Surveys Show Church Attendance, Belief in God Drops in the U.S.

Church attendance and general belief in God has dropped in the U.S. over the past few years, recent surveys suggest.

The Chinese coronavirus pandemic appeared to accelerate these trends, as church attendance dropped by roughly 45 percent since the start of the pandemic, the latter of which prompted various leaders to shutter businesses and churches for months on end.

Further, a Gallup survey released over the summer found that belief in God sunk to an all-time low this year, down to 81 percent. It also identified young individuals and leftists as the most likely to not believe in God.

As Breitbart News reported at the time:

According to the survey, most U.S. adults — 81 percent — believe in God. But while that figure seems high, it is actually the lowest percentage ever reported in this survey. Up until 2011, over 90 percent said they believed in God, but the number has continued to drop, now down eight points from the 89 percent who expressed belief in God in 2016. The previous low was set in 2014, when 86 percent said they believed in God.

When Gallup asked the same question in 1953, 1954, 1965, and 1967, 98 percent said they believed in God. 

Further, a report from the Hill found that roughly one-fifth of Americans do not consider themselves part of a religion, which coincides with the percentage of Americans not expressing belief in God as well.

A December 2021 analysis found 21 percent indicating no religious preference, while 69 percent identified with a Christian faith. 

A Survey Center on American Life report, detailed in March 2022, also found that younger generations are less likely to adhere to a religion. Over one-third of Generation Z, 34 percent, consider themselves unaffiliated from religious groups. That figure decreases to 29 percent among millennials, 25 percent among Generation X, 18 percent among Baby Boomers, and nine percent of the Silent Generation. 

American Survey Center also noted a “precipitous drop in church membership over the past three decades” among those on the political left. 

“In 1998, a majority of liberals (57 percent) were members of a church or other type of religious organization,” the report read, noting that the figure dropped to 35 percent in 2021. 

The December 2021 analysis from Gallup found one-quarter indicating that religion is “not very important” in their world.