In short
The religious gender gap that defined US faith for decades is narrowing among young adults, and on some measures it has flipped. Barna reports US men now attend church more often than women (43% vs 36% weekly in 2025), and Gallup finds young men calling religion very important rose to 42% in 2024-25 from 28%. But Pew and PRRI are cautious: no US birth cohort shows men significantly more religious than women, women still pray and believe more overall, and much of the narrowing reflects young women disaffiliating rather than a male surge.
- The religious gender gap has narrowed and, on some measures, flipped.
- Barna shows US men now outattending women weekly, 43% vs 36% in 2025.
- Much of the narrowing is young women disaffiliating, not a male surge.
- Sources disagree: no US cohort shows men significantly more religious than women.
The religious gender gap that defined American faith for decades is narrowing among young adults, and on some measures it has flipped. Barna reports that in 2025, 43% of US men attended church weekly versus 36% of women, the largest male-over-female gap in Barna's 25 years of tracking. Gallup finds 42% of young men (18-29) now call religion "very important," up from 28% in 2022-23, while young women held at 30%. Pew's 2023-24 Religious Landscape Study adds nuance: women overall still pray and believe more than men, and no birth cohort shows men significantly more religious than women. PRRI attributes much of the narrowing to young women's decline, not a male surge.
US men vs women attending church weekly in 2025 (largest such gap on record)
young US women (18-29) who are religiously unaffiliated, 2013 to 2025
Key findings at a glance
| Metric | Value | Year | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| US men vs women, weekly church attendance | 43% vs 36% | 2025 | Barna Group |
| Young men calling religion very important | 42% | 2024-2025 | Gallup |
| Young women religiously unaffiliated | 29% to 43% | 2013-2025 | PRRI |
| Gen Z men vs women, past-week attendance | 46% vs 44% | 2025 | Barna Group |
| US women vs men who pray at least daily | 50% vs 37% | 2023-2024 | Pew Research Center |
| Birth cohorts where men are more religious than women | None | 2023-2024 | Pew Research Center |
The gender gap has flipped in church attendance
Barna's 2025 tracking shows US men now attending church more often than women, the largest such gap in 25 years, with Gen Z and Millennial men leading. Barna is a Christian research firm, so its figures sit alongside the Tier-1 government-style pollsters rather than anchoring the story on their own.
US weekly church attendance was 43% among men versus 36% among women in 2025, the largest male-over-female gap in Barna's tracking, according to Barna Group.
In 2025, 46% of US Gen Z men attended church in the past week versus 44% of Gen Z women, according to Barna Group.
| Statistic | Value | Year | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| US men outpacing women in weekly attendance | 5 of 6 years | 2020-2025 | Barna Group |
| US women weekly attendance, decline then recovery | 50%+ to 36% | 2009-2025 | Barna Group |
| Millennial men vs women, past-week attendance | 55% vs 38% | 2025 | Barna Group |
Barna reports slightly different values for the 2025 headline gap depending on the release: its church-attendance-women-men page states 43% vs 36%, while its unexpected-gender-gap report states 45% vs 36%. Both are from the same 2025 tracking and both confirm it is the largest male-over-female gap on record.
Gallup: young men's religiosity is rising
Gallup finds a genuine uptick among young men (18-29) in religious importance, attendance, and affiliation, realigning the historical gender gap. Gallup is a Tier-1 pollster, but its young-men findings rest on a small subsample, so they should be read as a signal rather than a settled fact.
The share of US young men (18-29) who say religion is very important rose to 42% in 2024-25 from 28% in 2022-23, a 14-point increase, according to Gallup.
In 2024-25, 40% of US young men and 39% of young women (18-29) attended religious services monthly or more, a statistical tie, according to Gallup.
| Statistic | Value | Year | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Young women calling religion very important | 30% | 2024-2025 | Gallup |
| Young men vs women identifying with a religion | 63% vs 60% | 2024-2025 | Gallup |
Gallup's young-men figures rest on a subsample of about 295 young men, and other surveys (Pew, PRRI) do not detect a comparable surge. Treat the size of the rise cautiously.
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PRRI: young women are driving the shift
PRRI's American Values Atlas shows the gap narrowing largely because young women have disaffiliated and attend less, while young men held roughly steady. On PRRI's reading, the story is a female decline and a rift, not a broad young-adult revival.
The share of US young women (18-29) who are religiously unaffiliated rose from 29% in 2013 to 43% in 2025, according to PRRI.
The share of US young men (18-29) who are religiously unaffiliated was essentially flat, 35% in 2013 and 36% in 2024, according to PRRI.
| Statistic | Value | Year | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Young women weekly service attendance | 29% to 19% | 2016-2024 | PRRI |
| Young men weekly service attendance | 16% to 18% | 2016-2024 | PRRI |
| Young women weekly personal prayer | 53% to 38% | 2016-2024 | PRRI |
| Young women calling religion the most important thing | 21% to 12% | 2013-2023 | PRRI |
| Young men calling religion the most important thing | 16% to 17% | 2013-2023 | PRRI |
| US young adults, both sexes, attending weekly | About 2 in 10 | 2025 | PRRI |
Pew's caution: women still lead overall
Pew's 2023-24 Religious Landscape Study finds women remain more religious population-wide, and no cohort has men significantly more religious than women, though the youngest adults have essentially converged. This is the main check on any claim that young men are now the more religious sex.
There are still no US birth cohorts in which men are significantly more religious than women, according to the Pew Research Center's 2023-24 Religious Landscape Study.
In the US, 50% of women pray at least daily versus 37% of men, according to the Pew Research Center's 2023-24 Religious Landscape Study.
| Statistic | Value | Year | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| US daily-prayer gender gap, narrowing | 17 to 13 points | 2007-2024 | Pew Research Center |
| Adults 18-24 who pray daily, women vs men | 30% vs 26% | 2023-2024 | Pew Research Center |
| US women vs men who identify as Christian | 66% vs 59% | 2023-2024 | Pew Research Center |
| US women vs men absolutely certain God exists | 59% vs 49% | 2023-2024 | Pew Research Center |
| Evidence of young men converting to Christianity in large numbers | None found | 2024 | Pew Research Center |
| Surveys agreeing young men are more religious than young women | Conflicting | 2025 | American Institute for Boys and Men |
The American Institute for Boys and Men, in an analysis by researcher Ryan Burge, argues there is no convincing evidence of a male religious revival across major datasets: small subsamples produce large margins of error, and the narrowing gap is driven mainly by young women becoming less religious. So Gallup's "rise" and the Pew/PRRI "female decline, no revival" reading are both live, and the honest answer is that the surveys disagree.
Young adults now lead US church attendance
For context on the gender story: Gen Z and Millennials moved from the least to the most frequent churchgoers, alongside a broader stabilization of US Christianity. This is the backdrop against which the male uptick is being read.
US Gen Z churchgoers attended an average of 1.9 weekends per month in 2025, the highest among generations Barna tracks, according to Barna Group.
| Statistic | Value | Year | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| US young-generation monthly attendance, rising | ~1 to ~2/month | 2020-2025 | Barna Group |
| US adults reporting a personal commitment to Jesus | 66% | 2025 | Barna Group |
| US adults who identify as Christian, decline slowed | 62% | 2023-2024 | 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. Church-attendance and generational figures come from Barna Group's 2025 tracking (a Christian research firm, labeled Tier 2, and balanced against the Tier-1 pollsters). Young-adult importance, attendance, and affiliation figures come from Gallup. Disaffiliation, attendance, prayer, and importance trends among young men and women come from PRRI's American Values Atlas. Population-wide prayer, belief, Christian identity, and cohort comparisons come from Pew Research Center's 2023-24 Religious Landscape Study. We present prayer figures as prevalence only, with no health or causal claims. Where sources disagree, we flag it: Gallup documents a real rise among young men on a small subsample, while Pew, PRRI, and the American Institute for Boys and Men caution that the narrowing gap is driven mainly by young women's decline rather than a male revival. We excluded the retracted UK Bible Society "Quiet Revival" report and avoided any politics or culture-war framing.
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Frequently asked questions
Sources
- Barna Group, Is Church Attendance Turning Upward? And a Surprising Gender Gap
- Barna Group, Church Attendance Among Women and Men
- Barna Group, Young Adults Lead a Resurgence in Church Attendance (2025)
- Gallup, Rise in Young Men's Religiosity Realigns Gender Gaps
- PRRI, Gen Z, Gender, and Religion
- PRRI, What's the Real Story With Gen Z and Religion?
- Pew Research Center, Decline of Christianity in the US Has Slowed, May Have Leveled Off (2023-24 Religious Landscape Study)
- American Institute for Boys and Men, Are Young Men Really Returning to Church? The Data Says Not So Fast
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