The number of Americans identifying as Christian has begun showing signs of “leveling off” after several years of decline, according to a new Pew Research Center survey.
The Religious Landscape Study (RLS), first conducted in 2007, found that 78% of U.S. adults considered themselves Christians. The number moved downward to 71% by 2014. The latest survey conducted between 2023 and 2024 found that 62% of American adults view themselves as being Christian.
Despite the statistic being a 16-point drop from when the survey was first conducted, the number of Christian-identifying adults has been “relatively stable,” Pew Research said.
“But for the last five years, between 2019 and 2024, the Christian share of the adult population has been relatively stable, hovering between 60% and 64%. The 62% figure in the new Religious Landscape Study is smack in the middle of that recent range,” the group said.
More than a quarter of U.S. adults (29%) are religiously unaffiliated.
The research indicated that 37% of liberals identify with Christianity, down from 62% in 2007. More than half of liberals (51%) are religiously unaffiliated, up from 27% in 2007. Survey results further found that 82% of conservatives consider themselves Christian, down from 89% in 2007.
“Time will tell whether the recent stability in measures of religious commitment is the beginning of a lasting shift in America’s religious trajectory,” Pew Research explained. “But it is inevitable that older generations will decline in size as their members gradually die. We also know that the younger cohorts succeeding them are much less religious.”
