Some people say the United States is "no longer a religious country." But the facts are, according to the Pew Research Center, 7 out of 10 Americans identify with religion.
That’s not all the Pew Research Center (PRC) has to share on the topic.
If you consider yourself a student of the world, you’ll appreciate a new interactive data map created by the PRC that compares the U.S. to other countries around the world in terms of spirituality and religion.
The interactive resource -- with moving maps and informative illustrations -- is based on data the Center gathered in 2023 and 2024 from the United States and 35 other countries.
They explain,
Although we were not able to conduct surveys in China or many Muslim-majority nations, we have findings on spirituality and religion from all inhabited continents, places with many different religious traditions, and countries with various income levels.
It's helpful to see this sort of information in such a comprehensible way, making it easy to digest and understand.
Where we stand
For example, it shows that 69% of Americans identify with a religion by placing the U.S. on a vertical line. Then, when you scroll down, you find out which countries have a lower rate of religious affiliation, and those countries appear on the line beneath the U.S.
Keep scrolling and you find out there are some countries who have a much higher rate of religious affiliation and those, too, appear on the line.
The narrative goes on to cover belief in the afterlife and even belief in “spiritual energies” in nature.
The reports shows that the U.S. falls about in the middle when it comes to daily prayer habits,
Yet the U.S. stands out among high-income countries on this question. Generally speaking, relatively few adults in wealthy countries – such as Japan and France – say they pray daily.
This tool invites the viewer to take a few minutes to step out of any preconceptions we may have about religious practice. Like any good tool, it generates more questions, such as: “Why does that country have fewer believers in the afterlife? Is it because of a lack of religion or a belief system that doesn’t teach definitively on the existence of an afterlife? And why is prayer relatively uncommon. What do people understand by prayer?"
Take a look for yourself here.
