One in five Americans reports no religious affiliation, study says

One-fifth of U.S. adults say they are not part of a traditional religious denomination, new data from the Pew Research Center show, evidence of an unprecedented reshuffling of Americans’ spiritual identities that is shaking up fields from charity to politics. But despite their nickname, the “nones” are far from godless. Many pray, believe in God and have regular spiritual routines. Their numbers have increased dramatically over the past two decades, according to the study released Tuesday.

About 19.6 percent of Americans say they are “nothing in particular,” agnostic or atheist, up from about 8 percent in 1990. One-third of adults under 30 say the same. Pew offered people a list of more than a dozen possible affiliations, including “Protestant,” “Catholic,” “something else” and “nothing in particular.” For the first time, Pew also reported that the number of Americans identifying themselves as Protestant dipped below half, at 48 percent. But the United States is still very traditional when it comes to religion, with 79 percent of Americans identifying with an established faith group. Experts have been tracking unaffiliated Americans since their numbers began rising, but new studies are adding details to the portrait.
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