In short
About 30% of US adults now attend religious services weekly or nearly weekly, down from 42% two decades ago (Gallup), and Gallup's 2025 surveys put the figure at 31% with 57% seldom or never attending. Pew's 2023-24 Religious Landscape Study finds 33% attend in person at least monthly and 25% at least weekly, and both Pew and PRRI report attendance has held roughly steady since 2020 rather than rebounding. On the ground, the Hartford Institute recorded the first rise in median congregation attendance in 25 years in late 2025, to 70 people.
- Weekly US attendance fell to about 30%, down from 42% two decades ago.
- The long slide has flattened: attendance held roughly steady since 2020.
- A majority, 57%, now seldom or never attend religious services.
- A first: median congregation attendance rose in late 2025, to 70 people.
About 30% of US adults now attend religious services every week or nearly every week, down from 42% two decades ago, according to Gallup's long-running trendline (2000-2003 vs 2021-2023). Gallup's 2025 monthly surveys put weekly or near-weekly attendance at 31%, with 57% seldom or never attending. Pew Research Center's 2023-24 Religious Landscape Study finds 33% attend in person at least monthly and 25% at least weekly, and both Pew and PRRI report attendance has held roughly steady since 2020 rather than rebounding. On the ground, the Hartford Institute for Religion Research recorded the first rise in median congregation attendance in 25 years in late 2025, to 70 people, just above the pre-pandemic median of 65.
median congregation attendance, first rise in 25 years
Key findings at a glance
| Metric | Value | Year | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| US weekly or near-weekly attendance | 30% | 2021-2023 | Gallup |
| Weekly or near-weekly attendance two decades earlier | 42% | 2000-2003 | Gallup |
| US adults attending weekly or nearly weekly | 31% | 2025 | Gallup |
| US adults attending in person at least monthly | 33% | 2023-24 | Pew Research Center |
| Median congregation weekly attendance | 70 | 2025 | Hartford Institute |
| US church membership | 45% | 2023 | Gallup |
The long decline in weekly attendance
Weekly and near-weekly attendance fell from about 42% two decades ago to roughly 30% today, on Gallup's consistent long trendline. The drop is steady rather than a single sharp break, with each decade lower than the last.
Weekly or near-weekly US religious service attendance is 30% (2021-2023), down from 42% two decades earlier (2000-2003), according to Gallup.
Some 56% of US adults seldom or never attend religious services (2021-2023), including 31% who never attend, according to Gallup.
Gallup's aggregate combines the shares who attend 'every week' and 'almost every week' across multi-year periods. It is self-reported attendance, which surveys consistently find runs higher than head counts of who actually shows up.
| Statistic | Value | Year | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weekly or near-weekly attendance, a decade ago | 38% | 2011-2013 | Gallup |
| Attend every week plus almost every week | 21% + 9% | 2021-2023 | Gallup |
| Attended in the past seven days (2000 vs 2023) | 44% vs 32% | 2000 vs 2023 | Gallup |
Where attendance stands in 2025
Current readings from Gallup, Pew, and PRRI cluster around 30% attending weekly or nearly weekly and roughly a third attending monthly, with the majority seldom or never attending. PRRI's weekly figure runs a few points below Gallup and Pew because of question wording.
In 2025, 31% of US adults reported attending religious services weekly or nearly weekly, according to Gallup.
33% of US adults attend religious services in person at least monthly, according to Pew Research Center's 2023-24 Religious Landscape Study.
26% of Americans attend religious services at least weekly in 2025, down from 31% in 2013, according to PRRI's Census of American Religion.
| Statistic | Value | Year | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gallup: attend about once a month | 10% | 2025 | Gallup |
| Gallup: seldom or never attend | 57% | 2025 | Gallup |
| Pew: attend in person at least weekly | 25% | 2023-24 | Pew Research Center |
| Pew: seldom or never attend in person | 49% | 2023-24 | Pew Research Center |
| PRRI: seldom or never attend (vs 42% in 2013) | 53% | 2025 vs 2013 | PRRI |
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Post-pandemic stabilization, not revival
Multiple 2025 releases from Pew and PRRI conclude attendance has held roughly steady since 2020 rather than staging a revival, especially among young adults. Pew explicitly cautions against reading the numbers as a nationwide resurgence.
The share of US adults attending religious services at least monthly has held near 33% since 2020, according to Pew Research Center.
Among US adults born 1995-2003, 10% attended religious services on the prior Sunday in 2024, essentially unchanged from 11% in 2021, according to Pew Research Center's analysis of the American Time Use Survey.
Pew found no clear evidence of a nationwide religious resurgence among young US adults as of December 2025, and PRRI's 2025 Census reports religious affiliation changed little over the prior year with little sign that Americans are returning to church. Both are qualitative findings backed by explicit source language, not standalone numbers.
| Statistic | Value | Year | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| US Christian share (down from 78% in 2007, stable since ~2019) | 62% | 2023-24 | Pew Research Center |
| Young-adult resurgence (18-29) | No clear rise | 2025 | Pew Research Center |
| Year-over-year change in affiliation | Little change | 2025 | PRRI |
What congregations report on the ground
Congregation-level data from the Hartford Institute and Lifeway show a modest, uneven recovery, with median attendance ticking up for the first time in 25 years. The Hartford Institute itself frames this as a recalibration rather than a revival, with mainline Protestant and small congregations still declining.
Median weekly in-person worship attendance at US congregations rose to 70 in late 2025, the first increase in 25 years of tracking, according to the Hartford Institute for Religion Research.
The 2025 median congregation attendance of 70 surpassed the pre-pandemic 2020 median of 65, according to the Hartford Institute for Religion Research.
The Hartford figures are based on 7,453 congregations across 79 denominations surveyed September to December 2025. Recovery is uneven, and the 58% of leaders who say their congregation is stronger is a self-reported perception, not an attendance count. Lifeway Research is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention and surveys Protestant pastors, so its church-side signal reflects still-attending congregations rather than the general public.
| Statistic | Value | Year | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Leaders saying their congregation is stronger than pre-pandemic | 58% | 2025 | Hartford Institute |
| Protestant churches with attendance up at least 4% over two years | 52% | 2024 | Lifeway Research |
| Protestant churches with attendance down at least 4% over two years | 15% | 2024 | Lifeway Research |
Who attends: age and tradition
Attendance skews older and varies widely by tradition, from evangelicals and Latter-day Saints at the top to mainline Protestants lower down. Younger adults attend at markedly lower rates than the oldest adults across every measure.
In 2025, 25% of US young adults ages 18-29 attended religious services weekly or nearly weekly, compared with 37% of adults 65 and older, according to Gallup.
60% of evangelical Protestants attend religious services in person at least monthly, according to Pew Research Center's 2023-24 Religious Landscape Study.
Weekly or near-weekly attendance among US Catholics fell to 33% (2021-2023) from 45% two decades earlier (2000-2003), a 12-point drop, according to Gallup.
| Statistic | Value | Year | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ages 18-29 seldom or never attend (vs 51% of 65+) | 61% vs 51% | 2025 | Gallup |
| Oldest adults attend monthly (vs 26% born 1995-2002) | 43% vs 26% | 2023-24 | Pew Research Center |
| Catholics attend in person at least monthly | 40% | 2023-24 | Pew Research Center |
| Mainline Protestants attend in person at least monthly | 34% | 2023-24 | Pew Research Center |
| Protestants attend weekly or nearly weekly | 44% | 2021-2023 | Gallup |
Online and hybrid attendance
Counting online and TV viewing raises overall monthly participation, reflecting how many worship from home after the pandemic. Combining online and in-person raises the monthly figure from 33% in person only to 40%.
40% of US adults participate in religious services in person, online, or both at least monthly, according to Pew Research Center's 2023-24 Religious Landscape Study.
| Statistic | Value | Year | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Watch services online or on TV at least weekly | 16% | 2023-24 | Pew Research Center |
| Watch services online or on TV at least monthly | 23% | 2023-24 | Pew Research Center |
Belonging and membership
Formal membership has fallen faster than attendance, dropping below a majority for the first time this decade. Membership is a distinct measure from how often someone attends services.
In 2023, 45% of US adults belonged to a church, synagogue, or mosque, down from 70% in 1999, according to Gallup.
| Statistic | Value | Year | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| US church membership in 1999 | 70% | 1999 | Gallup |
| US adults who belong to a religious congregation | 37% | 2023-24 | Pew Research Center |
| US adults saying religion is very important (down from 70% in 1965) | 45% | 2023 | Gallup |
How we compiled these statistics
Every figure on this page is traced to a primary source and dated to the year the data was collected. Long-term and 2025 attendance trends come from Gallup, including its multi-year 'weekly or nearly weekly' aggregate (2000-2003 through 2021-2023) and combined 2025 monthly surveys of 13,454 adults. In-person, online, tradition, and membership figures come from Pew Research Center's 2023-24 Religious Landscape Study and its December 2025 stability analysis. PRRI's 2025 Census of American Religion (40,000 adults) and Pew supply the no-revival context. Congregation-level figures come from the Hartford Institute for Religion Research (7,453 congregations across 79 denominations) and Lifeway Research (1,001 pastors, Tier-2 and SBC-affiliated, framed as a church-side signal). Self-reported attendance runs higher than head counts, so we flag that gap. We do not cite the retracted UK 'Quiet Revival' report or 'young men returning to faith' resurgence framing, and we omit church finances, tithing, politics, and any causal health or prayer-heals claims.
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Frequently asked questions
Sources
- Gallup, Church Attendance Has Declined in Most US Religious Groups
- Gallup, Americans' Religious Engagement Holds at Lower Levels (2025)
- Gallup, Religious Americans (membership and importance trends)
- Pew Research Center, Religious Service Attendance and Congregational Involvement (2023-24 Religious Landscape Study)
- Pew Research Center, Is There a Religious Revival Among Young US Adults? (December 2025)
- Pew Research Center, Decline of Christianity in the US has slowed, may have leveled off
- PRRI, 2025 Census of American Religion
- Hartford Institute for Religion Research, First Rise in US Congregation Attendance in 25 Years
- Lifeway Research, Half of Churches Experiencing Post-Pandemic Attendance Growth
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