What Percentage Of Americans Are Christian (37 Important American Christian Statistics)

What percentage of Americans are Christian?

In this article, you’ll learn about:

American Christian statistics
how many people are Christians in America
race and ethnicity breakdowns
age range breakdowns
whether Christianity is declining or growing

Let’s dig in.

The Hive Law Has Been Featured In

American Christian Statistics

63% of Americans are Christian.
the percentage of Americans who are Christian declines by ~0.74% per year
71% of adults in the United States believe in God with absolute certainty.
45% of American adults attend religious services at least once a month.
34% of U.S. adults attend religious services at least once a week.
59% of adults in the United States pray daily.
28% of U.S. adults identify as religious “nones” (i.e., agnostic or atheist).
80% of American adults were raised in a religious tradition.
20% of American adults were raised without a religious affiliation.
68% of American adults believe in heaven.
58% of American adults believe in hell.
49% of the U.S. believes the decline in religious affiliation is a bad thing for society.

What Percentage Of Americans Are Christian?

Let’s talk about how many Christians are in America.

~63% of Americans are Christian (Pew Research).

Meaning there are 207.9 million people who are Christians in America.

330,000,000 x 63% = 207,900,000 people who identify as Christians.

(The world population is ~330M.)

They used phone interviews with a nationally representative sample of adults.

How Many People Practice Christianity?

Figuring out how many people in America “practice Christianity” is challenging.

This is because “practicing” can mean different things to different people.

Surveys that measure religious activities (i.e., church attendance) give us some idea.

One survey says that ~45% of Americans attend religious services at least once a month.

But this includes all religions, not just people practicing Christianity.

Now, we also know that ~63% of Americans are Christians.

330,000,000 x 45% = 148,500,000 people who practice Christianity in America.

That means that 69.2% of Christians attend church at least once a month.

This method doesn’t consider other aspects of practicing Christianity, such as:

personal prayer
following moral principles

“Practicing Christianity” can be defined in various ways, depending on:

individual beliefs
religious teachings
cultural factors

Common criteria of “practicing Christianity” include:

belief in core Christian doctrines
regular participation in worship and communal activities
personal prayer
adherence to moral and ethical principles
commitment to sharing faith
acts of service and charity

Why Is Christianity Declining In America

The percentage of Americans who are Christian declines by ~0.74% per year.

We used the table in the next section to calculate this decline.

(Average decline) = ((Final percentage – Initial percentage) / (Number of years)) x 100%

((63.0% – 85.0%) / 30 years) x 100% = -0.74% per year

The number of Christians in America is declining, but why?

Here are the main reasons Christianity is declining in America:

More Diversity: People from different religious backgrounds are coming to the U.S., making the population more varied.
Less Religious: More Americans, especially younger ones, don’t identify with any religion or consider themselves atheist or agnostic.
Less Focus On Religion: Religion’s role in public life has decreased, making it less important for some people.
Changing Values: Society’s attitudes on moral and social issues have changed, and some people may not agree with traditional religious teachings.
More Religious Options: With more exposure to various beliefs, people can choose from many different religions or no religion at all.
Trust Issues: Scandals and corruption in religious institutions can make people lose faith in them.

Number Of Christian In America Over The Years

Let’s look at how many Christians there have been over the years.

Year	Percentage Of Christians In America
1990	85.0%
1995	82.0%
2000	79.0%
2005	76.0%
2010	75.2%
2015	68.0%
2020	63.0%

This chart shows us how many people identified as Christians over the years.

The number of Christians in America is declining year over year.

Surveys were not done at 5-year intervals.

They were done sporadically over the decades.

We used interpolation to provide a rough estimate at 5-year increments.

Christian Demographics In The USA

Let’s look at the Christian demographics in the USA.

There are notable variations across different demographic groups.

Here are some key points to consider:

Age: Younger Americans are less likely to identify as Christians compared to older Americans. 53% of adults ages 18-29 identified as Christians, compared to 65% of those ages 30-49, 71% of those ages 50-64, and 76% of those ages 65+.
Gender: Women are slightly more likely to identify as Christians compared to men. 69% of women identified as Christians, compared to 64% of men.
Ethnicity: 59% of White Americans identify as Christians, compared to 77% of Black Americans and 83% of Hispanic Americans.
Region: The South is generally considered to be the most religious region of the United States. It has a higher percentage of Christians compared to other regions.

Age Distribution Of Christians In America

Here is the age distribution of Christians in America.

Age Group	Percentage of Christians
18 to 29	39%
30 to 49	47%
50 to 64	63%
65+	75%

Why do people become more religious as they age?

Major life changes make people think more deeply about the meaning of life and seek out religious beliefs.
Awareness of mortality can lead people to turn to religion as a way to cope with uncertainty.
Religious communities provide social support and become more important as people age and face isolation.
Older adults may have more life experience that allows them to appreciate and value spiritual or religious beliefs more.

The age distribution of Christians in the US varies by denomination.

In general, mainline Protestant and Catholic populations tend to be older.

Evangelical Protestant and historically Black Protestant populations tend to be younger.

But, there is a trend across all Christian denominations.

Younger generations are less likely to identify as Christians compared to older generations.

(i.e., Millennials and Generation Z vs Baby Boomers and the Silent Generation.)

Age Group	Evangelical Protestant	Mainline Protestant	Historically Black Protestant	Catholic
Ages 18-29	12%	8%	15%	15%
Ages 30-49	32%	23%	34%	29%
Ages 50-64	33%	34%	33%	31%
Ages 65+	23%	35%	18%	25%

Younger Americans are more likely to identify as:

religiously unaffiliated
members of non-Christian religions

36% of Americans ages 18 to 29 identified as religiously unaffiliated.

Compare that to only 17% of those ages 50 and older.

7% of Americans ages 18 to 29 identified as members of non-Christian religions.

Compare that to only 2% of those ages 50 and older.

There are generational differences in religious identification in the US.

This trend has important implications for the future of religion in the US.

Younger generations will likely shape the religious landscape in the coming years.

Race And Ethnicities Of Christians In America

Christianity in the United States is diverse in terms of race and ethnicity.

Here’s a table showing the races of Christians in America.

Race/Ethnicity	Percentage of Christians	Number of Christians
White	65%	141.7 million
Hispanic	17%	37.1 million
Black	12%	26.2 million
Asian	4%	8.7 million
Other	2%	4.4 million

The racial and ethnic breakdown of Christians in America is:

White: 65% (141.7 million)
Hispanic: 17% (37.1 million)
Black: 12% (26.2 million)
Asian: 4% (8.7 million)
Other/Mixed Race: 2% (4.4 million)

Here’s a table showing the race and ethnicities of the subsets of Christianity in America.

Race/Ethnicity	Evangelical Protestant	Mainline Protestant	Historically Black Protestant	Catholic
White	75%	84%	3%	53%
Black	6%	4%	92%	3%
Hispanic	11%	6%	3%	38%
Asian	2%	2%	0%	3%
Other	6%	4%	2%	3%

FAQs About The Percentage Of Americans That Are Christians

Here are FAQs we found researching what percentage of Americans are Christian.

Is America A Christian Nation?

America is often referred to as a Christian nation.

This is due to its historical roots and the influence of Christianity on its founding principles.

However, the United States is a religiously diverse country.

And it upholds the principle of the separation of church and state.

A significant portion of the population identifies as Christian.

But the U.S. Constitution:

guarantees religious freedom
does not establish an official state religion

Why Is America A Christian Nation?

America is often referred to as a “Christian nation.”

This is because the majority of its population historically identified as Christians.

Many of the country’s founding principles and values have been influenced by Christian beliefs.

Note that the US is constitutionally a secular country.

And this ensures that there is freedom of religion for all citizens.

What Country Has The Most Christians?

The country with the most Christians is the United States.

America: 214 million Christians
Brazil: 169 million Christians
Mexico: 107 million Christians
Russia: 105 million Christians

How Many Christian Denominations Are There?

There are over 30,000 Christian denominations.

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