According to a Gallup poll, the percentage of U.S. adults who say religion is an important part of their daily lives has dropped 17 points over the past decade – one of the largest declines in recent history.
In 2015, 66% of Americans said religion played a key role in their daily lives. Today, that number has fallen to 49%.
Mark Tooley, president of The Institute on Religion & Democracy, says the trend reflects a broader "decline in formal Christian affiliation in America in terms of how people self-identify and whether or not they participate in a church."
He says some Christians have wandered from their faith, but many have learned there is less pressure to act like a Christian if, in fact, they are not one.
"30 or 40 years ago, they may have professed Christianity, even though they didn't practice it," Tooley poses. "Maybe much of that just reflects a more honest appraisal of where they are."
Dr. Richard Land, president of Southern Evangelical Seminary, says younger adults in particular have been turned off by the actions of others.
"Many young people saw the hypocrisy of people who claimed to be religious but weren't living in a religious way," he relays.
He adds, though, that the trend is not entirely downward. Polling and anecdotal evidence suggest that young men are increasingly returning to church in search of authentic expressions of faith and communities that emphasize spiritual growth and accountability.
"I think there’s a countervailing trend of younger Americans who are taking religion very seriously," Land tells AFN.
The 2025 "State of the Church" research notes one of the highest levels of church attendance among younger Christians in Barna's tracking. Specifically for men, Religion Unplugged reports that in 2025, 46% of Gen Z men and 55% of millennial men said they had attended church in the past week — which is higher than their female peers in the same cohorts.
