Nonreligious Americans at 28%, survey shows

‘Nones’ outnumber Catholics in annual study

According to the data collected, 17% of “nones” identify as atheist, 20% identify as agnostic and 63% say they are “nothing in particular.”

More than a quarter of Americans identify as “none” when it comes to religion, meaning they are atheists, agnostics or “nothing in particular,” a new study from the Pew Research Center has found.

About 28% of U.S. adults are religiously unaffiliated, according to the National Public Opinion Reference Survey conducted annually by the Pew Research Center. It’s the second-largest religious group in the survey; 40% said they were Protestants and 20% said they were Catholic.

“Nones” are less likely to volunteer or vote in elections. Of the U.S. adults surveyed, 17% of religious “nones” volunteered in the last year compared to 27% of religiously affiliated adults, and 39% of “nones” voted in the 2022 election compared to 51% of religiously affiliated adults. They also showed slightly lower rates of civic engagement, and were less likely to have contacted officials or attended a government meeting in the last year.

According to the data collected, 17% of “nones” identify as atheist, 20% identify as agnostic and 63% say they are “nothing in particular.” Most people in the “nones” group believe in God or another higher power, but few go to religious services regularly. They are also not uniformly antireligious, and the Pew Research Center said while they found most in the group say religion does some harm, many others think it also does some good.

Some “nones” said they were spiritual, though the same is true of people who are religiously affiliated.

According to the survey, 69% of people identifying as “nones” are under 50, and are fairly split between men and women: 51% and 47%, respectively. The survey found that men are more likely to identify as atheist or agnostic than women.

Concerning race, white adults had higher rates of identifying as atheist or agnostic instead of nothing in particular over respondents who identified themselves as Black, Hispanic or Asian: 2% of Black people identified as atheist, and 4% as agnostic.

“Nones” and religiously affiliated people reported similar education rates, although atheists and agnostics reported having more education than people who said their religion was “nothing in particular.”