{"id":281723,"date":"2025-12-02T14:55:50","date_gmt":"2025-12-02T19:55:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/?post_type=short-read&p=281723"},"modified":"2025-12-02T14:55:54","modified_gmt":"2025-12-02T19:55:54","slug":"key-facts-about-black-americans-and-religion","status":"publish","type":"short-read","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2025\/12\/02\/key-facts-about-black-americans-and-religion\/","title":{"rendered":"Key facts about Black Americans and religion"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Mother
(andreswd\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Black Americans are among the most religious groups in the United States. But religion differs substantially among Black Americans. Similar to patterns seen among the U.S. population overall, older Black adults are more religious than younger Black adults, and women are more religious than men.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are key facts about Black Americans and religion, based on Pew Research Center\u2019s 2023-24 Religious Landscape Study<\/a> (RLS) and other Center surveys.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About this research<\/summary>\n

This Pew Research Center analysis examines key facts about Black Americans\u2019 religious beliefs and practices. This demographic group is among the most religious in the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why did we do this?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The Center conducts high-quality research to inform the public, journalists and leaders. This analysis builds on a larger body of work that explores religious identity, beliefs and practices among various American racial and ethnic groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Learn more about Pew Research Center<\/a> and our research on Black religion<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How did we do this?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

This analysis includes findings from three data sources: our 2023-24 Religious Landscape Study<\/a> (RLS), our 2023 survey on spirituality<\/a> and our 2021 survey about faith among Black Americans<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Religious Landscape Study<\/strong> is a national cross-sectional survey conducted for Pew Research Center by NORC at the University of Chicago. It was conducted from July 17, 2023, to March 4, 2024, among a nationally representative sample of 36,908 respondents. The survey\u2019s overall margin of error is plus or minus 0.8 percentage points. The RLS was made possible by The Pew Charitable Trusts, which received support from the Lilly Endowment Inc., Templeton Religion Trust, The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations and the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are the questions<\/a>, topline<\/a> and methodology<\/a> for the RLS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The spirituality survey<\/strong> was conducted from July 31 to Aug. 6, 2023, among a nationally representative sample of 11,201 respondents who are a part of the Center\u2019s American Trends Panel (ATP). The survey\u2019s overall margin of error is plus or minus 1.4 percentage points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are the topline<\/a> and methodology<\/a> for the spirituality survey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Faith Among Black Americans<\/strong> project involved a national cross-sectional survey conducted for Pew Research Center by Westat and using the Center\u2019s ATP, NORC\u2019s AmeriSpeak panel and Ipsos\u2019 KnowledgePanel. The survey was conducted from Nov. 19, 2019, to June 3, 2020, among a nationally representative sample of 8,660 Black respondents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this survey, Black respondents include three groups: Black, non-Hispanic respondents who identify as single-race Black and say they have no<\/em> Hispanic background; Black Hispanic respondents who are Black and say they do<\/em> have Hispanic background; and multiracial respondents who indicate two or more racial backgrounds (one of which is Black) and say they have no<\/em> Hispanic background. In the other two surveys, Black respondents are only<\/em> those who are Black and non-Hispanic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are the topline<\/a> and methodology<\/a> for the Faith Among Black Americans project.<\/p>\n<\/details>\n\n\n\n

Most Black Americans are Christian, though the share who identify as such has fallen since 2007. <\/strong>About three-quarters of Black adults (73%) are Christian, including 65% who are Protestant, 4% who are Catholic, and 4% who identify with other Christian groups such as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Christian share of Black adults is down from 79% in 2014 and 85% in 2007. Christian affiliation<\/a> has similarly declined among the overall U.S. population during this time. Nonetheless, Black adults are more likely than U.S. adults overall to be Christian (73% vs. 62%).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Only 4% of Black adults identify with non-Christian religions, including Islam. And 22% of Black adults are religious \u201cnones,\u201d or adults who are not affiliated with a religion<\/a>, including 3% who identify as atheist or agnostic and 19% who say their religion is \u201cnothing in particular.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

By several measures, Black Americans are more religious than Americans of other races and ethnicities. <\/strong>Compared with White, Hispanic and Asian adults, Black adults are more likely to believe in God or a universal spirit (95%) and to do so with absolute certainty (74%).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Black adults also are more likely than other racial or ethnic groups to say religion is very important in their lives (58%), to pray daily (64%) and to participate monthly in religious services, whether in person or online (57%). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Around half or fewer of Americans in other racial or ethnic groups say religion is very important to them or pray daily. Even fewer attend religious services monthly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most Black adults who are religiously unaffiliated say they believe in God.<\/strong> Among Americans who do not identify with a religion, 83% of Black \u201cnones\u201d believe in God. \u201cNones\u201d who are Hispanic (69%), White (46%) or Asian (42%) are less likely to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Black \u201cnones\u201d also are more likely than their counterparts in other racial or ethnic groups to say that people have a soul or spirit in addition to their physical body (82%). And they\u2019re more likely to pray monthly or more often (61%).       <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most Black adults who attend religious services at least a few times a year (61%) attend Black congregations \u2013<\/strong> that is, ones where the senior religious leaders and the majority of the congregants are Black.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Pew Research Center study in 2021<\/a> found that Black congregations are more likely than non-Black congregations to offer Black Americans distinctive experiences. These experiences include sermons on race relations or racial inequality<\/a>, expressive worship services<\/a>, and a sense of racial affirmation or pride<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to distinctive worship experiences, historically Black houses of worship<\/a> have long served as the civic center of Black communities, especially during key eras of Black history such as the abolitionist<\/a> and civil rights<\/a> movements. Today, Black houses of worship continue to offer Black communities support on issues of voting<\/a>, health<\/a> and food security<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Black men are more likely than Black women to move away from Christianity as they age.<\/strong> Among Black Americans, men are about as likely as women\u00a0to say they were raised as Christians (81% vs. 85%). But they are less likely to identify as Christians in adulthood (67% vs. 78%).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Conversely, Black men are more likely than Black women to be religiously unaffiliated as adults (27% vs. 18%) and to say they have become less religious over the course of their lives (24% vs. 15%). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pattern is similar \u2013 but less pronounced \u2013 among White adults. White men are less likely than White women to identify as Christians as adults (60% vs. 66%). They are slightly more<\/em> likely to be unaffiliated (33% vs. 28%) and to say they have become less religious over time (33% vs. 30%).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hispanic and Asian adults do not differ by gender on these questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More Black women than men consider themselves very spiritual<\/em>.<\/strong> Americans define spirituality<\/a> in many ways, including through the connections they feel to the universe<\/a>, nature<\/a> or humanity<\/a>. Because there is no single way to measure spirituality, our Religious Landscape Study asked multiple questions about spiritual beliefs<\/a>, practices<\/a>, experiences<\/a> and identities<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Black women are slightly more likely than Black men to consider themselves very spiritual (50% vs. 42%). They also are more likely than Black men to listen to music (80% vs. 68%) or to look inward for spiritual reasons a few times a month or more often (68% vs. 57%).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, roughly equal shares of Black women and men say they do each of the following monthly for spiritual reasons: meditate (46% vs. 45%), exercise (45% vs. 47%), visit a nature spot such as a waterfall, mountaintop or river (26% vs. 26%), or practice yoga (15% vs. 13%). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Older Black adults are more likely than younger Black adults to describe themselves as very religious<\/em>.<\/strong> For example, 39% of Black adults ages 65 and older describe themselves this way, compared with 21% of Black adults under 30.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This age pattern is not unique to Black Americans. White and Hispanic adults who are 65 and older also are more likely than their peers under 30 to describe themselves as very religious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even so, Black adults, regardless of age, are more likely than adults in other racial and ethnic groups to say they\u2019re very religious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Younger Black adults are more likely than their elders to believe in the spiritual energy of nature, according to another Center survey from 2023<\/a>. <\/strong>For example, Black adults under 5o are more likely than their older peers to say spiritual energy can be found in memorial sites like graveyards and cemeteries (73% vs. 45%) and in animals (67% vs. 47%).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A<\/a><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Most Black Americans are Christian, though the share who identify as such has fallen since 2007. 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