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Non-Religion & Secularism

reportFeb 26, 2025

The Christian share of the population, after years of decline, has been relatively stable since 2019. And the religiously unaffiliated population, after rising rapidly for decades, has leveled off – at least temporarily.

Explore findings from the 2023-24 Religious Landscape Study about: Religious affiliation and switching | Religion and family life | Beliefs and practices | Social and political views | Religion’s place in society | Demographics of religious groups

Interactive database: Religious Landscape Study

reportJun 17, 2024

A man burns joss sticks in a cemetery during the Ching Ming Festival, or Grave Sweeping Day, in Hong Kong.

reportJan 24, 2024

reportDec 7, 2023

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Non-Religion & Secularism

Publications

short readsJul 20, 2018

Black Millennials are more religious than other Millennials

Black Millennials are more likely than nonblack Millennials, for example, to say they pray at least daily and attend religious services at least weekly.
short readsApr 25, 2018

Key findings about Americans’ belief in God

The overwhelming majority of Americans, including a majority of the religiously unaffiliated, say they believe in God or a higher power. Read six key takeaways from a report on Americans’ belief in God.
short readsJan 2, 2018

Meditation is common across many religious groups in the U.S.

Substantial shares of Americans of nearly all religious groups – as well as those who have no religious affiliation – say they meditate at least once a week.
short readsDec 18, 2017

5 facts about Christmas in America

Read five facts about Christmas in America and how people celebrate the holiday.
short readsOct 16, 2017

A growing share of Americans say it’s not necessary to believe in God to be moral

Most U.S. adults now say it is not necessary to believe in God to be moral and have good values, up from about half who expressed this view in 2011.
short readsSep 6, 2017

More Americans now say they’re spiritual but not religious

About a quarter of U.S. adults now say they think of themselves as spiritual but not religious, up 8 percentage points in five years.
short readsAug 24, 2016

Why America’s ‘nones’ left religion behind

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.
short readsJul 14, 2016

Evangelicals increasingly say it’s becoming harder for them in America

A growing share of self-identified “evangelical or born-again” Protestants (41%) says it has become more difficult to be an evangelical Christian in the U.S. in recent years; just 34% answered the question the same way in September 2014.
short readsApr 7, 2016

Is God Dead? No, but belief has declined slightly

Fifty years ago this month, Time magazine published one of its most famous and controversial covers. Splashed in bold red print across a black background was a short, simple and yet intensely provocative question: “Is God Dead?” Without providing a definitive answer, the authors of the piece, dated April 8, 1966, seemed to imply that, […]
short readsJan 21, 2016

Americans may be getting less religious, but feelings of spirituality are on the rise

The phrase “spiritual but not religious” has become widely used in recent years by some Americans who are trying to describe their religious identity.