Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
47% of U.S. Adults Have a Personal or Family Connection to Catholicism
Nearly half of U.S. adults are connected to Catholicism. Read about going to Mass, Communion, confession and more.
- Explore aspects of U.S. Catholicism: Identity | Practices and devotions | Parish life, culture and community | Profile of Hispanic Catholics | Profile of converts to Catholicism | Sexual abuse, misconduct in the church | Connections to the faith
- Related: Most U.S. Catholics Say They Want the Church To Be ‘More Inclusive’
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Latest Publications
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47% of U.S. Adults Have a Personal or Family Connection to Catholicism
Nearly half of U.S. adults are connected to Catholicism. Read about going to Mass, Communion, confession and more.
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Americans’ views on abortion differ by state
In 34 states and D.C., more people say abortion generally should be legal than say it generally should be illegal.
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Public Opinion on Abortion
Abortion has long been a contentious issue in the United States, and it is one that sharply divides Americans along partisan, ideological and religious lines.
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From weight-loss drugs to raw milk, Americans hear more often about some health topics than others
About half of U.S. adults (53%) say they hear or read about Ozempic, Wegovy and similar drugs being used for weight loss extremely or very often.
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Rising Number of U.S. Households Are Headed by Married Same-Sex Couples
The number of households headed by same-sex couples in the U.S. has risen steadily, but they represent a small share of all married couples.
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Weekly updates on the world of news & information
Politics & Policy
U.S. Image Declines in Many Nations Amid Low Confidence in Trump
More than half of adults in 19 of 24 countries surveyed lack confidence in Trump’s leadership on the world stage.
Features
Economy & Work
5 facts about food costs in America
About six-in-ten U.S. adults say food costs are extremely or very important to them when deciding what to buy.
Growing share of U.S. adults say their personal finances will be worse a year from now
About half of Americans (48%) say they have emergency or rainy day funds that would cover their expenses for three months.
How Americans view trade between the U.S. and China, Canada and Mexico
Americans are most skeptical about U.S. trade with China: 10% say it benefits the U.S. more than China, while 46% take the opposite view.
Blue-collar workers are less satisfied at work, less attached to their jobs than other U.S. workers
Among blue-collar workers, 43% say they feel extremely or very satisfied with their jobs; by comparison, 53% of other workers express this level of satisfaction.
Religion
How the Global Religious Landscape Changed From 2010 to 2020
Christians remain the largest religious group, and Muslims grew the fastest from 2010 to 2020. Read how the global share of Buddhists, Hindus, Jews and the religiously unaffiliated changed.
30% of Americans Consult Astrology, Tarot Cards or Fortune Tellers
Most who use astrology (or a horoscope), tarot cards or a fortune teller say they do so just for fun rather than for insights about life.
Islam was the world’s fastest-growing religion from 2010 to 2020
From 2010 to 2020, the number of Muslims increased by 347 million people to 2.0 billion people.
Most U.S. Catholics Say They Want the Church To Be ‘More Inclusive’
Majorities want the church to allow use of birth control and IVF, and to permit priests to bless same-sex couples. But views differ by Mass attendance.
Internet & Technology
Republicans and Democrats on X differ over the site’s politics and their experiences
Most X users say their recent experiences using the platform have been mostly positive or neutral.
Bluesky has caught on with many news influencers, but X remains popular
The share of news influencers in our sample with a Bluesky account roughly doubled in the four months after Election Day 2024, from 21% beforehand to 43% by March.
What Web Browsing Data Tells Us About How AI Appears Online
One month of web browsing data shows most respondents visited a search page with an AI-generated summary, but visits to in-depth content about AI were much rarer.
What Is News?
As people are exposed to more information from more sources than ever before, how they define and feel about “news” has become less clear-cut.
Teens, Social Media and Mental Health
Parents are more worried than teens about teen mental health. Both groups – especially parents – partly blame social media. But teens also see benefits.
Our Methods
U.S. Surveys
Pew Research Center has deep roots in U.S. public opinion research. Launched as a project focused primarily on U.S. policy and politics in the early 1990s, the Center has grown over time to study a wide range of topics vital to explaining America to itself and to the world.
International Surveys
Pew Research Center regularly conducts public opinion surveys in countries outside the United States as part of its ongoing exploration of attitudes, values and behaviors around the globe.
Data Science
Pew Research Center’s Data Labs uses computational methods to complement and expand on the Center’s existing research agenda.
Demographic Research
Pew Research Center tracks social, demographic and economic trends, both domestically and internationally.
Our Experts
“A record 23 million Asian Americans trace their roots to more than 20 countries … and the U.S. Asian population is projected to reach 46 million by 2060.”
Neil G. Ruiz,
Head of New Research Initiatives
Methods 101 Videos
Methods 101: Random Sampling
The first video in Pew Research Center’s Methods 101 series helps explain random sampling – a concept that lies at the heart of all probability-based survey research – and why it’s important.
Signature Reports
Decline of Christianity in the U.S. Has Slowed, May Have Leveled Off
America’s News Influencers
Race and LGBTQ Issues in K-12 Schools
Representative Democracy Remains a Popular Ideal, but People Around the World Are Critical of How It’s Working
Americans’ Dismal Views of the Nation’s Politics
Measuring Religion in China
Editor’s Pick
Are children better off when one parent has a job or when both do? U.S. teens differ in their views
Teens, Social Media and Mental Health
What the data says about crime in the U.S.
How Americans view Israel and the Israel-Hamas war at the start of Trump’s second term
What the data says about gun deaths in the U.S.
How Americans view Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg
International Affairs
