In short
About 44% of US adults pray at least once a day (Pew, 2023-24). Daily prayer fell from 58% in 2007 but has held near 44% to 46% since 2021, so the long decline has leveled off. Worldwide, a majority pray daily in 14 of 35 countries Pew surveyed, from 95% in Indonesia to 8% in Sweden.
About 44% of US adults say they pray at least once a day, according to Pew Research Center's 2023-24 Religious Landscape Study, while 23% pray weekly or monthly and 32% seldom or never pray. Daily prayer fell from 58% in 2007 but has since leveled off, holding between 44% and 46% since 2021. Prayer is far more common across much of the world: in 14 of 35 countries Pew surveyed in 2024, a majority pray every day, from 95% in Indonesia to 8% in Sweden. The figures below draw on Pew Research Center and Gallup, the most authoritative sources on how many people pray.
US daily prayer since 2021, a plateau after years of decline
Key findings at a glance
| Metric | Value | Year | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| US adults who pray daily | 44% | 2023-24 | Pew Research Center |
| US daily prayer since 2021 (a plateau) | 44% to 46% | 2021-2024 | Pew Research Center |
| Countries where a majority pray daily | 14 of 35 | 2024 | Pew Research Center |
| Highest daily prayer rate (Indonesia) | 95% | 2024 | Pew Research Center |
| US women vs men praying daily | 50% vs 37% | 2023-24 | Pew Research Center |
| Lowest daily prayer rate (Sweden) | 8% | 2024 | Pew Research Center |
How many Americans pray, and how often
Pew Research Center's 2023-24 Religious Landscape Study surveyed 36,908 US adults, making it the most authoritative recent read on how often Americans pray. It splits the country into roughly two in five who pray every day and one in three who seldom or never do.
The share of US adults who say they pray at least once a day is 44% (2023-24), according to Pew Research Center.
The share of US adults who pray on a weekly or monthly basis is 23% (2023-24), according to Pew Research Center.
The share of US adults who seldom or never pray is 32% (2023-24), according to Pew Research Center.
The share of US adults who say grace or give thanks to God aloud before meals often or always is 33% (2023-24), according to Pew Research Center.
The share of US adults who take part in a prayer group, scripture study, or religious education group at least weekly is 13% (2023-24), according to Pew Research Center.
The daily-prayer trend: fell, then stabilized
Daily prayer declined for more than a decade, but the fall appears to have stopped. Pew notes that its 2007 and 2014 studies were conducted by telephone while the 2023-24 study used online and paper surveys, so comparisons across those years are directional rather than exact.
The share of US adults who prayed daily was 58% in 2007, according to Pew Research Center.
The share of US adults who prayed daily was 55% in 2014, according to Pew Research Center's earlier Religious Landscape Study.
Most of the decline happened between 2015 and 2021, when daily prayer fell from about 57% to about 45%, according to Pew Research Center.
Daily prayer has held between 44% and 46% since 2021, indicating the earlier decline has leveled off, according to Pew Research Center.
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Who prays most: gender, age, and race
Prayer frequency varies sharply across groups. Women, older adults, and Black Americans report daily prayer at the highest rates, while young adults report it least often.
The share of US women who pray daily is 50% (2023-24), according to Pew Research Center.
The share of US men who pray daily is 37% (2023-24), according to Pew Research Center.
The share of US adults ages 18 to 24 who pray daily is 27% (2023-24), according to Pew Research Center.
The share of US adults ages 74 and older who pray daily is 58% (2023-24), according to Pew Research Center.
The share of Black US adults who pray daily is 64% (2023-24), the highest of any racial group Pew measured.
The share of Hispanic US adults who pray daily is 47% (2023-24), according to Pew Research Center.
The share of White US adults who pray daily is 40% (2023-24), according to Pew Research Center.
The share of Asian US adults who pray daily is 34% (2023-24), according to Pew Research Center.
The share of US evangelical Protestants who pray daily is 72% (2023-24), according to Pew Research Center.
About 30% of young US adults born 1995 to 2002 pray daily, a rate that has stayed roughly flat since 2020 with no sign of a revival, according to Pew Research Center.
How many people pray worldwide
Prayer is far more common in much of the world than in the wealthy West. Pew surveyed 36 countries in 2024 and found a majority praying daily in 14 of the 35 analyzed, with the United States a clear outlier among high-income nations.
A majority of adults pray at least once a day in 14 of the 35 countries Pew analyzed (2024).
The share of adults in Indonesia who pray at least once a day is 95% (2024), the highest of any country Pew surveyed.
The share of adults who pray at least once a day is 84% in both Kenya and Nigeria (2024), according to Pew Research Center.
The share of adults who pray at least once a day is 80% in Malaysia and 79% in the Philippines (2024), according to Pew Research Center.
The share of adults in Brazil who pray at least once a day is 76% (2024), according to Pew Research Center.
At 44% praying daily, the United States stands out among high-income countries, where relatively few adults report daily prayer (2024), according to Pew Research Center.
The share of adults who pray at least once a day is 16% in Germany and 18% in France (2024), among the lowest in Western Europe, according to Pew Research Center.
The share of adults in Sweden who pray at least once a day is 8% (2024), among the lowest Pew measured.
In Pew's cross-national survey, 44% of US adults say they pray daily while 16% say they never pray (2024).
Prayer alongside other faith practices
Prayer sits within a wider set of beliefs and practices. Belief in God remains high even as service attendance and the importance people place on religion have slipped, and lower prayer rates among young adults do not mean they lack spiritual belief.
The share of US adults who believe in God or a universal spirit is 83% (2023-24), according to Pew Research Center.
The share of Americans who say religion is very important in their lives is 47% (2025), according to Gallup.
The share of Americans who attend religious services weekly or nearly weekly is 31% (2025), according to Gallup.
The share of Americans who rarely or never attend religious services is 57% (2025), according to Gallup.
The share of US adults who read scripture at least weekly outside of religious services is about 22% (2023-24), according to Pew Research Center.
The share of US adults ages 18 to 24 who say people have a soul or spirit beyond the physical body is 82% (2023-24), only slightly below the oldest adults, according to Pew Research Center.
How we compiled these statistics
Every figure on this page is drawn from a primary source and dated to the year the data was collected. US prayer, belief, and demographic figures come from Pew Research Center's 2023-24 Religious Landscape Study, a survey of 36,908 US adults, and its companion reports. Cross-national prayer rates come from Pew's 2024 survey of 36 countries. Service-attendance and importance-of-religion figures come from Gallup's 2025 tracking. Where a survey changed methods over time, such as Pew's shift from telephone to online and paper interviews, we treat year-over-year comparisons as directional. We review the page as new Pew, Gallup, and related releases are published.
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Frequently asked questions
Sources
- Pew Research Center, Prayer and other religious practices (Religious Landscape Study 2023-24)
- Pew Research Center, Decline of Christianity in the US has slowed, may have leveled off (2025)
- Pew Research Center, Religious and spiritual beliefs (Religious Landscape Study 2023-24)
- Pew Research Center, How people around the world view spiritual and religious practices (2025)
- Pew Research Center, Spirituality and religion: how the US compares with 35 other countries (2025)
- Pew Research Center, If the US had 100 people: Americans' religious beliefs and practices (2026)
- Pew Research Center, Religion holds steady in America (2025)
- Pew Research Center, US public becoming less religious (2015)
- Gallup, Americans' religious engagement holds at lower levels (2025)
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