Christian living in the United States includes identity, prayer, scripture reading, worship, family practice, and personal belief. Pew Research Center and Gallup figures show both continuity and change: 62% of U.S. adults identified as Christian in the 2023-24 Religious Landscape Study, while regular religious-service attendance has declined over the longer term.
Contents
- Christian identity and demographics
- Prayer and everyday devotion
- Scripture, the Bible, and spiritual practice
- Belief and the importance of religion
- Church participation and faith formation
- Family, marriage, and passing on faith
- Where Christian life is concentrated
Christian identity and demographics
The share of U.S. adults identifying as Christian was 78% in 2007, 71% in 2014, and 62% in 2023-24, according to Pew Research Center’s Religious Landscape Studies. In the latest study, Protestants represented 40% of U.S. adults, Catholics 19%, other Christian groups about 3%, Latter-day Saints 2%, and Orthodox Christians 1% of the U.S. population.
Women’s Christian identification was 66% in 2023-24, compared with 82% in 2007. Historically Black Protestant respondents made up 7% of respondents in 2007 and 5% in 2023-24. These figures describe survey identity, not the intensity or regularity of an individual’s practice.
Pew Research Center’s demographic figures also show that 61% of U.S. Christians are non-Hispanic White and 18% are Hispanic. Forty-two percent live in the South, including 52% of evangelical Christians and 64% of historically Black Protestant adults. Christians have a median age of 54 in 2024, up from 46 in 2007. In major Christian traditions, 64% of mainline Protestants, 57% of Catholics, and 54% of evangelical Protestants are age 50 or older.
| Measure | Share or figure | Source period |
|---|---|---|
| U.S. adults identifying as Christian | 62% | 2023-24 RLS |
| Protestants among U.S. adults | 40% | 2023-24 RLS |
| Catholics among U.S. adults | 19% | 2023-24 RLS |
| Christians living in the South | 42% | Pew demographics |
| Median age of Christians | 54 | 2024 |
Among Christians, 32% have a bachelor’s degree or more education, 44% work full time for pay, 27% are retired, and 93% are U.S. citizens. About three-quarters are registered to vote. Historically Black Protestant adults are 64% women and 35% men; 14% of members of historically Black Protestant churches are in households with income of $100,000 or more.
Prayer and everyday devotion
Pew Research Center reports that 44% of U.S. adults pray at least once a day, while 23% pray weekly or a few times a month. Daily prayer varies by group: 73% of Latter-day Saints, 72% of evangelical Protestants, and 72% of historically Black Protestant adults pray daily. The corresponding figures are 64% for Black Americans, 47% for Hispanic Americans, 40% for White Americans, and 34% for Asian Americans.
Gender and age also correspond with different reported prayer patterns. Fifty percent of women pray daily, compared with 37% of men. Daily prayer is reported by 27% of adults ages 18 to 24 and 58% of adults ages 74 and older.
Prayer can also be part of meals and shared groups. Thirty-three percent of Americans always or often say grace or pray before meals, 18% sometimes do so, and 48% seldom or never do so. The “always or often” figure is 68% among Latter-day Saints, 67% among historically Black Protestant adults, and 58% among evangelical Protestants.
Thirteen percent of Americans participate weekly in prayer groups, Bible-study groups, or religious education programs. That was 24% in 2014. Weekly participation is 45% among Latter-day Saints, 30% among evangelical Protestants, and 28% among historically Black Protestant adults. Nine percent of U.S. adults share religious views with people from other faith backgrounds at least weekly.
Scripture, the Bible, and spiritual practice
Scripture reading outside religious services is a regular practice for some adults but not the majority. Twenty-two percent of U.S. adults read scripture outside services at least weekly, 7% do so once or twice a month, and 9% several times a year. Sixty-one percent seldom or never read scripture outside services. Weekly scripture reading is reported by 59% of Latter-day Saints, 51% of evangelical Protestants, and 46% of historically Black Protestant adults.
When other holy texts or inspirational literature are included, 20% of U.S. adults read them at least weekly, 8% monthly, and 11% yearly; 60% seldom or never do so. Weekly reading of these materials is 48% among Latter-day Saints, 41% among historically Black Protestant adults, and 39% among evangelical Protestants. Overall, 35% of U.S. adults read either scripture or other holy texts at least monthly.
The Bible’s reported importance follows a similar range. Forty-four percent of U.S. adults say the Bible is extremely or very important in their lives, 19% say it is somewhat important, and 37% say it is not too important or not at all important.
Pew Research Center also measures spiritual activities beyond reading and formal worship. Sixty-three percent of Americans do at least one spiritual activity weekly for spiritual reasons. The activities include listening to music, reported by 48%; looking inward or centering oneself, 40%; exercising, 30%; meditating, 23%; visiting a nature spot, 15%; and practicing yoga, 7%. Three percent go on a spiritual retreat more than once a year, while 11% do so about once a year or every few years.
Belief and the importance of religion
Eighty-three percent of U.S. adults believe in God or a universal spirit, and 54% believe in God with absolute certainty. Among Christians, 97% believe in God. For Christians, absolute certainty that God exists was 80% in 2007, 76% in 2014, and 73% in 2023-24.
Other spiritual beliefs are also widely reported. Seventy-nine percent of U.S. adults believe there is something spiritual beyond the natural world, and 86% believe humans have a soul or spirit in addition to their physical bodies. Eighty-five percent of Christians believe in heaven. Among evangelical Protestants, 82% believe in hell; the figure is 81% among historically Black Protestant adults.
Views of human origins are not uniform. Sixty-one percent of Christians say human evolution was guided or allowed by God. Across U.S. adults, 33% say humans evolved and God had no role in the process, while 17% say humans have existed in their present form since the beginning of time.
Religion’s personal importance has changed over time. Forty-four percent of U.S. adults said religion was very important in their lives in 2023-24, compared with 56% in 2007 and 53% in 2014. About seven-in-ten Latter-day Saints, historically Black Protestant adults, and evangelical Protestants say religion is very important personally. The figure is 60% among U.S. Muslims and 27% among Jewish Americans; 98% of atheists say religion is not too important or not at all important.
Thinking about God and religion “a great deal” or “quite a bit” in recent years is reported by 90% of evangelical Protestants, 90% of historically Black Protestant adults, 86% of Latter-day Saints, 70% of Catholics, and 68% of mainline Protestants. The comparable figure for Muslims is 74%.
Church participation and faith formation
Gallup reports that about three in 10 U.S. adults attend religious services on any given weekend. Regular attendance fell from 42% two decades ago to 30% currently. Catholic regular attendance fell from 45% to 33% over the same period. Current regular attendance is 38% among Muslims and 22% among Jewish Americans.
Gallup also reports a larger share of Americans with no religious affiliation: 9% in 2000-2003 compared with 21% in 2021-2023. Adults ages 18 to 29 have the highest no-religion share, at 35%, and regular religious-service attendance among this age group is 22%.
Childhood experience is associated with later religious practice. Among people raised as Christians, 78% attended church at least monthly as children and 63% attended at least weekly. Forty-one percent received a lot of religious education as children. Across all U.S. adults, 35% received a lot of formal religious education, 18% a fair amount, 16% a little, and 30% none.
Forty percent of people who attended religious services at least monthly while growing up still attend at least monthly as adults, compared with 17% of people who did not attend regularly while growing up. Among people raised Protestant in highly religious homes, 80% still identify as Protestant; the figure is 57% among those from less religious homes.
Among young adults ages 18 to 24 raised in highly religious homes, 28% are highly religious today. Conversely, 76% of young adults raised in low-religion homes remain nonreligious.
Family, marriage, and passing on faith
Seventy-four percent of married U.S. adults say they and their spouse have the same religion, while 26% say their spouse has a different religion. Same-religion patterns vary by tradition: 87% of married Latter-day Saints have a spouse of the same religion, 81% of married Protestants have a Protestant spouse, and 75% of married Catholics have a Catholic spouse.
Fifty-one percent of married U.S. adults say their religious beliefs are very similar to their spouse’s beliefs, and 36% talk about religion with their spouse at least once a week. These measures address household religious alignment and conversation, not a single definition of family spiritual life.
Pew Research Center reports that 28% of U.S. adults are parents or guardians of at least one child under 18 currently living with them. Among Christian parents, 58% pray or read scripture with their children, 48% send their children to a religious education program, and 22% homeschool or send children to a private religious school. Seventy percent do at least one of those activities with their children. The figure is 82% among evangelical Protestant parents and 84% among Latter-day Saint parents.
The average lifetime number of children among Christian adults ages 40 to 59 is 2.2. This is an average for that age group and should not be read as a forecast of future family size.
Where Christian life is concentrated
Regional and community context matters when interpreting national Christian living statistics. Forty-two percent of U.S. Christians live in the South, including 64% of historically Black Protestant adults and 52% of evangelical Christians. Sixty-one percent of Christians are non-Hispanic White and 18% are Hispanic.
The figures also show how Christian practice intersects with wider American religious life. Daily prayer is reported by 67% of Muslim Americans, alongside 64% of Black Americans, 47% of Hispanic Americans, 40% of White Americans, and 34% of Asian Americans. Weekly participation in prayer or scripture-study groups is 25% among Muslims. These comparisons describe reported practices in the measured populations; they do not make Christian identity and religious practice interchangeable.
Taken together, the data show a wide Christian living spectrum: Christian identity remains common, but its population share is lower than in earlier Religious Landscape Studies; prayer and belief remain substantial; scripture reading and group participation are less common nationally than daily prayer; and family background is linked with later religious identity and attendance. The measurement periods differ, so each percentage should be read with its stated year or survey period.