Christianity Is Not Declining In the United States. In Fact …
By Movieguide® Contributor
After years of steady decline, a new study finds that the Christian population is beginning to stabilize, in large part thanks to America’s young people.
For years, demographers have studied the “nones,” that is, people who identify with no religion. While the nones were on the rise, Pew Research’s new study reveals that they have since stabilized.
“Now that growth has either slowed or stopped completely,” political scientist Ryan Burge said, “and that’s big deal.”
This slow growth has given rise to a flourishing Christianity.
According to Pew:
- 62% of U.S. adults describe themselves as Christians: 40% are Protestant, 19% are Catholic, and 3% are other Christians.
- 29% are religiously unaffiliated: 5% are atheist, 6% are agnostic, and 19% identify religiously as “nothing in particular.”
- 7% belong to religions other than Christianity: 2% are Jewish, and 1% each are Muslim, Buddhist or Hindu (all figures are rounded).
Pew continued, “But for the last five years, between 2019 and 2024, the Christian share of the adult population has been relatively stable, hovering between 60% and 64%. The 62% figure in the new Religious Landscape Study is smack in the middle of that recent range.”
Additionally, the number of religiously unaffiliated Americans is beginning to level off after years of growth.
“We’re entering a new era of the American religious landscape,” Burge said.
This matches data from 2024’s Pew survey, which reported that the number of people who consider themselves unaffiliated had actually declined by 3%. Fox News reported that, previously, the group of “nones” had been on “a steady climb.”
Pew’s study also broke down the age groups of those surveyed, finding that, in young people, “the gap in religiosity between men and women is far smaller than it is in older generations.”
This is significant, as statistically, women have typically been more religious than men.
“It’s not quite a reversal, but the fact that it’s narrowing is significant,” said David Campbell, a political scientist at the University of Notre Dame.
This could be due to the large revivals breaking on college campuses across the country. In mid-February, thousands of college students at Ohio State University came to hear the Gospel and worship.
“We’ve been in awe of how God has already been moving on this campus over the past year, and He met us here again tonight,” Unite US said in a social media post. “Over 6,500 students gathered in The Schott to lift the name of Jesus and almost 2,000 responded to the altar call – experiencing the freedom only He can bring.”
“God is moving in this generation, and we know that He’s just getting started!” the post exclaimed.
CBN reported record-number revivals happening among young people:
It all began at Auburn University’s Neville Arena in September 2023 where 5,000 students showed up to worship Jesus and 200 were spontaneously baptized in a nearby lake. And now, the organization hosts massive worship events making waves on college campuses across the country.
Collectively, those events have brought in more than 70,000 college students.
Their first stop in 2025 was the University of Kentucky, just 30 minutes from Asbury University where the first sparks of a new spiritual awakening were seen among American students in February of 2023.
This time, more than 8,000 students packed Rupp Arena to worship Jesus and to hear a powerful message on the Gospel.
“Every time they are confessing their sin, they are yelling it out. They are responding to the gospel in herds. Like droves of kids are coming forward to receive Jesus,” said Jennie Allen. “We are baptizing kids for an hour and a half. [They are] giving their lives to Jesus.”
“It is only God,” she added. “There is a movement amongst students that you can’t believe. And even when you see it, you can’t believe it!”
READ MORE: ASTONISHING PERCENTAGE OF TEENS ‘VERY MOTIVATED’ TO KNOW JESUS
Pew’s research confirms what Movieguide® has maintained for years: Christians are the largest audience, and the Entertainment Industry would do well to start catering to Christian audiences.
According to Movieguide®’s 2025 Report to the Entertainment Industry:
In 2024, Christian, biblical, morally uplifting, and conservative faith and values were lifted up in movies and television programs. Christian values showed amazing strength in overseas markets; sex did not sell – again; foul language did not sell – again; explicit nudity did not sell – again; and, moviegoers generally supported the Good, the True and the Beautiful – again.
In our comprehensive analysis of the 2024 box office in this 2025 Report to the Entertainment Industry, we found that the most family-friendly movies earned nearly twice as much money as the least family-friendly movies. We also found that movies with Very Strong Christian, Biblical, Redemptive, and/or Moral content or worldviews outperformed movies with Very Strong non-Christian, anti-Christian, False, and/or Immoral content and worldviews, by about 2.5 to 1 overall, and often much more, depending on the specific negative category. For instance, movies with Very Strong Christian content earned more than 37 times more money overall in the U.S. and Canada than movies with very strong humanist or atheist content, $600 million versus a paltry $16 million.
Furthermore, 70% of the Top 10 Grossing Movies at the North American, domestic box office in 2024 had Strong or Very Strong Christian, Redemptive, Biblical, Morally Uplifting content or values. Also, 80%, of the Top 10 English Language Movies Overseas in 2023 had Strong or Very Strong Christian, Redemptive, Biblical, Morally Uplifting content or values. Finally, the most recent figures for the Top 10 Home Video Sales show that 90% of them had Strong or Very Strong Christian, Redemptive, Biblical, Morally Uplifting content.
READ MORE: WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT GEN Z’S INTEREST IN FAITH
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