[Note: This post was initially published in Secular Politics with the title “Survey Landscaping” on February 28, 2025]
The Pew Research Center released its third Religion Landscape Survey this week. It is a treasure trove of data that will take some time to dissect. Here are some of my topline takes. I promise to spend the next few weeks examining different aspects of secularism in the survey.
Secular increase
The survey finds that 29% of the adult population in the USA is nonreligious (or “religiously unaffiliated” in Pewspeak). This represents a 26% increase from the 2014 Landscape Survey (23% were secular) and an 81% increase from 2007 (16% were secular in the first Landscape Survey).
Another interesting finding is that those who identify as atheist or agnostic now account for 38% of secular people (62% say their religion is “nothing in particular”). This represents a 27% increase compared to 2014 (30% atheist or agnostic) and a 52% increase since 2007, when one-quarter (25%) of secular people identified as atheist or agnostic.
Unbelief on the Rise
The proportion of US adults who say they do not believe in God nearly doubled from 9 % in 2014 to 16% in 2023-24. It has more than tripled since 2007 (16% vs. 5%).
In 2007 the ratio of self identified atheists and agnostics (4%) was roughly the share of people who said they did not believe in God (5%). In 2024, the share of unbelievers (16%) is roughly 50% higher than the share of self-identified atheists and agnostics (11%).
Not That Spiritual Either
Belief among the secular cohort is collapsing. The percentage of secular adults in the USA who say they do not believe in God has doubled since 2007, going from 22% to 45% today. However, this increase is not because people who are agnostic or on the fence are becoming more hardline atheistic (the shares are pretty similar (34% in 2007 and 2014, 36% in 2024). Instead, the share of secular Americans who say they are certain they believe in God halved from 36% in 2007 to 18% today. While a plurality of secular adults in 2007 were certain in a belief in God, an even larger plurality is certain today that there is no God.
Moreover, this time the survey asked a question about whether people consider themselves “spiritual.” Secular people are twice as likely as the general adult population to say they are not spiritual (50% vs. 25%).
