Summary
Religious identification in the United States is declining, particularly in the Midwest, according to new data by Pew Research Center. Between 2020 and 2025, the percentage of adults identifying with a religion fell by about 6 percentage points in the Midwest, a region that traditionally has had high levels of religious affiliation.
Key Facts
- From 2020 to 2025, the percentage of adults in the Midwest identifying with a religion dropped from 72% to 66%.
- Historically, the Midwest has been one of the most religious parts of the U.S.
- A longer-term trend shows that religious identification in the Midwest fell from 83% in 2007 to 69% in 2023-24.
- Other U.S. regions showed smaller changes in religious affiliation between 2020 and 2025, except for a slight rise in the Northeast.
- Pew’s data indicates a general decline in religious affiliation in the U.S. since the 1990s.
- President Donald Trump expressed a desire to increase religious participation in the U.S.
- Future surveys aim to determine if recent trends in religious identification will continue or change.
