 | This article needs to be updated. (June 2024) |
A 2023 poll by the Pew Research Center found that 4% of Americans in the United States self-identified as atheists.[4] This is an increase from 3.1% of Americans in 2014.[3] However, in 2014, 9% of Americans agreed with the statement "Do not believe in God" while 2% agreed with the statement "Do not know if they believe in God".[3] According to a poll by non-profit PRRI in 2023, 4% of Americans were atheist and 5% were agnostic.[5] Polling by Gallup in 2022 showed that 17% of respondents replied "No" when asked "Do you believe in God?" in a binary fashion, but when worded differently in 2023, Gallup found that 12% of respondents replied they "Do not believe in" God and 14% replied they were "Not sure about" the existence of God.[6] According to Gallup, there are variations in their polling results because they ask about God in three different wordings, each with a different result.[7]
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According to the 2014 General Sociological Survey, the number of atheists and agnostics in the U.S. grew over the previous 23 years. In 1991, only 2% identified as atheist, and 4% identified as agnostic; while in 2014, 3.1% identified as atheists, and 5% identified as agnostics.[8]
According to the 2008 ARIS, only 2% the US population was atheist, while 10% were agnostics.[9]
One 2018 research paper using indirect methods estimated that 26% of Americans are atheists, which is much higher than the 3%-11% rates that are consistently found in surveys.[10] However, methodological problems have been identified with this particular study; in particular, it has been posted that many people might not have a binary outlook to the question of the existence of God.[11]
Accurate demographics of atheism are difficult to obtain since conceptions of atheism and self-identification are context dependent by culture.[12] In 2009, Pew stated that only 5% of the US population did not have a belief in a god and out of that small group only 24% self-identified as "atheist", while 15% self-identified as "agnostic" and 35% self-identified as "nothing in particular".[13] In 2023, Pew stated that 23% of atheists believe in a higher power, but not a god.[14]
- ^ "Religion". 8 June 2007.
- ^ Bureau, U.S. Census. "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 2017-03-22.
{{cite web}}:|last=has generic name (help) - ^ a b c "Religious Landscape Study". Pew Research Center. 2014. Retrieved August 21, 2018.
- ^ Lipka, Michael; Tevington, Patricia; Starr, Kelsey (7 February 2024). "8 facts about Atheists". Pew Research Center.
- ^ "Religious Change in America". PRRI. 27 March 2024.
- ^ "Religion". Gallup. 2007-06-08. Retrieved 2024-03-14.
- ^ Saad, Lydia; Hrynowski, Zach (24 June 2022). "How Many Americans Believe in God?". Gallup.
The answer to how many Americans believe in God depends on how the question is asked. Gallup has measured U.S. adults' belief in God three different ways in recent years, with varying results.
- ^ Hout, Michael; Smith, Tom (March 2015). "Fewer Americans Affiliate with Organized Religions, Belief and Practice Unchanged: Key Findings from the 2014 General Social Survey" (PDF). General Social Survey. NORC.
The percentage answering 'no religion' was 21 percent in 2014, 20 percent in 2012, just 14 percent as recently as 2000, and only 8 percent in 1990." & "In 2014, 3 percent of Americans did not believe in God and 5 percent expressed an agnostic view; the comparable percentages were 2 percent and 4 percent in 1991. More people believed in a 'higher power' in 2014 (13%) than in 1991 (7%).
- ^ Kosmin, Barry; Keysar, Ariela (2009). "American Nones: The Profile of the No Religion Population" (PDF). Trinity College.
- ^ Gervais, Will M.; Najle, Maxine B. (2018). "How many atheists are there?". Social Psychological and Personality Science. 9: 3–10. doi:10.1177/1948550617707015.
- ^ Resnick, Brian (13 April 2017). "How many American atheists are there really?". Vox. Vox Media. Vox Media. Retrieved 22 April 2017.
- ^ Zuckerman, Phil (2007), "Atheism: Contemporary Rates and Patterns", Cambridge Companion to Atheism, pp. 47–66, doi:10.1017/CCOL0521842700.004
- ^ "Not All Nonbelievers Call Themselves Atheists | Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project". Pewforum.org. 2009-04-02. Retrieved 2014-02-27.
- ^ Lipka, Michael; Tevington, Patricia; Starr, Kelsey (7 February 2024). "8 facts about Atheists". Pew Research Center. Archived from the original on 2024-05-10.
About three-quarters of U.S. atheists (77%) do not believe in God or a higher power or in a spiritual force of any kind, according to our summer 2023 survey. At the same time, 23% say they do believe in a higher power of some kind.