Though the percentage of religiously “nones” in America has risen, the global share of religiously unaffiliated people is expected to fall in coming decades.
As the percentage of U.S. adults who do not identify with a religious group grows, we asked these people to explain, in their own words, why they left.
Religious “nones” make up 23% of U.S. adults, up from 16% in 2007. And only 27% of those “nones” are absolutely certain about God’s existence, down from 36% in 2007.
The religious face of America is largely a Christian one, with roughly seven-in-ten Americans belonging to that faith. But some of the nation’s biggest metropolitan areas have a very different look.
The 35% of Millennials who do not identify with a religion is double the share of unaffiliated Baby Boomers (17%) and more than three times the share of members of the Silent generation (11%).