Story highlights
- 82% say they are religious, spiritual, or both
- 18% said they were neither spiritual nor religious, up from 9% in 1999.
- 54% say they are religious, down from 1999
WASHINGTON, DC — Nearly half of Americans (47%) describe themselves as religious, with an additional 33% saying they are religious but not religious, and 2% saying they are “both.” I answered spontaneously. Although the majority of U.S. adults have one of these orientations toward the nonphysical world, 18% say they are neither religious nor spiritual, according to Gallup in his 1999 That’s double the percentage he measured the first time he asked this question. The proportion identifying as religious decreased by 7 percentage points.
###Embeddable###
These results are based on a July 2023 Gallup poll that updated questions previously asked in 1999 and 2002. Overall, 82% of Americans have some kind of spiritual belief system. This percentage is down from 90% in 1999 and 87% in 2002.
The decline in Americans who identify as religious is consistent with trends in other Gallup measures of religiosity and religious practice, particularly over the past two decades. However, Gallup documents a steeper decline in formal religious practices (church attendance and church membership) than in belief in God and prayer.
The biggest differentiators between religiosity and spirituality are partisanship and age.
The biggest differences in religious or spiritual beliefs are found by party status and age.
Among political party groups, Republicans are the most likely to identify as religious, with 61% doing so and 28% saying they are religious. Independents say they are more religious (44%) than spiritual (32%), while Democrats are about equally likely to say they are spiritual (41%) and religious (37%). There is.
Twenty-one percent of both Democrats and independents said they were not religious or spiritual, compared to 8% of Republicans.
###Embeddable###
Among age groups, the oldest Americans (65 and older) are the most likely to identify as religious, at 57%, compared with 38% to 48% for younger age groups. there were. Young people are much more likely than other age groups to say they are not religious or spiritual. Twenty-six percent of young people do not have a belief system, nearly three times as many as the oldest Americans (9%) who do not have a belief system.
###Embeddable###
Democrats are much less likely to say they are religious than they were in the past.
When Gallup first asked about religious/spiritual identification in 1999, Democrats (60%) were about as likely to identify as religious as Republicans (62%). Since then, the share of religious Democrats has fallen by 23 points. During this time, the percentage of Democrats who identify as spiritual but not religious has increased by 14 percentage points, and the percentage who say they are neither has tripled.
At the same time, there was no significant change in the religious or spiritual self-identification of Republicans, and only modest changes among independents. Over the past two decades, independents have slightly decreased in their propensity to identify as spiritual, and slightly increased in their propensity to say they are neither religious nor spiritual.
###Embeddable###
Not all age groups are religious
Americans of all ages are now less likely to say they are religious than they were in 1999, by between 5 and 13 percentage points.
Additionally, an increasing number of respondents across all age groups say they are neither religious nor spiritual. More Americans in older age groups now identify as spiritual than they did in 1999, but there has been little change in spiritual identity among people under 50.
###Embeddable###
conclusion
It’s no secret that Americans are less religious than they used to be. Still, the majority of Americans describe themselves as religious or spiritual. Some people who were previously religious may find secular spirituality to address their non-physical needs, but from any kind of spiritual or religious practice. Some may even turn their backs on you completely. Being non-religious and non-spiritual is most common among young people. However, only about one in four young people describe themselves this way. This suggests that in the future, although fewer adults in the United States, the majority will still have some kind of religious or spiritual connection in their lives.
Stay up to date with the latest insights and updates from Gallup News. Follow me on Twitter.
Learn more about how the Gallup Poll Social Series works.
View complete question answers and trends (PDF download).
###Embeddable###
