U.S. faith levels plummet to lowest on record

Fewer than half of Americans now say religion is an important part of their daily lives, a 17 percentage point drop since 2015, which ranks among the largest declines in the world, according to a new Gallup poll.Why it matters: The U.S. was once exceptional for its high religiosity among wealthy nations. The shift reflects profound cultural changes that could reshape politics, social ties and even national identity.By the numbers: In the latest Gallup Poll released Thursday, only 49% of U.S. adults say religion is essential to their daily life, down from 66% in 2015.That decline is among the biggest measured globally since 2007, Gallup said.Among 38 Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) nations, a median of 36% of adults call religion important — a figure the U.S. is rapidly approaching.What they're saying: "Such large declines are rare," Gallup researchers Benedict Vigers and Julie Ray wrote. Vigers and Ray said that only 14 out of more than 160 countries have seen drops of over 15 percentage points in religious importance over the past decade."The U.S. increasingly stands as an outlier: less religious than much of the world, but still more devout than most of its economic peers."Zoom out: Only a small number of mostly wealthy nations have experienced larger losses in religiosity. Greece from 2013 to 2023, for example, experienced a 28 percentage point decrease, Gallup found.Between 2012 and 2022, Italy experienced a decline of 23 percentage points. Other countries, including Chile, Turkey, and Portugal, have seen declines of a similar magnitude to the U.S. drop.State of play: An unprecedented 15,000 churches in the U.S. are estimated to shut their doors this year, far more than the few thousand expected to open, according to denominational reports and church consultants.A record number of Americans (29%) also are identifying as religiously unaffiliated, and 62% identify as Christians, down from 78% in 2007, according to the Pew Research Center.Yes, but: While fewer Americans identify as Christian, faith-based communities and institutions remain profoundly influential in politics, social networks and philanthropy.President Trump took 85% of the white evangelical vote and 57% of the white mainline/non-evangelical Protestant vote in 2024, according to a Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) survey.The U.S. no longer fits neatly into any global category of belief, Gallup said. It has a medium-high Christian identity but only middling religiosity — a mix seen in few other countries.What we're watching: Gen Z women are increasingly shunning organized religion, and they are leading the exodus from Christianity, PRRI CEO Melissa Deckman tells Axios.Deckman said that, despite anecdotal stories about Gen Z men returning to church, there's little evidence that this is happening on a large scale that can reverse the overall declining trends. The bottom line: The United States is undergoing one of the world's most dramatic cultural shifts — transitioning from a faith-centered nation to one where religion no longer defines the daily lives of most people.Methodology: This Gallup Poll was conducted from June 14 to July 16, 2025. This poll is based on telephone interviews of 1,000 adults aged 15 or older.The margin of sampling error is ±4.4 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.Go deeper: Meet chatbot Jesus: Churches tap AI to save souls — and time

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