5 Facts about Religion in America You Need to Know

Important Facts

The religious landscape in America is constantly changing. One of the greatest shifts over the past decade is the growing number of people who are religiously unaffiliated, also referred to as the religious “nones.” But this is not the only shift. The Pew Research Center recently sampled more than 35,000 Americans to look at the current religious composition of U.S. adults. Their sample size explored relatively small religious groups, including specific Christian denominations as well as state-and metropolitan area-level data. Their findings tell a story of major changes in today’s religious landscape. Here are five important facts about religion in America you need to know.

Protestants No Longer Make Up the Majority of U.S. Adults

The U.S. has been known as a Protestant nation, with its combined denominations accounting for about half the country’s population. But according to the 2014 Pew Research Center Religious Landscape Study, Protestants no longer make up a majority of U.S. adults, finding that 46.5% of Americans are now Protestants. This is closely tied with the rise of the religious “nones,” those who are religiously unaffiliated which points to the decline of Christians, including Protestants. This figure has fallen since the 2007 Pew Center Religious Landscape Study, where more than half of the U.S. adults (51.3%) identified as Protestants.