While the share of US adults who don’t claim any religious affiliation – often called “nones” – has risen in recent years, it seems that they still prefer to vote for candidates with religious beliefs. A new report from Pew Research Center has found that the upcoming 119th US Congress will be brimming with Christians. While their numbers have fallen by a little, they still make up the overwhelming majority of legislators.
The new session will see 461 Christians out of 535 seats, which is the lowest number of Christians in the legislature since 2009.
Between the Senate and the House of Representatives, Christians were found to make up 87% of lawmakers in the 2025-2027 congressional session. This is down just one point from the last session’s religious makeup, but it has fallen from 92% within the last decade.
Still, the number of legislators that identify as Christian is much higher than the public at large, which stood at 62% in 2024. This was the latest figure in a gradual decline over decades which saw 78% of US adults claim Christianity in 2007. In the mid 20th century, it was estimated that more than 9 in 10 US adults considered themselves Christian.
Few "nones" in Congress
On the opposite end of the spectrum, the religiously unaffiliated seem to be drastically underrepresented. In total, about 28% of US adults consider themselves to be religious “nones,” while the portion of lawmakers with no cited religion is below 1%.
Broken down by denomination, Protestants have a strong plurality with 295 seats in the Senate and House. This is eight fewer than the last session, and a far cry from 1961, when 398 seats were filled by Protestants. Overall, they make up 55% of the legislature, while only 40% of the population. Among the many Protestant denominations, Baptists have the most seats (75) followed by Methodists (26), Presbyterians (26), Episcopalians (22) and Lutherans (19).
The new Congress was also found to have two more Catholics than the previous iteration, bringing their total number up to 150. This figure is slightly below average from the last decade, during which Catholics routinely held about 10 more seats. Catholics make up about 28% of Congress, compared to about 20% of the US population.
The number of Jewish members of Congress was also found to be slightly higher than citizenry, with 32 seats representing 6% of Congress, while Jewish Americans make up about 2% of the population.
With nine Mormons in legislative seats, they hold 1.7% of Congress while only holding 1% of the population. Muslim and Hindus each have 4 representatives, about .8% of the Congress compared to the about 1% of the population that each religion holds in the US.
Read more about the religious makeup of the 119th US Congress, at Pew Research Center.
