Domestic · Belief & Society

Religion in America

<50%church members

For the first time since Gallup began polling in 1937, fewer than half of Americans belong to a church, synagogue, or mosque.

Gallup has measured religious membership since 1937, when roughly three in four Americans belonged to a church, synagogue, or mosque. That share held for decades, then fell sharply — dropping below half in recent years as the religiously unaffiliated, the "nones," became one of the largest groups in the country. This long, quiet shift underlies much of the political realignment the other dots circle. This traces the data since 1937, who's leaving and who's staying, how religion maps onto politics, and what the trend means. (Evenhanded by design — the dot describes the shift, it does not editorialize it.)

Church membership, 1937 → today

73→45%

Gallup · fell below 50% in 2020

Religiously unaffiliated ("nones")

29%

Pew RLS 2023-24 · up from 16% in 2007

Attended worship in last 7 days

31%

Gallup 2023 · down from ~49% peak in the 1950s

Unaffiliated: youngest vs oldest adults

34 / 15

Gen Z vs Silent Gen, % · Pew

Party split by religion

85 / 70

White evangelicals GOP · nones Dem, % · Pew

The slow slide, then the drop

When Gallup first asked in 1937, 73% of Americans said they belonged to a church, synagogue, or mosque. That number barely moved for six decades — hovering near 70% through the end of the century. Membership was so close to universal that belonging was effectively the default civic condition of American life.

Then, around the turn of the 21st century, the floor gave way. Membership fell to 61% by 2010, 55% by 2015, and in 2020 slipped below half (47%) for the first time in Gallup's eight-decade record. It has continued to drift down since. The change is recent, steep, and — on this measure — unprecedented.

Attendance tells a parallel but distinct story. Weekly worship peaked in the religious boom of the mid-1950s (about 49%), drifted through the 40s for decades, and has settled around 31%. Belonging and attending are both falling — but they are separate behaviors, and neither is the same as belief.

Church / synagogue / mosque membership · % of adults1937 — 2023

Source: Gallup. Earliest reading 1937 (73%). Held near 70% for six decades, then crossed below half in 2020 — a first in the trend. Intermediate points track Gallup's published trend line.

Attended worship in the last 7 days · % of adults1939 — 2023

Source: Gallup. Earliest reading 1939. Peaked in the mid-to-late 1950s religious boom (~49%); ~31% in 2023.

Two measures, one direction

The gap between these two lines matters. Membership is a claim of belonging; attendance is a behavior. For most of the 20th century, membership ran far above attendance — most Americans belonged even if they didn't show up weekly. As both fall, the country is shedding formal religious attachment faster than it is shedding private belief: majorities still tell pollsters they believe in God or pray. What is eroding first is the institution.