2023 PRRI Census of American Religion

[Jeffret]

The PRRI has released their study on religious identity and diversity for 2023. As always, it is extremely well-done and highly informative. The most significant findings are that the numbers of religiously unaffiliated (sometimes referred to as "nones") has climbed to 27%, more than a quarter of the country. White Christians have declined to 41%, down from 57% in 2006. White evangelical Protestants have declined 4 percentage points to 13% in 10 years.

A really fascinating section of the study is where they break down various aspects of religious identity by each county in the country.

Some observations:

Hemant Mehta's look at it from an atheist perspective is quite interesting: Survey: White Christianity is declining while the religiously unaffiliated keep growing

Latter-day Saints have remained pretty constant at 2% of USA population in self-reported surveys for some years. Another recent PRRI survey (last year, I think), found them at 1.5%, which was one of the first drops below 2% that I have seen. This latest survey reports Latter-day Saints at 1%. Though, I think their pie chart shows them at 2%. So, presumably, some rounding error in the middle, but the text is probably more accurate.

Their map of where Latter-day Saints live is interesting. It clearly shows the Morridor.

Their map of religious diversity is fascinating. It is lowest in the deep South and rural areas and highest in urban centers, the West Coast and the Northeast. I find it interesting that religious diversity is quite high in most of Utah. Utah County, where BYU is located, is a notable outlier in Utah, where there is low diversity. Surprisingly, on a county basis, Utah seems to have more religious diversity than Colorado.

The map of white Catholic identity is intriguing. There is one county in the middle of Nevada that is 55% white Catholic and is a strong outlier from everything else around it.

Younger Americans are More Religiously Diverse. And the number of unaffiliated has risen noticeably in all age categories.