Religious Landscape Study

Name: 2023-24 U.S. Religious Landscape Study
Published: 2025
License: https://www.pewresearch.org/about/terms-and-conditions/
Keywords: Religion, Religion trends, Spirituality, Religion and politics, Religion and demographics

Christian, Unaffiliated, or Don’t Know/Refused

Among christian, Unaffiliated, or Don’t Know/Refused …

Regional composition

<1% of U.S. adults identify as christian, Unaffiliated, or Don't Know/Refused.

21% of this group lives in the Midwest, 17% live in the Northeast, 39% live in the South and 23% live in the West.

18% are between the ages of 18 and 29, 32% are ages 30 to 49, 25% are ages 50 to 65 and 23% are 65 and older.

Note: Margin of error for figures based on christian, Unaffiliated, or Don’t Know/Refused is ±0.8 percentage points.

Demographics

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6 out of 9 Demographics

Beliefs & practices

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Importance of religion in one’s life among christian, Unaffiliated, or Don’t Know/Refused*

% of christian, Unaffiliated, or Don’t Know/Refused who say religion is …

Importance of religion in one’s life among christian, Unaffiliated, or Don’t Know/Refused (2023-24)

% of christian, Unaffiliated, or Don’t Know/Refused who say religion is …

Survey year	Very important	Somewhat important	Not too/ Not at all important	No answer	Unweighted sample size	Margin of error
2023-24*	39%	26%	35%	1%	34,330	±0.8 pct. pts.
Trend for comparison, with caution; read note
2014	54%	24%	21%	1%	32,827	±0.7 pct. pts.
2007	57%	26%	16%	1%	33,599	±0.6 pct. pts.

Expand to find question wording

How important is religion in your life? Very important; somewhat important; not too important; not at all important.

[This is the question asked in the web version of the 2023-24 RLS. For more details, including how the question was asked in the paper/telephone versions and in the prior studies (if available), refer to the topline and the web/phone or paper questionnaires.]

* The 2023-24 RLS was conducted mainly online and on paper, while the earlier surveys were done by telephone. This “mode shift” complicates trend analysis, but the 2023-24 results shown here can be cautiously compared with the earlier results. Refer to Appendix A for details.

Note: Figures may not sum to 100% due to rounding. For sample sizes and margins of error, go to the “Table” tab above.

Note: Figures may not sum to 100% due to rounding.

Note: Figures may not sum to 100% due to rounding. Data from 2023-24. U.S. population shown for comparison. Refer to the accompanying link for sample sizes and margins of error.

Source: Religious Landscape Study of U.S. adults conducted July 17, 2023-March 4, 2024.