WASHINGTON, D.C. — Thirty-four percent of U.S. adults believe religion is increasing its influence in American life, similar to the 35% measured in December but up from 20% a year ago. The majority of Americans, 59%, continue to say religion is losing its influence on U.S. society, but that is down from 75% a year ago.
These recent shifts represent a departure from the trend over the past 15 years that has generally seen larger percentages of Americans saying religious influence is decreasing rather than increasing.
Gallup asks about religious influence at least twice a year as part of its ongoing measurement of U.S. religious attitudes and behavior. It has observed similar spikes in perceptions that religion was increasing its influence after major events in recent decades.
The most notable increase occurred after the 9/11 terror attacks, when 71% in December 2001 saw religion as increasing its influence, up from 39% in February of that year. The 71% reading is the highest in Gallup’s trend, which dates back to 1957.
A second surge occurred amid the COVID-19 pandemic. In April 2020, 38% of U.S. adults believed religion was becoming more influential, up from a pre-pandemic reading of 19% in December 2019. The April 2020 figure was the highest Gallup had measured since 2006.
The reasons behind the most recent increase are unclear. It likely does not reflect a change in Americans’ personal religious commitment, as 47% of U.S. adults say religion is “very important” in their lives, unchanged from a year ago.
The selection of Pope Leo XIV as the first American to lead the Catholic Church occurred on May 8, during the most recent survey’s May 1-18 field period, but this was many months after the spike in perceived religious influence occurred in December.
One possibility is that the change in attitudes is a reaction to the Republican sweep of the federal government in last fall’s elections. A similar shift occurred after Republicans won control of Congress in 1994 for the first time in 40 years, but Gallup did not see meaningful changes in the perceptions of religious influence after more conventional GOP victories in the 2000, 2010 and 2016 elections.
Two of the recent low points — 16% saying religion was increasing its societal influence in May 2021 and 18% in May 2009 — were the first readings after Democrats won control of the federal government in the prior year’s elections.
These results suggest that election outcomes, under certain circumstances, may shape Americans’ perceptions of religion’s influence by making the connection between politics and religion more prominent.
All Key Subgroups See Religion as Increasing in Influence
To evaluate changes among key U.S. subgroups, Gallup compared combined data from May 2022 to May 2024 surveys, when an average of 22% of U.S. adults said religious influence was increasing, to the December 2024 and May 2025 surveys, when 34% did.
All major subgroups are significantly more likely to believe that religious influence is increasing, with most showing double-digit shifts. Subgroups showing smaller increases (in the single digits) include those with no religious affiliation, Democrats and liberals. These groups were among the groups that were previously most inclined to say religion was increasing its influence.
Republicans show the biggest increase of any subgroup, from 11% to 35%. That compares with a nine-percentage-point increase among Democrats (from 32% to 41%) and a 10-point gain among independents (from 21% to 31%).
These changes result in the Democratic-Republican gap on this measure shrinking from 21 points to six points today.
Still, Democrats remain among the subgroups most likely to believe that religion is increasing its influence, along with political liberals at 43% and young adults at 40%.
The groups least likely to believe religion is becoming more influential include older adults (those aged 65 years and older, at 28%), political moderates (29%) and rural residents (29%).
Protestants (33%), Catholics (35%) and Americans with no religious affiliation (36%) — the three largest religious subgroups in the U.S. — now hold similar views on whether religion is becoming more influential.
Additionally, there are no meaningful differences based on religious service attendance: 33% of those who attend services weekly, 31% of those who attend services on a semi-regular basis, and 37% of those who seldom or never attend think religion is gaining more influence on society.
Implications
The long-term religious trends in the U.S. are clear: Americans are less likely to identify with a religion, less likely to belong to a church or formal religious organization, less likely to attend religious services, and less likely to say religion is important in their lives than they were around the beginning of the 21st century. Americans appear to recognize those trends in religious attitudes and behavior, given the consistent majorities since 2006 who have said religion is losing its influence on the U.S. However, as is the case now, the size of those majorities can fluctuate at times.
To the extent that recent political changes in Washington are an explanation for changes in opinion first seen in December, it is unclear if Americans are retrospectively crediting religious voters for the Republican gains in the 2024 elections, or if they are anticipating that religious interests will become more powerful under unified Republican control of the federal government.
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View complete question responses and trends (PDF download).
