How Americans see themselves spiritually, religiously

14. Spiritual and religious self-descriptions

Americans are more likely to say they are spiritual than to say they are religious. Nearly three-quarters of Americans say they are either very spiritual or somewhat spiritual, while 58% say they are very or somewhat religious.

Bar chart showing 74% of U.S. adults identify as spiritual

Combining these measures, upward of half of U.S. adults (53%) say they are both spiritual and religious, while 21% say they are spiritual but not religious. Just 5% say they are religious but not spiritual, and 21% say they are neither spiritual nor religious.⁶²

Jump to details on how Americans answer questions in the 2023-24 Religious Landscape Study (RLS) about:

Being a spiritual person
Being a religious person
Being spiritual but not religious

Being a spiritual person

Nearly three-quarters of U.S. adults consider themselves at least somewhat spiritual, including 32% who describe themselves as very spiritual and 42% who say they are somewhat spiritual. A quarter of Americans say they are not too, or not at all, spiritual.⁶³

Table showing about 9 in 10 or more Latter-day Saints, evangelicals and people in the historically Black Protestant tradition say they are very or somewhat spiritual

The vast majority of Christians (85%) say they are at least somewhat spiritual, as do 77% of people who identify with non-Christian religions. Jewish Americans (60%) are the least likely of the religiously affiliated groups large enough to analyze to describe themselves this way.

Half of all religiously unaffiliated adults say they are at least somewhat spiritual people – though atheists (24%) are notably less likely to say this than are agnostics (47%) and people who describe their religion as “nothing in particular” (58%).

Being a religious person

Nearly six-in-ten Americans say they are at least somewhat religious, including 19% who describe themselves as very religious and 38% who say they are somewhat religious. Upward of four-in-ten Americans (42%) say they are not too, or not at all, religious.⁶⁴

About half of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (widely known as Mormons) say they are very religious, as do roughly a third or more of Muslims, evangelical Protestants and people who identify with the historically Black Protestant tradition.

Table showing 58% of Americans say they are a somewhat or very religious person

Being spiritual but not religious

Combining these two questions, we see that a little more than half of Americans – 53% – say they are both spiritual and religious (i.e., at least somewhat spiritual and at least somewhat religious).

Table showing 21% of Americans are spiritual but not religious

Smaller shares say they are spiritual but not religious (21%); religious but not spiritual (5%); and neither spiritual nor religious (21%).⁶⁵

Among religiously unaffiliated adults – often called religious “nones” – 37% say they are spiritual but not religious, while 48% say they are neither spiritual nor religious.

Seven-in-ten religiously affiliated Americans say they are both spiritual and religious. Latter-day Saints (88%) and members of historically Black Protestant (80%) and evangelical Protestant (79%) churches are more likely than members of other religious groups large enough to be analyzed to say they are spiritual as well as religious.

Pew Research Center has asked about spirituality among Americans in various ways. Most recently, in a 2023 survey, we asked U.S. adults, “Do you think of yourself as spiritual? (Yes/No)” and “Do you think of yourself as religious? (Yes/No)” along with questions asking, “How important is spirituality in your life?” and “How important is religion in your life?” We divided respondents into four categories based on their responses to both sets of questions, classifying them as spiritual if they said either that they think of themselves as spiritual OR that spirituality is very important in their lives. Likewise, we classified them as religious if they said either that they think of themselves as religious OR that religion is very important in their lives. Broadly speaking, the 2023 survey found a similar pattern of responses to what the Religious Landscape Study (RLS) shows. The largest group in the 2023 survey consisted of Americans who said they were both spiritual and religious (48%), while 22% said they were spiritual but not religious, 10% said they were religious but not spiritual, and 21% said they were neither spiritual nor religious.↩

The Center has included this question – asking people if they are a “very,” “somewhat,” “not too” or “not at all” spiritual person – in two previous surveys conducted in 2022 and 2017. The 2022 survey focused on the relationship between religion and views on the environment, and the 2017 survey covered a range of topics including various religious beliefs and practices, the relationship between religion and society, and where people find meaning and purpose in their lives. While the topics of the surveys were not the same, they collectively suggest that the share of Americans who consider themselves very spiritual may have increased modestly in recent years, from 28% in 2017 and 27% in 2022 to 32% in the 2023-24 RLS.↩

The Center has included this question – asking people if they are a “very,” “somewhat,” “not too” or “not at all” religious person – in two previous surveys conducted in 2022 and 2017. The 2022 survey focused on the relationship between religion and views on the environment, and the 2017 survey covered a range of topics including various religious beliefs and practices, the relationship between religion and society, and where people find meaning and purpose in their lives. While the topics of the surveys were not the same, they collectively suggest that the share of Americans who consider themselves religious has been fairly stable since 2022 (when 18% said this) and may be slightly higher than in 2017 (when 13% described themselves as “very religious”).↩

In our 2022 survey that included the same questions, 48% of respondents identified as both spiritual and religious, 21% said they are spiritual but not religious, 6% described themselves as religious but not spiritual, and 25% said they are neither spiritual nor religious.↩