Pew survey finds 28% of U.S. adults are religiously unaffiliated as 61% say religion is losing public influence
A new Pew Research Center chart puts the share of U.S. adults who identify as religiously unaffiliated at 28%, making it the second-largest affiliation group after Protestants. The same chart reports that 40% identify as Protestant, 21% as Catholic and 9% with another faith. Another 2% gave no answer.
The affiliation figures come from Pew’s 2026 National Public Opinion Reference Survey, conducted from Jan. 30 through June 18, 2026. Pew published the chart July 14.
The results provide a current national snapshot of how American adults describe their religious identity. They also add context to a separate Pew survey conducted in April, in which most adults said religion was losing influence in American life.
Most adults see religion losing influence
In the April 6–12 survey, 61% of U.S. adults said religion was losing influence in American life. Thirty-seven percent said religion was gaining influence.
Opinions about whether that change is positive or negative were more divided. Thirty-four percent said religion’s declining influence was a bad thing. By comparison, 22% said growing religious influence was a bad thing.
The figures measure public perceptions of religion’s role in American life, not the number of people attending services or belonging to congregations. The affiliation results likewise describe how respondents identify themselves; they do not establish levels of worship attendance, active membership or the financial condition of religious institutions.
Partisan differences shape the picture
Views about religion’s influence also differed by party. Fifty-six percent of Republicans and Republican-leaning adults said religion was losing influence in American life. Among Democrats and Democratic-leaning adults, 65% said the same.
That difference does not erase the broader national pattern: majorities in both partisan groups described religion as losing influence, although the statement was more common among Democrats and Democratic leaners.
The findings are relevant to faith communities, political organizations and civic groups assessing religion’s place in public life. They show both a substantial unaffiliated population and a broad perception that religion’s public influence is declining.
A longer-term shift in religious identification
Pew has also documented regional and historical changes in religious identification. In one comparison, the share of Midwestern adults identifying with a religion fell from 83% in 2007 to 69% in the 2023–24 Religious Landscape Study.
That historical comparison covers a different period and measure from the 2026 affiliation survey. It nevertheless illustrates why current affiliation figures are being watched alongside longer-term changes in how Americans describe their religious identity.
The United States does not have official religious-affiliation statistics collected by the U.S. Census, according to Pew. National surveys such as these therefore provide one of the principal ways to measure Americans’ self-reported religious identity and views about religion’s civic role.
Taken together, the two 2026 surveys point to two related but distinct developments: 28% of adults identify as religiously unaffiliated, while 61% believe religion is losing influence in American life. Because the surveys used separate instruments and field periods, the percentages should not be combined into a single measure or treated as evidence of a specific cause.
Sources
- Religious affiliation, Pew Research Center
- Americans’ Views of Religion’s Role in Government and Christian Nationalism, Pew Research Center
- Southerners tend to be more religious than other U.S. adults—but less religious than they used to be, Pew Research Center
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