Atheism in the United States explained

Group:	American atheists
Population:	56,000,000 (17%) (answered "No" to the question "Do you believe in God?") (2017)^[1] 9,571,112 (3.1%) (self described atheists) (2014)^[2] ^[3]

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. 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". 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]

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. 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".^[12] In 2023, Pew stated that 23% of atheists believe in a higher power, but not a god.^[13]

Demographics (2014)

Age

Lack of belief in god/gods among age groups in the United States (2014)

Age group	% of lack of belief in god/gods		% of self described atheists		Source
18-29 year olds
30-49 year olds
All Americans
50-64 year olds
65+ year olds

Education

Lack of belief in god/gods among education in the United States (2014)

Highest degree earned	% of lack of belief in god/gods		% of self described atheists		Source
Post-graduate degree
College graduate
All Americans
Some college
High school or less

Gender

Lack of belief in god/gods among genders in the United States (2014)

Gender	% of lack of belief in god/gods		% of self described atheists		Source
Male American
Americans
Female American

Generation

Lack of belief in god/gods among generations in the United States (2014)

Generation	% of lack of belief in god/gods		% of self described atheists		Source
Younger Millennial Americans
Older Millennial Americans
Americans
Generation X Americans
Greatest Americans
Baby Boomer Americans
Silent Americans

Household income

Lack of belief in god/gods among household income in the United States (2014)

Cohort	% of lack of belief in god/gods		% of self described atheists		Source
$100,000 or more, Americans
$50,000-$99,999, Americans
$30,000-$49,999, Americans
Americans
Less than $30,000, Americans

Immigrant status

Lack of belief in god/gods among immigrant status in the United States (2014)

Generation	% of lack of belief in god/gods		% of self described atheists		Source
Second generation Americans
Americans
Third generation or higher Americans
Immigrants

Marital status

Lack of belief in god/gods among marital status in the United States (2014)

Cohort	% of lack of belief in god/gods		% of self described atheists		Source
Never married Americans
Living with a partner Americans
Americans
Married Americans
Divorced/separated Americans
Widowed Americans

Metro area

Lack of belief in god/gods/self described atheists among metro areas in the United States (2014)

State/federal district	% of lack of belief in god/gods		% of self described atheists		Source
Greater San Francisco Bay Area
Seattle metropolitan area
Boston metropolitan area
Providence metropolitan area
Baltimore metropolitan area
Philadelphia metropolitan area
Tampa metropolitan area
San Diego metropolitan area
Washington metropolitan area
Greater Los Angeles Area
New York metropolitan area
Phoenix metropolitan area
Chicago metropolitan area
Americans
Detroit metropolitan area
Miami metropolitan area
Riverside metropolitan area
Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex
Atlanta metropolitan area
Houston metropolitan area
St. Louis metropolitan area
Pittsburgh metropolitan area

Political affiliation

Lack of belief in god/gods among political affiliation in the United States (2014)

Political affiliation	% of lack of belief in god/gods		% of self described atheists		Source
Democrat/Lean Democrat Americans
Americans
No lean, Americans
Republican/Lean Republican Americans

Parental status

Lack of belief in god/gods among parental status in the United States (2014)

Parental status	% of lack of belief in god/gods		% of self described atheists		Source
Non-parents of children under 18 year old Americans
Americans
Parents of children under 18 year old Americans

Political ideology

Lack of belief in god/gods among political ideology in the United States (2014)

Political ideology	% of lack of belief in god/gods		% of self described atheists		Source
Liberal Americans
Americans
Moderate Americans
Don't know, Americans
Conservative Americans

Race

Lack of belief in god/gods among racial groups in the United States (2014)

Racial group	% of lack of belief in god/gods		% of self described atheists		Source
Asian Americans
White Americans
Americans
Other/Mixed Americans
Latino Americans
African Americans

Region

Lack of belief in god/gods/self described atheists among regions in the United States (2014)

State/federal district	% of lack of belief in god/gods		% of self described atheists		Source
Northeastern United States
Western United States
Americans
Midwestern United States
Southern United States

Religion

Lack of belief in god/gods among religious/belief groups in the United States (2014)

Religious group	% of lack of belief in god/gods		Source
Atheist Americans
Agnostic Americans
Nothing in particular (religion not important), Americans
Unaffiliated Americans
Buddhist Americans
New Age movement, Americans
Nothing in particular, Americans
Unitarians and other liberal faiths in "other faiths", Americans
Jewish Americans
Hindu Americans
Americans
Episcopalian (Mainline Protestant) Americans
Anglican Church, Americans
Episcopal Church, Americans
Nothing in particular (religion important), Americans
Eastern Orthodox Americans
Lutheran (Mainline Protestant) Americans
Mainline Protestant Americans
Nondenominational (Mainline Protestant) Americans
Roman Catholic Americans
Baptist (Mainline Protestant) Americans
Christian Americans
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Americans
Muslim Americans
Pentecostal (Evangelical Protestant) Americans
Presbyterian (Evangelical Protestant) Americans
Presbyterian (Mainline Protestant) Americans
Presbyterian Church in America, Americans
Presbyterian Church, Americans
United Church of Christ, Americans
United Methodist Church, Americans
Adventist (Evangelical Protestant) Americans	<1
African Methodist Episcopal Church, Americans	<1
American Baptist Churches, Americans	<1
Assemblies of God, Americans	<1
Baptist (Evangelical Protestant) Americans	<1
Baptist (Historically Black Protestant) Americans	<1
Church of God, Americans	<1
Church of God in Christ, Americans	<1
Mormon, Americans	<1
Church of the Nazarene, Americans	<1
Churches of Christ, Americans	<1
Evangelical Protestant Americans	<1
Historically Black Protestant, Americans	<1
Holiness (Evangelical Protestant), Americans	<1
Independent Baptist (Evangelical Protestant) Americans	<1
Interdenominational (Evangelical Protestant) Americans	<1
Interdenominational (Mainline Protestant) Americans	<1
Jehovah's Witness, Americans	<1
Lutheran (Evangelical Protestant) Americans	<1
Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod, Americans	<1
Methodist (Historically Black Protestant) Americans	<1
Mormon Americans	<1
National Baptist Convention, Americans	<1
Nondenominational (Evangelical Protestant) Americans	<1
Nondenominational (Historically Black Protestant) Americans	<1
Nondenominational charismatic Americans	<1
Nondenominational evangelical Americans	<1
Nondenominational fundamentalist Americans	<1
Pentecostal (Historically Black Protestant) Americans	<1
Restorationist (Evangelical Protestant) Americans	<1
Seventh-day Adventist Americans	<1
Southern Baptist Convention, Americans	<1

Sexual orientation

Self described atheists among sexual orientations in the United States (2014)

Sexual orientation	% of self described atheists		Source
LGBT Americans
Americans
Straight Americans

State/federal district

Lack of belief in god/gods/self described atheists among states/local district in the United States (2014)

State/federal district	% of lack of belief in god/gods			% of self described atheists			Source
	of population			of population
	131,406		43,802
	1,178,573		327,381
	212,538		26,567
	210,635		78,988
	84,241		24,069
	498,040		191,554
	874,190		336,227
	85,228		35,512
	4,470,475		1,490,158
	427,834		178,264
	324,066		135,028
	682,438		170,610
	2,131,591		968,905
	172,434		31,352
	226,510		61,775
	115,782		42,103
	639,202		191,761
	502,920		201,168
	1,880,131		564,039
	648,380		194,514
	577,355		173,207
	1,270,238		381,071
	122,427		27,206
	1,154,757		384,919
	274,172		121,854
	889,528		296,509
	477,353		159,118
	164,371		18,263
United States	27,787,098		9,571,112
	79,153		39,577
	703,352		175,838
	53,807		13,452
	221,111		82,917
	640,082		160,020
	303,756		173,574
	62,855		17,959
	199,718		57,062
	667,484		190,710
	807,555		230,730
	56,993		24,425
	581,259		193,753
	272,002		90,667
	359,336		119,779
	1,508,734		502,911
	33,818		16,909
	231,268		46,254
	92,650		18,530
	116,637		58,318
	118,692		29,673
	190,383		63,461
	95,595		47,797

Public officials

United States Representatives

Photo	Name	State	Position	Party	Term	Source
			United States Representative from California's 8th district, 9th district, 13th district			1973–2013	^[14]
	Jared Huffman	California	United States Representative from California's 2nd district		Democratic	2013–present	^[15]
	Barney Frank	Massachusetts	United States Representative from Massachusetts's 4th district		Democratic	1981–2013	^[16]

United States Senators

Photo	Name	State	Position	Party	Term	Source
	Thomas Gore					1907–19211931, 1937	^[17]
	Kyrsten Sinema	Arizona	United States Senator from Arizona		Independent	2019–2025	^[18]

Governors

Photo	Name	State	Position	Party	Term	Source
						1939–1943	^[19]
					Reform		Independence	1999–2003

State legislators

Photo	Name	State	Position	Party	Term	Source
						2012–2022	^[20]
						1934–1938
						2006–2012
			Maine Representative, 17th and 117th districtsMaine State Senator			1992–1994 2002–2008 1994–1996
	Barney Frank	Massachusetts	Massachusetts State Representative, 5th and 8th Suffolk districts		Democratic	1973–1981
	Ernie Chambers	Nebraska			Independent	1971–2009 2013–2021	^[21]
	Megan Hunt	Nebraska			Democratic	2019–present	^[22]
						1992–1994	^[23]
						2016–present	^[24]
						1916–1920

Mayors

Photo	Name	State	Position	Party	Term	Source
						1991–1995	^[25]
						2000–2008	^[26]

City councils

Photo	Name	State	Position	Party	Term	Source
						2016–present
						2009–2017

Political views

Views of atheists

A June–September 2014 Pew Research Center survey found that 69% of atheist Americans identify as Democratic or lean Democratic, 17% have no lean, 15% identify as Republican, 56% liberal, 29% moderate, 10% conservative, and 5% don't know. Among Americans who don't believe in god/gods, 65% identify as Democratic or lean Democratic, 17% have no lean, 18% identify as Republican, 50% liberal, 31% moderate, 13% conservative, and 6% don't know. That makes atheist and nonbelievers in god/gods Americans as belief groups to be the most politically liberal belief group in America and the least politically aligned belief group with Republicans and conservatism in the United States.

Views about atheists

In 2014, a Pew survey found that 53% of Americans claimed they would be less likely to vote for a presidential candidate who was an atheist.^[27]

Groups that include atheists

An October 2013 Public Religion Research Institute American Values Survey found 58% of American libertarians report they believe in a personal god, 25% believe god is an impersonal force in the universe, and 16% report that they do not believe in a god. It also found 73% of Americans who identify with the Tea Party report they believe in a personal god, 19% believe god is an impersonal force in the universe, and 6% report that they do not believe in a god. It also found 90% of white evangelical Protestants report they believe in a personal god, 8% believe god is an impersonal force in the universe, and less than 1% report that they do not believe in a god.^[28]

List of atheist Americans

See main article: List of American atheists and List of fictional atheists and agnostics.

Organizations

• American Atheists
• Atheist Alliance International
• The Clergy Project
• Freedom From Religion Foundation
• Freethinking Atheist and Agnostic Kinship
• International League of non-religious and atheists
• Internet Infidels
• Military Association of Atheists & Freethinkers
• Rational Response Squad
• Recovering from Religion

See also

• Atheism
• Discrimination against atheists in the United States
• Irreligion in the United States
• Religion in the United States

Further reading

• Casey Cep, "Without a Prayer: Why are Americans still uncomfortable with atheism?", The New Yorker, October 29, 2018, pp. 66–71. Discusses R. Laurence Moore and Isaac Kramnick, Godless Citizens in a Godly Republic: Atheists in American Public Life, Norton, 2018; and John Gray, Seven Types of Atheism, Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2018, which defines "atheist" as "anyone with no use for a divine mind that has fashioned the world" (a category that includes nontheist religions with no creator god, such as Buddhism and Taoism).
• Schmidt, Leigh Eric, Village Atheists: How America's Unbelievers Made Their Way in a Godly Nation, Princeton, NJ, Princeton University Press, 2016.
• Michael Shermer, "Silent No More: The rise of the atheists", Scientific American, vol. 318, no. 4 (April 2018), p. 77. Studies suggest that some 26 percent of Americans – more than 64 million people – are atheists. "[W]e should continue working on grounding our morals and values on viable secular sources such as reason and science."

External links

• Reality Check: Being Nonreligious in America 2020 report from American Atheists

Notes and References

1. Web site: Religion . 8 June 2007 .
2. Web site: U.S. Census website. United States Census Bureau. United States Census Bureau. 2017-03-22.
3. http://www.pewforum.org/religious-landscape-study/ "Religious Landscape Study"
4. Web site: Lipka . Michael . Tevington . Patricia . Starr . Kelsey . 7 February 2024 . 8 facts about Atheists . Pew Research Center.
5. Web site: 27 March 2024 . Religious Change in America . PRRI.
6. Web site: 2007-06-08 . Religion . 2024-03-14 . Gallup . en.
7. Web site: Saad . Lydia . Hrynowski . Zach . 24 June 2022 . How Many Americans Believe in God? . . en . 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..
8. Web site: Hout. Michael. Smith. Tom. Fewer Americans Affiliate with Organized Religions, Belief and Practice Unchanged: Key Findings from the 2014 General Social Survey. General Social Survey. NORC. March 2015. 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%)..
9. Web site: Kosmin. Barry. Keysar. Ariela. American Nones: The Profile of the No Religion Population. Trinity College. 2009.
10. How many atheists are there?. Social Psychological and Personality Science. 9. 3–10. 10.1177/1948550617707015. 2018. Gervais. Will M.. Najle. Maxine B.. free.
11. News: Resnick. Brian. How many American atheists are there really?. 22 April 2017. Vox. Vox Media. Vox Media. 13 April 2017.
12. Web site: Not All Nonbelievers Call Themselves Atheists | Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project . Pewforum.org . 2009-04-02 . 2014-02-27.
13. Web site: Lipka . Michael . Tevington . Patricia . Starr . Kelsey . 8 facts about Atheists . Pew Research Center . 7 February 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20240510084502/https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/02/07/8-facts-about-atheists/ . 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..
14. Stark called himself "a Unitarian who does not believe in a supreme being" and has been identified as an atheist. Rep. Stark applauded for atheist outlook: Believed to be first congressman to declare nontheism, Associated Press, March 13, 2007 (Accessed June 15, 2007)
15. News: lawmaker isn't sure that God exists. Now, he's finally decided to tell people. . https://web.archive.org/web/20190406053845/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2017/11/09/this-lawmaker-is-skeptical-that-god-exists-now-hes-finally-decided-to-tell-people/This/. dead. 2019-04-06. The Washington Post.
16. News: Barney Frank's 'Pot-Smoking Atheist' Revelation Discussed On 'The Rubin Report' . The Huffington Post . 2013-08-09 . 2013-08-09 . Curtis . Wong.
17. Web site: FFRF & Tulsa nontheists salute Gore as first atheist senator . September 7, 2010.
18. Web site: Democrat Senator Kyrsten Sinema takes oath on U.S. Constitution instead of Bible - National Globalnews.ca. 2021-07-26. Global News. en-US.
19. http://www.atheists.org/Atheism/roots/olson The Hon. Atheist Governor: Culbert L. Olson
20. Web site: "Humanist PAC Marks Gains for Atheists and Freethinkers – and Hope for All Americans in Future Elections" . 2020 . . Dec 20, 2020.
21. Web site: Hammel . Paul . Ernie Chambers targets 'so help me God' in oaths . https://archive.today/20130904062320/http://omaha.com/article/20130301/NEWS/703029945/1101 . dead . 4 September 2013 . Omaha World-Herald . 4 September 2013 .
22. News: Gunz . Rafaella . May 11, 2019 . Meet Megan Hunt: bisexual single mom and first-term Nebraska state senator . Gay Star News . June 7, 2021.
23. ""You can be elected as an openly gay politician in this country, but you can't be elected as an openly atheistic one", said Lori Lipman Brown, who was hired last fall to be the Washington, D.C., lobbyist for an organization devoted to atheist causes, the Secular Coalition for America. She's believed to be the first paid lobbyist for the unbelievers in the nation's capital, the front lines of the culture wars. Now, all Brown is seeking is a constituency willing to go public. "Think of where the LGBT movement was 25 years ago", said Brown, who has worked on gay and lesbian rights issues as a legislator and attorney. "That's where atheists are today." [...] Brown, who is married and was raised a "humanistic Jew", talks about how she "came out" as an atheist several years ago, and how most atheists aren't "out yet" at work. She says atheist kids—like many gay children—are made to feel outcasts at school, and explains that she wants to erase the negative connotation to the word "atheist" just as homosexuals have reclaimed slurs like "queer" and "dyke."" Joe Garofoli, 'Atheists hoping to assert rights in religious era', San Francisco Chronicle, February 20, 2006 (accessed June 16, 2008).
24. "I'm an atheist, but I don't believe that science and religion are by definition incompatible." Andrew Zwicker, Reddit AMA, 13 May 2014 (accessed 9 November 2017).
25. Web site: Jesse Ventura . NNDB.com . 25 April 2012 . Formerly a Lutheran, Ventura generally considers himself an atheist..
26. voterocky.org
27. Web site: 19 May 2014. For 2016 Hopefuls, Washington Experience Could Do More Harm than Good. 5 July 2020. Pew Research Center - U.S. Politics & Policy. en-US.
28. Web site: In Search of Libertarians in America.