Religious affiliation is shifting in Pennsylvania
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Pennsylvanians are less likely to identify as Christian now compared to a decade ago, per a new study.
The big picture: "This is a broad-based social change," says Alan Cooperman, the director of religion research at the Pew Research Center.
- "We've had rising shares of people who don't identify with any religion — so called 'nones' — and declining shares who identify as Christian, in all parts of the country, in all parts of the population, by ethnicity and race, among both men and women, and among people at all levels of the educational spectrum," he says about the survey findings.
Caveat: What researchers call a "secular surge" has plateaued in the last four years.
By the numbers: 62% of Pennsylvanians identified as Christian in 2024 — down from 73% in 2014, according to Pew's Religious Landscape Study.
- 30% of Keystone State residents are religiously unaffiliated, up from 21% in 2014.
Zoom out: Nationally, 29% of U.S. adults are religiously unaffiliated, up from 16% in 2007, according to Pew.
- And 7% of U.S. adults identify with other religions, up from 5% in 2007.
Between the lines: A significant portion of U.S. adults (35%) have switched religion since childhood, according to the study.
What they're saying: "If you're more progressive, you might look at religion and say that the mainstream religious institutions don't reflect my values," particularly when it comes to topics like LGBTQ+ inclusion, Penny Edgell, professor in the sociology department at the University of Minnesota, tells Axios.
Case in point: Fewer self-described liberals say they're Christian (37%, down from 62% in 2007) than are religiously unaffiliated, according to the Pew data.
- The decline among self-described conservatives is smaller, from 89% to 82%.