Less Than 50% of Americans Formally Belong to a Church

A new survey shows that for the first time in more than 80 years — when Gallup first started asking about church membership in 1937 — less than 50% of Americans said they formally belonged to a church, mosque, or synagogue.  

In 1937, some 73% of American adults said they were officially members of a church. Today that number is 47%. 

Church membership has drastically declined since the year 2000, when membership was at 70%.

“The decline in church membership is primarily a function of the increasing number of Americans who express no religious preference,” said Gallup.  “Over the past two decades, the percentage of Americans who do not identify with any religion has grown from 8% in 1998-2000 to 13% in 2008-2010 and 21% over the past three years.”

In addition, said the survey firm, “Church membership is strongly correlated with age, as 66% of traditionalists — U.S. adults born before 1946 — belong to a church, compared with 58% of baby boomers, 50% of those in Generation X and 36% of millennials.”

“The decline in church membership, then, appears largely tied to population change, with those in older generations who were likely to be church members being replaced in the U.S. adult population with people in younger generations who are less likely to belong,” said Gallup. 

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