---
title: "U.S. as a Christian Nation"
description: "That's the percentage of Americans who now consider the U.S. as a Christian nation, down slightly from a year earlier but significantly more than the 60% who characterized the country this way a decade ago. "
date: "2007-07-21"
authors:
  - name: "Pew Research Center"
url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2007/07/21/u-s-as-a-christian-nation/"
---

# U.S. as a Christian Nation

Two in three Americans(67%) say they consider the United States to be a Christian nation — down just slightly from 71% in March 2006 but up significantly from the percentage who said so a decade ago.In 1996, 60% of Americans tied the nation’s identity to Christianity; by 2002, the figure had climbed to 67%, and since then views on this question have remained fairly consistent. Seculars are the only religious classification among whom fewer than a majority see the U.S. as a Christian country, although even among seculars nearly half (48%) view the U.S. this way. More whites than blacks characterize the United States as a Christian country (by 70% to 58%), and people over age 50 are more likely to express this view than are younger people (by 74% to 63%).[Read More](https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/docs/index.php?DocID=153)