7 in 10 Americans Identify With a Religion as Religious Affiliation, Service Attendance Stabilize: Pew
November 3, 2026
New findings from the Pew Research Center show religious affiliation and participation in the United States have remained largely unchanged in recent years, marking a shift from decades of declining religious engagement.
Christianity Daily reports that Pew’s “Comparing Results Across Religious Landscape Studies,” found that 70% of American adults identified with a religion in 2026, nearly matching the 71% recorded in 2020.
The findings suggest that even though religious identification remains below the 83% reported in 2007 and 77% in 2014, the prolonged downward trend has slowed considerably.
According to researchers, “steady percentages” of Americans “identify with a religion, pray daily, consider religion to be very important in their lives and attend religious services at least monthly.”
The survey also showed the proportion of Americans who reported praying daily edged down from 48% in 2020 to 47% in 2026, while those describing religion as “very important” in their lives declined slightly from 45% to 44%.
According to Christianity Daily, Pew identified “mixed signals” among younger Americans regarding a possible revival of religious interest, particularly amid reports of renewed engagement “especially young conservative men.”
Pew reported, “On the one hand, as the very youngest adults (born from 2004 to 2008, now roughly ages 18 to 22) come of age, they are reporting relatively high rates of attendance at religious services.”
Researchers found that Americans in their mid-20s displayed notably lower levels of religious identification and personal religious commitment.
The survey’s findings come amid growing evidence that the expansion of religiously unaffiliated Americans, often referred to as religious “nones,” may have leveled off after years of growth.
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