A startling new study is showing that religious belief in the US continues to plummet. The new Gallup poll revealed that only 47% of Americans described their faith as “very important.” At one time, that number had been between 70% to 75% in the 1950s and 1960s. By 2012, that number had dropped to 58% and has been steadily declining ever since. The drops are less pronounced amongst Catholics, Jewish Americans, and Republicans. According to the report, there are six groups that continued to be highly religious, with between 55% and 67% saying religion is very important to them. Those groups are Latter-day Saints (Mormons), Republicans, Protestant or nondenominational Christians, black adults, adults aged 65 and older, and Southerners.

Despite 63% of black adults stating religion was important to them, it was a group that also experienced a large 22-point decline in the last five years. Democrats had also seen a significant drop, going down from 60% to 37%. Jewish adults were the only group to have gone up on the last for years, rising to 32%. Those who identified as religious “nones” had also seen an increase, reaching a high of 24% in 2025. That number had once been as low as two percent in 1948.

Religious importance was least important amongst younger people. Thirty-five percent of those under 30 identified as not having a religion. Only 14% of adults over age 65 identified as none. The increase in nones and decrease in religious importance have also attributed to lower church attendance. Fifty-seven percent of Americans stated they seldom or never attend church services while only 31% reported attending weekly or nearly weekly. Only 25% of young adults attend services weekly or almost weekly.

While organized religion continues to decline, researchers have suggested that more Americans are turning to more personalized faith expressions and beliefs, particularly in practicing “syncretism.” Syncretism combines religious beliefs from various belief systems and is growing increasingly popular amongst younger people who continue to seek a more pluralistic view of the world. Researchers concluded the study with a grim picture of America’s continued religious decline. “Americans’ relationship with religion continues to evolve, marked by fewer adults describing religion as central to their lives, rising religious nonaffiliation and persistently low levels of religious service attendance,” wrote researchers. “While religion remains deeply important to major segments of the population (Republicans, Protestants, Black adults, older Americans and Southerners in particular), the long-term trajectory shows a steady decline driven largely by generational replacement.”