The decline of the number of Americans identifying as Christians has plateaued, according to a recent study conducted by Pew Research.

Pew Research’s Religious Landscape Study (RLS) collected the responses of 37,908 U.S. adults in its 2023-24 survey period. Released Wednesday, the RLS study found that 62% of responders described themselves as Christians, 40% of which were Protestants and 19% Catholics.

In 2007, 78% of Americans identified as Christians. By 2019, the number decreased to 63%. But the downward trend has slowed in recent years, with variations between 60% and 64% since 2019.

The recent RLS survey found that 7% of participants identified with a non-Christian religion. In contrast, religiously unaffiliated adults accounted for 29% of the population. After a prolonged increase in responders identifying themselves as religiously unaffiliated, the numbers have plateaued in recent years.

“It’s striking to have observed this recent period of stability in American religion after that long period of decline,” said Gregory Smith, a senior associate director of research at Pew Research and one of the co-authors of the recent study. “One thing we can’t know for sure is whether these short-term signs of stabilization will prove to be a lasting change in the country’s religious trajectory.”

One area that may indicate the trajectory of religious affiliation is the connection between age demographics and how those age groups identify, which the RLS investigated.

The study found that Americans between the ages of 18 and 24 are significantly less religious than adults ages 74 and older. The 18- to 24-year-old group is also less likely to have grown up in a religious household.

However, 71% of the 18- to 24-year-old group responded that they thought “There is something spiritual beyond the natural world.” More than half of the youngest American adults say they pray on a regular basis, and the majority believe in Heaven (61%) and hell (54%).

Smith believes generational demographics correlate with long-term declines.

“These kinds of generational differences are a big part of what’s driven the long-term declines in American religion,” Smith said. “As older cohorts of highly religious, older people have passed away, they have been replaced by new cohorts of young adults who are less religious than their parents and grandparents.”

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