Religious Characteristics of Demographic Groups

Today, most Black adults say they rely on prayer to help make major decisions, and view opposing racism as essential to their religious faith.

Globally, women are younger than their male partners. They also are more likely to age alone and to live in single-parent households.

About half of black Muslims are converts to Islam, a relatively high conversion level. Black Muslims, like black Americans overall, have high levels of religious commitment.

Research has shown that men in the United States are generally less religious than women. And while this pattern holds true among black Americans, black men are still a highly religious group.

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

Young adults tend to be less religious than their elders by several measures; the opposite is rarely true. This pattern holds true across many countries that have different religious, economic and social profiles.

While white Democrats are less likely to be religious than Republicans, nonwhite Democrats more closely resemble Republicans overall on certain religious measures.

Black adults in the U.S. are more likely than most other Americans to read scripture regularly and to view it as the word of God.

Nearly eight-in-ten black Americans identify as Christian, compared with 70% of whites, 77% of Latinos and just 34% of Asian Americans.

Religion, particularly Christianity, has played an outsize role in African American history. For Black History Month, here are five facts about the religious lives of African Americans.