Decline of Christianity in the U.S. Has Slowed, May Have Leveled OffFindings from the 2023-24 Religious Landscape StudyBy Gregory A. Smith,Alan Cooperman,Becka A. Alper,Besheer Mohamed,Chip Rotolo,Patricia Tevington,Justin Nortey,Asta Kallo,Jeff DiamantandDalia Fahmy
Religious Landscape StudyThe Religious Landscape Study (RLS) – conducted in 2007, 2014 and 2023-24 – surveys more than 35,000 Americans in all 50 states about their religious affiliations, beliefs and practices, along with their social and political views and demographic characteristics.
Throughout 2023, PRRI interviewed more than 22,000 adults as part of its American Values Atlas, which provides for the first time the ability to estimate support for Christian nationalism in all 50 states. Additionally, this new analysis examines how religion, party, education, race, and other factors intersect with Christian nationalist views. Roughly three in ten Americans qualify as Christian nationalism Adherents or Sympathizers.
Three in ten Americans qualify as Christian nationalism Adherents (10%) or Sympathizers (20%), compared with two-thirds who qualify as Skeptics (37%) or Rejecters (30%).
These percentages have remained stable since PRRI first asked these questions in late 2022.
Residents of red states are significantly more likely than those in blue states to hold Christian nationalist beliefs.
On the map, states with the highest levels of support for Christian nationalism form a horseshoe shape, starting in the upper Midwest, dipping down into the deep South, and then moving up again through the Appalachian Mountains. There are five states in which more than 45% of residents are Christian nationalism Adherents or Sympathizers: North Dakota (50%), Mississippi (50%), Alabama (47%), West Virginia (47%), and Louisiana (46%).
Nearly four in ten residents of red states are Christian nationalists (14% Adherents and 24% Sympathizers); this is nearly twice the proportion of blue state residents who are Christian nationalists (6% Adherents and 16% Sympathizers). Residents of seven battleground states look nearly identical to the national average: 10% are Christian nationalism Adherents and 19% are Sympathizers.
At the state level, support for Christian nationalism is strongly correlated with voting for former President Donald Trump in the 2020 election. Overall, as the proportion of Christian nationalists in a state increases, the percentage of residents who voted for Trump in 2020 also increases. If the analysis is restricted to white Americans only, the relationship between state-level support for Christian nationalism and votes for Trump in 2020 becomes even stronger.
At the national level, Christian nationalism is strongly linked to Republican party affiliation and holding favorable views of Trump.
Republicans (55%) are more than twice as likely as independents (25%) and three times as likely as Democrats (16%) to hold Christian nationalist views.
Among those who hold favorable views of Trump, 55% qualify as Christian nationalists (21% Adherents and 34% Sympathizers). Only 15% of those who hold favorable views of President Joe Biden qualify as Christian nationalists (4% Adherents and 11% Sympathizers).
Christian nationalism is strongly linked to evangelical/born-again identity and frequent church attendance.
Majorities of two religious groups hold Christian nationalist beliefs: white evangelical Protestants (66%) and Hispanic Protestants (55%), a group among whom seven in ten also identify as evangelical or born-again. Less than four in ten of all other major religious groups qualify as Christian nationalists.
Christian nationalists are more likely than those who reject those views to hold theological beliefs that are markers of some charismatic strands of Christianity: beliefs about modern-day prophecy, spiritual healing, and the prosperity gospel.
Among Americans who attend religious services weekly or more, a majority (52%) are Christian nationalist Adherents or Sympathizers, compared with 38% of those who attend a few times a year and 18% of those who seldom or never attend.
Christian nationalists are more likely than other Americans to see political struggles through the apocalyptic lens of revolution and to support political violence.
A majority of Christian nationalism Adherents (54%) and 45% of Sympathizers agree that “there is a storm coming soon that will sweep away the elites in power and restore the rightful leaders,” compared with only 22% of Skeptics and 7% of Rejecters.
Christian nationalists are about twice as likely as other Americans to believe political violence may be justified. Nearly four in ten Christian nationalism Adherents (38%) and one-third of Sympathizers (33%) agree that “because things have gotten so far off track, true American patriots may have to resort to violence to save the country,” compared with only 17% of Skeptics and 7% of Rejecters.
While there is little variation in support for Christian nationalist beliefs by race or ethnicity alone, Christian nationalist beliefs are refracted through racial and ethnic identity, which produces divergent political outcomes among white, Hispanic, and Black Americans.
Among white Americans and Hispanic Americans — but not Black Americans — holding Christian nationalist beliefs is strongly correlated with Republican Party identity and support for Trump.
Black Americans who hold Christian nationalist beliefs are not significantly more likely than Black Americans overall to identify as Republican (8% vs. 5%).
Black Christian nationalists are only slightly more likely than Black Americans overall to hold favorable views of Trump (21% vs. 14%).
White Christian nationalists are far more likely than Hispanic and Black Christian nationalists to prioritize the issues of immigration and access to guns when they think about supporting a political candidate.
White Christian nationalists are far more likely than Hispanic or Black Christian nationalists to say they most trust Fox News or far-right television news sources to give them accurate information about current events and politics.