Most Americans support teacher-led school prayer to Jesus but views differ by state: Pew

June 30, 2025

New data from the Pew Research Center shows that most Americans support allowing teachers to lead students in prayer to Jesus in schools, although views on the matter differ widely from state to state.

The Christian Post reports that the data is based on responses to Pew’s 2023-24 Religious Landscape Study which surveyed 36,908 United States adults between July 17, 2023, to March 4, 2024.

Researchers found that 52% of Americans support allowing teachers to lead their classes in prayer that refers to Jesus, with 27% indicating that they are strongly in favor of the idea.

By contrast, 46% of those surveyed said they opposed the idea with 22% registering strong opposition to teacher-led prayer in the classroom.

In the analysis, Pew Research Associate Chip Rotolo wrote, “In 22 states, more adults say they favor allowing teachers to lead their classes in prayers that refer to Jesus than say they oppose it. In 12 states and the District of Columbia, more adults say they oppose allowing teachers to lead their classes in prayers that refer to Jesus than say they favor it.”

The report continued, “The 16 remaining states are divided, with no statistically significant differences in the shares who favor or oppose allowing teachers to lead their students in prayers that mention Jesus.”

States that showed the strongest support for explicitly Christian school prayer included Mississippi (81%), followed by Alabama (75%), Arkansas (75%), Louisiana (74%), South Carolina (71%), Kentucky (67%), Oklahoma (67%), West Virginia (67%), Tennessee (66%), South Dakota (65%), Georgia (63%), North Carolina (61%), North Dakota (61%) and Texas (61%).

According to Pew Research, opposition to explicitly Christian school prayer was strongest in Washington, D.C. (69%), followed by Oregon (65%), Vermont (64%), Washington (61%), Connecticut (60%), New Hampshire (60%), Minnesota (59%), Massachusetts (58%), Colorado (58%), California (56%), Maine (55%), Utah (54%), Illinois (54%), New Jersey (53%) and New York (53%).

Rotolo added, “It’s important to note that teacher-led Christian prayers are just one way that religion can play a role in public schools. The 2023-24 Religious Landscape Study also asked a separate question about ‘allowing teachers to lead their classes in prayers that refer to God but not to any specific religion.'”

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