Religiously Unaffiliated

Religious "nones" make up 23% of U.S. adults, up from 16% in 2007. And only 27% of those “nones” are absolutely certain about God’s existence, down from 36% in 2007.

Our new report finds that whether U.S. adults are becoming more or less religious depends, in part, on how religious observance is measured.

There has been a modest drop in overall rates of belief in God and participation in religious practices. But religiously affiliated Americans are as observant as before.

There has been a modest drop in overall rates of belief in God and participation in religious practices. But religiously affiliated Americans are as observant as before.

It’s a fascinating time for conversations about faith in the United States, with Pope Francis set to visit, a presidential election on the horizon and major trends reshaping the country’s religious landscape.

The religious face of America is largely a Christian one, with roughly seven-in-ten Americans belonging to that faith. But some of the nation’s biggest metropolitan areas have a very different look.

While either Christians or Muslims make up the largest religious group in nine-in-ten nations around the globe, the religiously unaffiliated rank second in size in most of the Americas and Europe, as well as in many countries in sub-Saharan Africa.

Fact Tank sat down with David Campbell, a professor of political science at the University of Notre Dame, to explore what the new findings mean.

One-in-five immigrants identified themselves as unaffiliated in 2014, an increase of 4 percentage points from the 16% who said so in 2007.

The growth of the religiously unaffiliated in the U.S. is occurring across genders, generations and racial and ethnic groups.