Americans in general are losing their religion. That’s according to the latest data from the General Social Survey, which shows 49% of respondents were sure God exists.
The 2022 survey data recently released by NORC, the University of Chicago research organization, also shows that number topped 60% as recently as 2008.
Also sliding: church attendance. Thirty-four percent of Americans polled say they never go — that’s the highest percentage in 50 years of surveys on the matter, the organization points out.
These findings mesh with a recent report from the Public Religion Research Institute that showed 27% of Americans claimed to have “no religion” — up 19% from 2012.
That number was just 5% in 1972.
The PRRI report called the decline in the nation’s Christian population “historic,” especially among white people: Those who claim to be white evangelical Protestants dropped to 14% from 23% in 2006; non-evangelical Protestants dropped from 18% from that time to 14% currently; and white Catholics went from 16% in 2006 to 13% in the most recent survey.
By contrast, the percentage of Christians of color remained steady. Christians who identify as “Black, Hispanic, Asian American or Pacific Islander, Native American, multiracial, or any other race or ethnicity” make up 25% of the country, the PRRI survey said.
All that said, just 7% say they don’t believe in God at all, according to the General Social Survey — and nearly three-quarters of those polled say they believe there’s life after death.
Survey questions, methodology and results have not been verified or endorsed by ABC News or The Walt Disney Company.