Why the U.S. census doesn’t ask Americans about their religion
The Census Bureau has collected data on Americans’ income, race, ethnicity, housing and other things, but it has never directly asked about their religion.

Senior Writer/Editor
Jeff Diamant is a senior writer/editor at Pew Research Center, focusing on religion. He has worked on reports about the faith of Black Americans, Muslim Americans and Europeans. He has a doctorate in history from the CUNY Graduate Center, was a fellow in the Scholars-in-Residence program at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture and received a bachelor’s degree from Yale University in political science and international studies. Prior to joining the Center, he also worked as a journalist for newspapers including the Newark Star-Ledger and the Charlotte Observer.