After decades of steady decline, religion in the United States appears to have entered a period of relative stability, according to new polling by the Pew Research Center. However, despite growing speculation about a faith-based revival among young Americans—particularly young men—the data shows no clear evidence of a nationwide religious resurgence.
Pew’s latest analysis finds that key indicators of religious life, including religious affiliation, prayer, and worship attendance, have remained largely unchanged since 2020. Roughly 70% of U.S. adults continue to identify with a religion, while the shares identifying as Christian, belonging to other faiths, or having no religious affiliation have all stayed fairly consistent over the past five years.
“The stability is striking,” Pew researchers noted, “because it follows a prolonged period of religious decline.” For much of the late 20th and early 21st centuries, measures of religious belief, practice, and identity steadily fell across the country.
Long-Term Decline Meets a Plateau
For decades, America’s religious decline was driven largely by generational replacement. Older, more religious cohorts gradually exited the population and were replaced by younger generations who were significantly less religious. At the same time, people across all age groups tended to become less religious as they aged.
Yet Pew’s National Public Opinion Reference Survey (NPORS) and 2023–24 Religious Landscape Study (RLS) suggest that this downward trajectory has paused—at least for now.
“There has been no clear rise or fall in religious affiliation over the last five years,” Pew found. The same holds true for daily prayer, the importance of religion in people’s lives, and regular attendance at religious services.
Young Adults Remain Less Religious
While stability characterizes the overall picture, generational gaps persist. Young adults remain far less religious than older Americans, and today’s young people are also less religious than young adults were a decade or two ago.
In the 2025 NPORS, 83% of the oldest adults said they identify with a religion—nearly identical to the share recorded in 2020. Among adults born between 1995 and 2002 (now ages 23 to 30), 55% identify with a religion, a figure that has also remained stable since 2020.
The contrast becomes sharper when looking at religious practice. About 59% of the oldest Americans say they pray every day, compared with just 30% of young adults born between 1995 and 2002. Similarly, 43% of older Americans attend religious services at least monthly, versus 26% of younger adults.
Are the Youngest Adults Different?
Some observers have pointed to today’s youngest adults—those born in 2003 or later—as evidence of a possible turning point. Pew data shows that in certain measures, this group is as religious, or slightly more religious, than people just a few years older.
For instance, in the 2023–24 RLS, 30% of adults born between 2003 and 2006 reported attending religious services at least once a month, compared with 24% of those born between 1995 and 2002.
However, Pew researchers urge caution. “This is not the first time we’ve seen the youngest adults come of age with levels of religiousness that match or exceed those of slightly older adults,” the report said. Historical data shows that as these cohorts age and leave their family homes, their religious engagement typically declines, often faster than among slightly older peers.
No Gender-Based Revival Among Young Men
Recent media narratives have suggested that young men are returning to Christianity in large numbers, but Pew’s findings do not support this claim.
In the 2023–24 Religious Landscape Study, young men and young women are about equally religious. About 58% of men ages 18 to 24 identify with a religion, compared with 57% of women in the same age group.
This represents a significant shift from the past, when young women were consistently more religious than young men. However, the narrowing gender gap is not due to men becoming more religious. Instead, Pew found that religious decline among women has been steeper, bringing their levels closer to those of men.
Christianity Continues to Lose More Than It Gains
The data also challenges claims that young people are converting to traditional Christian denominations in significant numbers. Pew’s analysis of religious switching shows that Christianity continues to experience a net loss, especially among young adults.
Among Americans ages 18 to 24, 26% are former Christians, while only 5% have converted to Christianity. Catholicism and Orthodox Christianity both lose more young adults than they gain through conversion.
By contrast, the biggest beneficiary of religious switching remains the group known as the religious “nones”—people who identify as atheist, agnostic, or “nothing in particular.” One-quarter of young adults have become religiously unaffiliated after being raised in a religion, while far fewer have moved in the opposite direction.
Other Surveys Confirm the Trend
Pew’s conclusions are reinforced by data from the General Social Survey (GSS) and the American Time Use Survey (ATUS). While the GSS shows long-term religious decline, its most recent waves from 2022 and 2024 indicate little short-term change.
Similarly, the ATUS shows no recent increase in religious attendance among young adults. Among adults born between 1995 and 2003, 11% attended religious services on a given Sunday in 2021, compared with 10% in 2024.
A Moment of Pause, Not Revival
Taken together, the data suggests that American religion is in a holding pattern, not a resurgence. While the steep declines of previous decades have slowed, there is no clear evidence that younger generations are reversing course.
“Perhaps in the future we’ll look back and see that we were at a pivotal moment,” Pew researchers noted. “But historical patterns suggest today’s stability reflects a pause—not a religious revival.”
