Americans’ Belief in God Drops to New Low, Rural Areas See Largest Decline
BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images
A new Gallup poll out on Friday shows that Americans’ belief in God has dropped to its lowest level since the poll began asking the question in 1944.
The poll summary notes that between 1944 and 2011 more than 90 percent of Americans believed in God. The 2022 numbers, gathered between May 2-22, found that 81 percent of Americans currently say they believe in God, a 6-point drop since 2017 – when the poll was last conducted.
Gallup’s Jefferey Jones breaks down the polls’ other findings including how religiosity ties to political, geographic, and demographic factors like age and race.
Jones concludes that “religiosity is a major determinant of political divisions in the U.S.” and notes that “Belief in God is highest among political conservatives (94%) and Republicans (92%).”
“Belief in God has fallen the most in recent years among young adults and people on the left of the political spectrum (liberals and Democrats),” Jones adds, noting:
These groups show drops of 10 or more percentage points comparing the 2022 figures to an average of the 2013-2017 polls.
Most other key subgroups have experienced at least a modest decline, although conservatives and married adults have had essentially no change.
The biggest decline in belief in God was recorded in groups that already had the lowest religiosity including Liberals (62%), young adults (68%), and Democrats (72%).
While political affiliations largely matched expectations in terms of religiosity, geographic factors defied commonly held conceptions.
For example, out of city, suburban and rural residents, rural Americans saw the largest drop in belief in God. “Town/Rural residents” saw a 7 percent decline in belief in God between 2017 and 2022 – going from 89 percent to 82 percent.
“Town/Rural” residents in 2022 were just as likely, 82 percent, as “City Residents” to believe in God, which also recorded 82 percent of respondents, only a 4 percent drop from 2017, as believers. Suburban residents recorded the lowest belief in God, with 80 percent of respondents saying they believe — a 6 percent drop from 2017.
Additionally, regional declines in belief in God were notable as the Midwest and South recorded the largest declines. The Midwest saw a drop in belief from 87 percent to 79 percent between 2017 to 2022 – an 8-point drop. The South saw a drop from 93 percent to 86 percent – a 7-point drop.
The East and West only saw 4 and 2 percent drops – respectively.
In 2020 the South remained the region with the highest percent of believers, 86 percent, followed by the West at 80 percent, the Midwest at 79 percent, and the East at 78 percent.
