Pew Research Center reports that religion in the United States has been broadly stable since 2020. Steady shares of U.S. adults say they identify with a religion, pray daily, consider religion very important in their lives and attend services at least monthly, according to the Oct. 28 report. The picture among young adults is more mixed, Pew says.
The very youngest adults, born from 2004 to 2008 and now roughly 18 to 22, report relatively high rates of attendance. Pew finds 41% say they go to services at a church, synagogue, mosque or other house of worship at least once or twice a month, higher than the 33% of the U.S. public as a whole. On other measures, such as religious affiliation and how often they pray, the youngest adults are less distinctive and tend to be less religious than many older groups and the public overall.
Young adults just a few years older tell a different story. Those born from 2000 to 2003, now roughly 23 to 26, are the least religious age group when it comes to how often they pray, how important religion is in their lives and how many identify with a religion, Pew reports. About a quarter, 27%, attend services at least monthly, among the lowest of any age group. Pew notes this is not the first time the youngest adults have entered adulthood at least as religious as the group just above them. In its 2014 Religious Landscape Study, the share of 18 to 22 year olds who said they regularly attend religious services ran 6 percentage points higher than among those 23 to 26.
Pew also finds no clear evidence that any birth cohort it can track over time has become more religious in recent years. To check, the Center compared how 5,835 U.S. adults answered religion questions in 2020 with how the same people answered in 2025. The analysis showed no clear signs of growing or declining religiousness in any cohort. Among women, Pew reports that 35% of the youngest say they attend at least monthly, higher than women born in the 1990s and early 2000s and roughly on par with women born from the 1950s through the 1980s.
Pew adds that the long-term narrowing of the gender gap in prayer, affiliation and the importance of religion does not come from men growing more religious. Both men and women have become less religious over time on these measures, with women's engagement declining more. The numbers describe a nation holding steady, with a younger generation still finding its way to worship. So keep inviting your neighbor, and keep showing up yourself. Hebrews 10:25 reminds us why gathering matters.
Read Hebrews 10:25
