, just as it did in post-WWII Britain (and much of the rest of Europe).

The reason for this is a simple cascade effect. Once a person ceases to attend a place of worship on a regular basis, one of the subtle personal benefits of religious affiliation—group belongingness—is lost. This often leads to disaffiliation (‘None’), which frequently becomes a transition into full atheism. Only rarely is this movement reversed.

Additionally, as more people identify as ‘None’ or atheist, the probability of interacting with them increases, and the old claim that non-religious people lack a moral compass or are somehow dangerously antisocial becomes increasingly implausible. In the UK, for example, atheists are now among the most trusted public figures. Leading television personalities such as David Attenborough, Ricky Gervais, Stephen Fry, Billy Connolly, Jo Brand and Hannah Fry are widely regarded as ‘national treasures’, while the Christian churches remain mired in paedophile and cover-up scandals, and priests rank among the least trusted figures. One UK poll in 2015 even showed that among devout Christians only 20% believed that religious people are more moral than atheists.

Despite the increasingly strident voice of the American religious right—often sounding more like the alarmed rhetoric of a movement in decline than the confidence of one in ascendancy—these long-term social trends are unlikely to reverse. As religious extremists push themselves ever further towards the cultural and political margins, they risk alienating the moderate, thoughtful and compassionate majority of Americans. If the experience of Britain and much of Europe is any guide, the steady erosion of organised religion will continue, not through confrontation or coercion, but simply because each generation finds fewer reasons to believe what the previous one once took for granted.

In the end, the Gallup data may be telling us something more fundamental than a temporary fluctuation in religious sentiment. Over the past few decades, the United States has seen a steady fall in church membership, declining attendance, and a growing number of people with no religious affiliation—rising from a small minority a generation ago to more than one in five adults today.

If the experience of Britain and much of Europe is any guide, this process is unlikely to reverse. Once large numbers of people discover that communities, ethics and meaning in life do not depend on organised religion, and countries do not become lawless wastes, belief begins to fade not through confrontation but through simple social change.

And that is perhaps the most important message hidden within the Gallup numbers: the future of religion is not decided in pulpits or political campaigns, but quietly, generation by generation, as fewer people see any reason to keep believing.

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