Polling and Survey Data
Read the latest reports from research and polling institutions on secular life & related issues.
In U.S., 47% Identify as Religious, 33% as SpiritualDocumenting the continued decline of religion in America. 18% of Americans say they are neither religious nor spiritual, which is twice the proportion Gallup measured when it first asked this question in 1999. |
Faith on the Hill: The Religious Composition of the 118th CongressIn this report, Pew Research identified Congressman Jared Huffman (D-CA) as a humanist. In their report on the 117th Congress, he was alone in a category called "other" - the humanist and atheist community has been considered "other" for far too long and we appreciate Pew recognizing Huffman's preferred identifier. The findings of this report continue to show that Congress is not representative - there is a much higher percentage of Christians in Congress than there are in the U.S. population. |
Belief in God in U.S. Dips to 81%, a New LowAccording to Pew Research, the percentage of Americans who believe in God dropped 6 points since 2017 to a new low of 81% of the population. This decrease was felt across all categories tracked by Pew, but was bigger with 18-29 year old (10 points), Liberals (11 points), and Democrats (12 points). |
Behind Biden's 2020 VictoryAccording to Pew Research, Joe Biden received 71% of the vote from religiously unaffiliated voters – atheists, agnostics, and those who say their religion is “nothing in particular.” The religiously unaffilated made up 25% of voters in 2020 – up from 17% in the 2018 election (white evangelicals were only 19% of the vote in 2020 – down from 22% in 2018). Pew determined, "Without the religiously unaffiliated, Trump would have had a 9-point popular vote margin over Biden." |
Religious Democrats lean toward Biden, while the religiously unaffiliated support SandersAccording to Pew Research, the vast majority of the religiously unaffiliated (75%) disapprove of the way Trump is handling his job as President, while 77% of while evangelicals approve. Also, religiously unaffiliated Democrats lean more toward Bernie Sanders, with atheists and agnostics especially more likely to name Sanders or Elizabeth Warren as their preferred choice, while religious Democrats are more likely to favor Joe Biden |
Majority of Americans say belief in God is not necessary in order to be moralAccording to Pew Research, about six-in-ten Americans (63%) say it is not necessary to believe in God in order to be moral, while 36% say it is necessary to believe in God in order to be moral and have good values. |
In U.S., Decline of Christianity Continues at Rapid PaceThe religious affiliation of Americans is rapidly changing. Pew Research Center surveys conducted in 2018 and 2019 found that 65% of American adults describe themselves as Christians, down 12 percentage points over the past decade. Alternatively, the religiously unaffiliated share of the population, consisting of people who describe their religious identity as atheist, agnostic or “nothing in particular,” now stands at 26%, up from 17% in 2009. |
Would You Vote For a Presidential Candidate Who Is an Atheist?Gallup has been polling on this question since 1958 (when only 18% of the population would do so). The 2019 poll results determined that 60% of Americans would vote for an atheist presidential candidate -- up two points from when they last asked the question in 2015. |
Atheism Is No Longer a Political TabooExplores the growing acceptance of atheist and other nontheist candidates and finds that policy priorities outweigh religious identity in voter preferences. Read the entire report from the Center for Freethought Equality and American Humanist Association. |
The Role of Religion in PoliticsWith the exception white born-again Christians and non-white Protestants, few Americans put a lot of emphasis on religion when deciding how to vote. Read the entire report from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. |
A Slim Majority of Americans Believe in a Biblical GodJust 56% of Americans believe in a God as described in the Bible according to the Pew Research Center, with 33% believing in some other higher power and/or spiritual force and 10% who don't believe in a higher power/spirtual force. Two previous Pew surveys found that belief in God is declining: a 2007 Pew survey found belief in God at 92%, 2014 at 89%, and this poll at 80% (note: this poll was methodologically different from the prior polls). |
1/3 of Democrats are Religiously UnaffiliatedReligiously unaffiliated voters represent about a quarter (24%) of all registered voters, up from 8% just 20 years ago. These voters now account for a third of Democratic voters - compared to just 9% in 1997. The religiously unaffiliated make up a larger proportion of Democrats than do white Protestants (33% vs. 18%). |
Values of Atheists are the Most DisparagedOver half of Evangelicals believe that atheists have inferior values. Around 3 in 10 Mainliners, Black Protestants, and Catholics say that atheists hold inferior values. Note that for all groups, except Americans with “other” or “no” religion, the values of atheists are the most disparaged. |
White Christians are no longer a Majority in USOnly 43% of Americans identify as white and Christian, and only 30% as white and Protestant. In 1976, roughly eight in ten (81%) Americans identified as white and identified with a Christian denomination, and a majority (55%) were white Protestants. |
Americans Warming to AtheistsAmericans' cool feelings toward atheists are growing warmer, especially for those under 50 years of age. |
Religious Composition of the 115th CongressDespite their declining numbers among all Americans, 91% of the members of the 115th Congress are Christian. |
The End of White Christian AmericaAmerican is no longer a majority white Christian nation; however, they were still the majority of voters who turned out in the 2016 election. |
Why America's "Nones" Left Religion BehindThe vast majority of "Nones" -- 78% -- were raised in a particular religion and decided to leave it as an adult. |
CFE Infographic: Political Climate for Secular Candidates in the USDownload & print the Center for Freethought Equality's infographic on the political climate for secular candidates. |
Pew Research Center's Religion and Public Life Project: Growth of the NonreligiousAbout half of Americans say the growing number of “people who are not religious” is bad for American society. But a similar share say either that this trend is good or that it does not make much difference, according to a new survey by the Pew Research Center. |
Gallup: Atheists, Muslims See Most Bias as Presidential CandidatesWhile more than nine in 10 Americans would vote for a presidential candidate who is black, a woman, Catholic, Hispanic, or Jewish, significantly smaller percentages would vote for one who is an atheist (54%) or Muslim (58%). |
American Religious Identification SurveysARIS's first report of 2013 shows that young adult Americans have been identified as the population most responsible for recent changes in the nation’s religious identification and patterns of religiosity. Read this and other reports from The American Religious Identification Surveys. |
