In short
About 44% of US adults say they pray daily (2023-24), according to Pew Research Center's Religious Landscape Study, while roughly one-third seldom or never pray. Women pray daily more than men (50% vs 37%), and daily prayer climbs steeply with age, from 27% at ages 18-24 to 58% at 74 and older. A 2023 Skylight commissioned survey found people who pray average about 18 minutes a day, most often at bedtime (55%) or on waking (50%). Prayer spiked during COVID: worldwide Google searches for prayer rose about 30% to a record high in March 2020. The wellbeing evidence is mixed, and rigorous intercessory-prayer trials found no medical benefit.
- Daily prayer fell 14 points since 2007 but has held between 44% and 46% since 2021.
- The prayer gap is generational: older adults pray daily at more than double the rate of the youngest.
- Most prayer is private and brief, woven into waking, bedtime, commutes, and work.
- Wellbeing links are association, not proof: rigorous intercessory-prayer trials found no benefit.
About 44% of US adults say they pray daily (2023-24), according to Pew Research Center's Religious Landscape Study, while roughly one-third seldom or never pray. Women pray daily more than men (50% vs 37%), and daily prayer climbs steeply with age (27% at ages 18-24 vs 58% at 74 and older). A separate 2023 Skylight commissioned survey found people who pray average about 18 minutes a day, most often at bedtime (55%) or on waking (50%). Prayer also spiked during COVID: worldwide Google searches for prayer rose about 30% to their highest level on record in March 2020 (Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization). Marquee sources: Pew Research Center, Gallup, and peer-reviewed practice studies.
of people who pray do so at bedtime, the most common time
rise in worldwide searches for prayer in March 2020
Key findings at a glance
| Metric | Value | Year | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| US adults who pray daily | 44% | 2023-24 | Pew Research Center |
| US adults who seldom or never pray | ~32% | 2023-24 | Pew Research Center |
| Women vs men praying daily | 50% vs 37% | 2023-24 | Pew Research Center |
| Ages 18-24 vs 74+ praying daily | 27% vs 58% | 2023-24 | Pew Research Center |
| Average time spent praying per day | 18 minutes | 2023 | Skylight / City Square Associates |
| Rise in worldwide prayer searches | ~30% | 2020 | Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization |
How often Americans pray
The headline frequency numbers come from Pew's Religious Landscape Study: daily, weekly, and seldom-or-never prayer, plus a long-run decline that appears to have leveled off since 2021. Gallup's broader religiosity trend gives context for the drift.
The share of US adults who pray at least once a day is 44% (2023-24), according to Pew Research Center's Religious Landscape Study.
Daily prayer among US adults fell from 58% in 2007 to 44% in 2023-24, a 14-point decline, according to Pew Research Center.
| Statistic | Value | Year | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| US adults praying weekly or a few times a month | 23% | 2023-24 | Pew Research Center |
| US adults who seldom or never pray (up sharply since 2007) | ~32% | 2023-24 | Pew Research Center |
| Daily prayer, held steady since 2021 | 44% to 46% | 2021 to 2023-24 | Pew Research Center |
| US adults saying religion is important in daily life (from 66% in 2015) | 49% | 2025 | Gallup |
Who prays: age and gender patterns
Daily prayer varies sharply by gender and generation. Women and older adults pray daily far more than men and younger adults, and rates differ widely by religious tradition.
Half of US women pray daily (50%) compared with 37% of men (2023-24), according to Pew Research Center.
Daily prayer rises from 27% among US adults ages 18-24 to 58% among those 74 and older (2023-24), about double the rate, according to Pew Research Center.
| Statistic | Value | Year | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Latter-day Saints praying daily (highest of major groups) | 73% | 2023-24 | Pew Research Center |
| Evangelical Protestants praying daily | 72% | 2023-24 | Pew Research Center |
When and where people pray
The rhythm and setting of prayer, drawn largely from the 2023 Skylight commissioned survey, show that most prayer is brief and everyday, folded into waking, bedtime, commutes, and work rather than reserved for a formal setting.
Among Americans who pray, 55% say they pray at bedtime, the single most common time of day (2023), according to the Skylight National Day of Prayer Study.
People who pray spend an average of about 18 minutes a day praying (2023), according to the Skylight National Day of Prayer Study.
| Statistic | Value | Year | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pray at dawn or when waking | 50% | 2023 | Skylight / City Square Associates |
| Pray during a commute or while walking | 25% | 2023 | Skylight / City Square Associates |
| Pray at work | 25% | 2023 | Skylight / City Square Associates |
| Connect with a higher power via prayer, meditation, or mindfulness | 85% | 2023 | Skylight / City Square Associates |
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Solo, communal, and mealtime prayer
Beyond private prayer, Pew tracks grace before meals and participation in prayer groups and scripture-study gatherings. Communal practice is far less common than solo prayer.
About 33% of US adults say they often or always say grace or a prayer before meals (2023-24), according to Pew Research Center.
| Statistic | Value | Year | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Participate at least weekly in prayer or scripture-study groups | 13% | 2023-24 | Pew Research Center |
| Read scripture at least weekly outside of services | 22% | 2023-24 | Pew Research Center |
Why people say they pray
Self-reported motivations for prayer range from connecting with God to easing anxiety and finding solutions. These are reasons people give, not proven outcomes.
Among Americans who pray, 70% say they pray to connect with God (2023), according to the Skylight National Day of Prayer Study.
| Statistic | Value | Year | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pray to feel less anxious or depressed | 45% | 2023 | Skylight / City Square Associates |
| Report feeling a sense of calm when they pray | 42% | 2023 | Skylight / City Square Associates |
| Pray to find solutions to their problems | 41% | 2023 | Skylight / City Square Associates |
The COVID effect on prayer
The pandemic moved prayer frequency, from a record surge in prayer-related searches to durable self-reported changes in faith. The search spike was global; the faith and behavior shifts were self-reported.
Worldwide Google searches for prayer rose about 30% to their highest level on record in March 2020, according to a study in the Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization (2021).
In late March 2020, 55% of US adults said they had prayed for an end to the spread of the coronavirus, according to Pew Research Center.
| Statistic | Value | Year | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| US adults saying COVID strengthened their faith (highest of 14 economies) | 28% | 2020 | Pew Research Center |
| People who pray who prayed more during COVID lockdowns | 53% | 2023 | Skylight / City Square Associates |
Prayer, wellbeing, and health: what the research really shows
An honest read of the evidence: personal-prayer coping associations are mixed and strongest for the already-religious, and rigorous intercessory-prayer trials found no benefit. Association is not the same as cause.
In the STEP trial of 1,802 cardiac bypass patients, complications occurred in 52% of those who received intercessory prayer versus 51% of those who did not, showing no benefit (2006), according to the American Heart Journal.
| Statistic | Value | Year | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Religious-coping links to psychological symptoms in first COVID wave | Largely non-significant | 2023 | Peer-reviewed meta-analysis |
Wellbeing figures here are association only. Self-reported feelings of calm and lower anxiety among people who pray do not show that prayer causes those outcomes, and the most rigorous intercessory-prayer trial found no medical benefit.
Prayer habits in global context
How US prayer frequency compares with the other countries Pew surveyed in 2025. The US sits in the middle of the pack, far above secular Sweden and well below places like Indonesia.
In Pew's 2025 cross-national study, 44% of US adults said they pray daily, placing the US in the middle of 36 countries surveyed.
| Statistic | Value | Year | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Countries where a majority pray daily | 14 of 35 | 2023-24 | Pew Research Center |
| Swedish adults who say they never pray (lowest engagement) | ~67% | 2023-24 | Pew Research Center |
| US adults who light candles or incense for spiritual reasons | ~20% | 2023-24 | Pew Research Center |
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. Frequency, gender, age, tradition, mealtime, and global figures come from Pew Research Center's 2023-24 Religious Landscape Study and its 2025 cross-national study (surveys of more than 35,000 US adults). Timing, duration, setting, and motivation figures come from the 2023 Skylight National Day of Prayer Study, conducted by City Square Associates among adults ages 18-64, which we label as a proprietary commissioned survey reported among people who pray. The COVID search surge comes from a study in the Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization; the broader religiosity trend from Gallup. We frame all prayer-and-wellbeing findings as association rather than cause, keep the null intercessory-prayer trial (STEP) separate from personal-prayer coping, and exclude the retracted UK Quiet Revival report.
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Frequently asked questions
Sources
- Pew Research Center, Prayer, reading scripture and other religious practices among Americans (Religious Landscape Study 2023-24)
- Pew Research Center, Spiritual and religious practices around the world (May 2025)
- Pew Research Center, Decline of Christianity in the US has slowed, may have leveled off (Religious Landscape Study 2023-24)
- Bentzen, In crisis we pray (Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 2021)
- Benson et al., STEP intercessory prayer trial (American Heart Journal, 2006)
- Pew Research Center, More Americans than people in other advanced economies say COVID-19 has strengthened religious faith (2021)
- Gallup, Drop in US religiosity among largest in world (2025)
- Skylight / City Square Associates, National Day of Prayer Study (2023, commissioned survey)
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