---
title: "A closer look at Catholic America"
description: "The face of Catholic America is changing. Today, immigrants make up a considerable share of Catholics, and many are Hispanic. At the same time, there has been a regional shift, from the Northeast (long home to a large percentage of the Catholic faithful) and Midwest to the Western and Southern parts of the U.S."
date: "2015-09-14"
authors:
  - name: "Michael Lipka"
    job_title: "Associate Director, Research"
    link: "https://www.pewresearch.org/staff/michael-lipka/"
url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2015/09/14/a-closer-look-at-catholic-america/"
categories:
  - "Catholicism"
  - "Christianity"
  - "Race & Ethnicity"
  - "Religion & Politics"
  - "Religious Demographics"
  - "Size & Demographic Characteristics of Religious Groups"
  - "U.S. Religious Demographics"
---

# A closer look at Catholic America

The face of Catholic America is changing. Today, immigrants make up a considerable share of Catholics, and many are Hispanic. At the same time, there has been a regional shift, from the Northeast (long home to a large percentage of the Catholic faithful) and Midwest to the Western and Southern parts of the U.S.

Our research also has documented the [decline of Catholics as a share of the U.S. population](https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2015/05/12/americas-changing-religious-landscape/). Still, roughly one-in-five U.S. adults say their primary religious affiliation is with the Catholic Church. Here are a few key demographic characteristics of the American flock that Pope Francis will find when he visits the U.S. for the first time, based on data from []the [2014 Religious Landscape Study](https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2015/05/12/americas-changing-religious-landscape/):

**Catholics are more likely than other Americans to be immigrants or children of immigrants.** Indeed, more than a quarter of U.S. Catholic adults (27%) were born outside the country, compared with 15% of U.S. adults overall; most of these Catholic immigrants (22% of all U.S. Catholics) are from elsewhere in the Americas.

As of 2014, an additional 15% of Catholic Americans have at least one foreign-born parent. That leaves 57% of Catholics who were born in the U.S. to two native-born parents. By comparison, nearly three-quarters (74%) of American adults overall were born in the country to two U.S.-born parents.

[![Catholics More Likely Than Other Americans to Be Hispanic, Immigrants](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2015/09/FT_15.09.11_demographicsCatholicsRaceImm.png)](https://www.pewresearch.org/?attachment_id=273161)

**The share of U.S. Catholics who are Hispanic has grown by 5 percentage points since 2007** (from 29% to 34%), while the percentage of all U.S. adults who are Hispanic has grown by 3 points (from 12% to 15%). And the share of Catholics who are Hispanic is likely to continue to grow; among Catholic millennials, as many are Hispanic (46%) as are white (43%).

Catholics are [about as diverse as Americans overall](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2015/07/27/the-most-and-least-racially-diverse-u-s-religious-groups/), but their specific racial and ethnic composition is somewhat different. Compared with all U.S. adults, Catholics are made up of fewer non-Hispanic whites (59% vs. 66%) and blacks (3% vs. 12%) and more heavily made up of Hispanics (34% vs. 15%).

**Over the last several years, the Catholic population in the U.S. has shifted somewhat from the Northeast and Midwest toward the South and West** regions of the country. Catholics still are more heavily concentrated in the Northeast than are Americans overall (26% vs. 18%). But between 2007 and 2014, the shares of U.S. Catholics living in the Northeast and Midwest have each fallen by 3 percentage points (from 29% to 26% and from 24% to 21%, respectively). And the shares living in the South and West have each *increased* by 3 points (from 24% to 27% and from 23% to 26%, respectively).

[![Catholics Relatively Evenly Distributed Throughout Country](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2015/09/FT_15.09.11_demographicsCatholicsRegional.png)](https://www.pewresearch.org/?attachment_id=273162)

The three cities that Pope Francis is visiting this month – Washington, D.C., New York City and Philadelphia – vary in terms of their Catholic makeup. Fully one-third of people in the New York City metropolitan area identify as Catholic (33%), compared with about a quarter of Philadelphians (26%). Roughly one-in-five Washington- area residents are Catholic (19%). ([See a separate analysis](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2015/07/29/major-u-s-metropolitan-areas-differ-in-their-religious-profiles/) for comparisons with other major U.S. metropolitan areas.)

****

[![](https://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2015/05/PR_15.05.12_RLS_chapter3-09.png)](https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2015/05/12/chapter-3-demographic-profiles-of-religious-groups/#regional-distribution-of-religious-groups)

When it comes to race and ethnicity, Catholics in different areas of the country are very different. And indeed, the growing share of Hispanics – especially in certain regions – is linked to the shift in Catholic geography. Six-in-ten non-Hispanic Catholics live in the Northeast (32%) or Midwest (28%), while roughly three-quarters of Hispanic Catholics live in the South (33%) or West (44%).

Looked at another way, in the Northeast (75%) and Midwest (82%), three-quarters or more of Catholics are white (and non-Hispanic), while fewer than one-in-five are Hispanic. But in the South, just 50% of Catholics are white and 42% are Hispanic. And in the West, a clear majority of Catholics are Hispanic (57%), compared with 31% who are white (as well as 8% who are Asian).

In the two most populous U.S. states, even bigger shares of Catholics are Hispanic – fully two-thirds of [Catholics in California](https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/religious-landscape-study/state/california/religious-tradition/catholic/) (67%) and roughly seven-in-ten [Catholics in Texas](https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/religious-landscape-study/state/texas/religious-tradition/catholic/) (72%) are Hispanic. []

**American Catholics are aging**. The median age of Catholic adults in the U.S. is 49 years old – four years older than it was in 2007. Catholics are significantly older than members of non-Christian faiths (40) and people who are not affiliated with any religion (36).

Just 17% of Catholic adults are under the age of 30, compared with 22% of U.S. adults, 35% of religious “nones” and 44% of U.S. Muslims.

[![Catholic Adults Are Older Than U.S. Adults Overall](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2015/09/FT_15.09.11_demographicsCatholicsAge.png)](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2015/09/14/a-closer-look-at-catholic-america/ft_15-09-11_demographicscatholicsage/)

*For more details on demographic measures including fertility, marital status, education and income, see *[*Chapter 3*](https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2015/05/12/chapter-3-demographic-profiles-of-religious-groups/)* of the 2015 Pew Research Center report “America’s Changing Religious Landscape,” and an *[*interactive tool*](https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/religious-landscape-study/religious-tradition/catholic/)* with data from the report.*