I. Executive Summary The American religious landscape is undergoing a dramatic transformation. White Christians, once the dominant religious group in the U.S., now account for fewer than half of all adults living in the country. Today, fewer than half of all states are majority white Christian. As recently as 2007, 39 states had majority white Christian populations. These are two of the major findings from this report, which is based on findings from PRRI’s 2016 American Values Atlas, the single largest survey of American religious and denominational identity ever conducted. This landmark report is based on a sample of more than 101,000 Americans from all 50 states and includes detailed information about their religious affiliation, denominational ties, political affiliation, and other important demographic attributes. Among the major findings: White Christians now account for fewer than half of the public. Today, only 43% of Americans identify as white and Christian, and only 30% as white and Protestant. In 1976, roughly eight in ten (81%) Americans identified as white and identified with a Christian denomination, and a majority (55%) were white Protestants. White evangelical Protestants are in decline—along with white mainline Protestants and white Catholics. White evangelical Protestants were once thought to be bucking a longer trend, but over the past decade their numbers have dropped substantially. Fewer than one in five (17%) Americans are white evangelical Protestant, but they accounted for nearly one-quarter (23%) in 2006. Over the same period, white Catholics dropped five percentage points from 16% to 11%, as have white mainline Protestants, from 18% to 13%. Non-Christian religious groups are growing, but they still represent less than one in ten Americans combined. Jewish Americans constitute 2% of the public while Muslims, Buddhists, and Hindus each constitute only 1% of the public. All other non-Christian religions constitute an additional 1%. America’s youngest religious groups are all non-Christian. Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists are all far younger than white Christian groups. At least one-third of Muslims (42%), Hindus (36%), and Buddhists (35%) are under the age of 30. Roughly one-third (34%) of religiously unaffiliated Americans are also under 30. In contrast, white Christian groups are aging. Slightly more than one in ten white Catholics (11%), white evangelical Protestants (11%), and white mainline Protestants (14%) are under 30. Approximately six in ten white evangelical Protestants (62%), white Catholics (62%), and white mainline Protestants (59%) are at least 50 years old. The Catholic Church is experiencing an ethnic transformation. Twenty-five years ago, nearly nine in ten (87%) Catholics were white, non-Hispanic, compared to 55% today. Fewer than four in ten (36%) Catholics under the age of 30 are white, non-Hispanic; 52% are Hispanic. Atheists and agnostics account for a minority of all religiously unaffiliated. Most are secular. Atheists and agnostics account for only about one-quarter (27%) of all religiously unaffiliated Americans. Nearly six in ten (58%) religiously unaffiliated Americans identify as secular, someone who is not religious; 16% of religiously unaffiliated Americans nonetheless report that they identify as a “religious person.” There are 20 states in which no religious group comprises a greater share of residents than the religiously unaffiliated. These states tend to be more concentrated in the Western U.S., although they include a couple of New England states, as well. More than four in ten (41%) residents of Vermont and approximately one-third of Americans in Oregon (36%), Washington (35%), Hawaii (34%), Colorado (33%), and New Hampshire (33%) are religiously unaffiliated. No state is less religiously diverse than Mississippi. The state is heavily Protestant and dominated by a single denomination: Baptist. Six in ten (60%) Protestants in Mississippi are Baptist. No state has a greater degree of religious diversity than New York. The cultural center of the Catholic Church is shifting south. The Northeast is no longer the epicenter of American Catholicism—although at 41% Catholic, Rhode Island remains the most Catholic state in the country. Immigration from predominantly Catholic countries in Latin America means new Catholic populations are settling in the Southwest. In 1972, roughly seven in ten Catholics lived in either the Northeast (41%) or the Midwest (28%). Only about one-third of Catholics lived in the South (13%) or West (18%). Today, a majority of Catholics now reside in the South (29%) or West (25%). Currently, only about one-quarter (26%) of the U.S. Catholic population lives in the Northeast, and 20% live in the Midwest. Jews, Hindus, and Unitarian-Universalists stand out as the most educated groups in the American religious landscape. More than one-third of Jews (34%), Hindus (38%), and Unitarian-Universalists (43%) hold post-graduate degrees. Notably, Muslims are significantly more likely than white evangelical Protestants to have at least a four-year college degree (33% vs. 25%, respectively). Asian or Pacific-Islander Americans have a significantly different religious profile than other racial or ethnic groups. There are as many Asian or Pacific-Islander Americans affiliated with non-Christian religions as with Christian religious groups. And one-third (34%) are religiously unaffiliated. Nearly half of LGBT Americans are religiously unaffiliated. Nearly half (46%) of Americans who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) are religiously unaffiliated. This is roughly twice the number of Americans overall (24%) who are religiously unaffiliated. White Christians have become a minority in the Democratic Party. Fewer than one in three (29%) Democrats today are white Christian, compared to half (50%) one decade earlier. Only 14% of young Democrats (age 18 to 29) identify as white Christian. Forty percent identify as religiously unaffiliated. White evangelical Protestants remain the dominant religious force in the GOP. More than one-third (35%) of all Republicans identify as white evangelical Protestant, a proportion that has remained roughly stable over the past decade. Roughly three-quarters (73%) of Republicans belong to a white Christian religious group. 
 
 II. A Portrait of Religious Affiliation in America The American religious landscape has undergone dramatic changes in the last decade and is more diverse today than at any time since modern sociological measurements began. White Christians, which once dominated the religious landscape as recently as a decade ago, now account for fewer than half of the public. White evangelical Protestants, the single largest religious tradition, make up less than one in five (17%) Americans today. Compared to ten years ago, significantly fewer Americans identify as white mainline Protestant (13%) or white Catholic (11%). Mormons comprise two percent of the population.1 Fifteen percent of Americans are nonwhite Protestants, including black Protestants (8%), Hispanic Protestants (4%), and Asian, mixed-race, and other race Protestants (3%). Seven percent of the public is Hispanic Catholic. Non-Christian religious groups constitute less than one in ten Americans. Muslims, Buddhists, and Hindus are each roughly one percent of the population. Jewish Americans account for two percent of the public. No religious group is larger than those who are unaffiliated from religion. Nearly one in four (24%) Americans are now religiously unaffiliated. The religious landscape in the U.S. is highly stratified by generation. Nearly two-thirds of seniors (age 65 or older) identify as white and Christian: White evangelical Protestant (26%), white mainline Protestant (19%), or white Catholic (16%). Conversely, only about one-quarter of young adults (age 18-29) belong to a white Christian tradition, including white evangelical Protestant (8%), white mainline Protestant (8%), or white Catholic (6%). Young adults are more than three times as likely as seniors to identify as religiously unaffiliated (38% vs. 12%, respectively). The Geography of Religion in America There is substantial variation in religious identity between the four regions of the United States. Collectively, white evangelical Protestants are twice as large in the South (22%) and Midwest (20%) as they are in the Northeast (8%). Twelve percent of residents in the West are white evangelical Protestant. In contrast, Catholics represent a much larger share of Northeastern residents. Roughly three in ten (29%) residents of the Northeast identify as Catholic, compared to about one in five Westerners (21%), Midwesterners (19%), and Southerners (17%). The religiously unaffiliated represent a larger share of the population in the West (29%) than in the Northeast (24%), Midwest (23%), or South (20%). Notably, there is significant racial and ethnic variation among Catholics by region. White Catholics outnumber Hispanic Catholics by a wide margin in the Northeast (20% vs. 7%, respectively) and Midwest (15% vs. 3%, respectively). However, in the South, residents are about as likely to identify as white Catholic (8%) as they are to identify as Hispanic Catholic (7%); and in the West, Hispanic Catholics (12%) outnumber white Catholics (7%). There are substantial differences in the religious profiles of the 50 states, although they follow regional patterns. There are 20 states in which no religious group comprises a greater share of residents than the religiously unaffiliated. These states tend to be more concentrated in the Western U.S., although they include a couple of New England states, as well. More than four in ten (41%) residents of Vermont and approximately one-third of Americans in Oregon (36%), Washington (35%), Hawaii (34%), Colorado (33%), and New Hampshire (33%) are religiously unaffiliated. In 11 states, many of which are clustered in the Northeast, no religious group outnumbers Catholics. No state has a higher concentration of Catholics than Rhode Island (41%), followed by Massachusetts (34%), New Jersey (34%), New York (31%), and Connecticut (31%). In 13 states, no religious group comprises a larger share of residents than white evangelical Protestants. Unsurprisingly, most of these states can be found in the South. At least one-third of the residents in the following states are white evangelical Protestant: Arkansas (37%), West Virginia (36%), Tennessee (36%), Alabama (35%), and Kentucky (33%). Additionally, Mormons (51%) are the largest religious group in Utah, one of the most religiously homogeneous states in the country. White mainline Protestants are more numerous in North Dakota than any other state, making up 30% of the state’s residents. Black Protestants are most dominant in Mississippi, where they make up one-quarter (25%) of the population, but they are still only the second largest religious group in the state behind white evangelical Protestants (31%). Religious Diversity Despite the incredible variety of religious expression and identity in the U.S., there are importance differences in the degree of religious diversity found in each state. To measure the religious diversity in the country, this report uses an index developed to measure variations in the concentration of global religious populations.2 The index is calculated so that a score of “one” signifies complete diversity—every religious group is of equal size—while a score of “zero” indicates a complete lack of diversity and one religious group comprises the entire population of a given state. The least religiously diverse states in the U.S. are all located in the South. Mississippi is the least diverse state in the U.S. (0.45), followed by Alabama (0.48), Arkansas (0.49), South Carolina (0.53), and Tennessee (0.53). Conversely, the most religiously diverse states are primarily located in the Northeastern U.S., with New York (0.83), New Jersey (0.81), Connecticut (0.81), Massachusetts (0.81), and California (0.8) registering the greatest degree of religious diversity. Protestant Denominations Among Protestants in the U.S., Baptists are the largest denominational family. Roughly one-third (32%) of all Protestants identify with some Baptist denomination, at least three times the number who identify with the next largest denominational families—Methodist (10%), Pentecostal (10%), and Lutheran (8%). One in twenty identify with the Church of Christ or Disciples of Christ (5%) denominations or with the Presbyterian denomination (5%). Only three percent of Protestants belong to an Episcopalian or Anglican denomination. Notably, nearly one in five (17%) Protestants belong to independent Christian churches that are not affiliated with any Protestant denomination. The pattern of denominational membership among Protestants varies significantly by region. More than four in ten (44%) Protestants living in the South affiliate with a Baptist denomination, nearly twice as many as those living in the Northeast (23%), Midwest (23%), or West (19%). Lutherans remain much more prevalent in the Midwest than any other part of the country. Seventeen percent of Protestants living in the Midwest are Lutheran, roughly twice the number who identify with this denomination in the West (9%) and the Northeast (7%). Only three percent of Southerners are Lutheran. Non-denominational Protestants are more prevalent in the West (25%) than the Midwest (17%), South (15%), or Northeast (14%). Certain states are also unique in that they are dominated by one denominational family. A majority of Protestants in Mississippi (60%), Arkansas (56%), Louisiana (55%), and Alabama (54%) are Baptist, while a majority of Protestants in North Dakota (56%) and nearly half of those in Minnesota (49%) are Lutheran. Jewish Identity and Denominations Overall, 1.5% of Americans identify as Jewish when responding to a question about their religious affiliation. However, previous research has suggested questions that frame Jewish identity in explicitly religious terms may undercount the total Jewish population because they miss those with a cultural or familial affinity. To address this issue, the survey included a question to identify those who had a cultural rather than a religious connection to their Jewish identity.3 An additional 0.8% of Americans identify as culturally but not religiously Jewish. The issue of Jewish cultural identity has become increasingly important as younger Jews are more likely to have a cultural affinity. Among Jews under the age of 30, fewer than half (47%) identify as religiously Jewish, while a majority (53%) identify as culturally Jewish. In sharp contrast, more than three-quarters (78%) of Jewish seniors (age 65 or older) are religiously Jewish, while 22% identify as culturally Jewish. Among all Jewish Americans—those who identify as Jewish both religiously and culturally—more identify as Reform than any other denomination. Twenty-eight percent of Jews identify as Reform, compared to 14% who identify as Conservative and 10% who identify as Orthodox. Two percent identify as Reconstructionist. Notably, more than one-third (37%) of Jewish Americans claim to be “just Jewish” when asked about their denominational affiliation. There is, however, a considerable disparity in denominational membership among Jews by age. Only 20% of Jews under the age of 30 are Reform, compared to 15% who identify as Orthodox. Fewer than one in ten (8%) young Jewish Americans affiliate with the Conservative movement, and three percent identify as Reconstructionist. More than four in ten (44%) say they are “just Jewish” in terms of their denominational affinity. Jewish seniors are about ten times as likely to identify as Reform as they are to identify as Orthodox (35% vs. 3%, respectively). One in five (20%) identify as Conservative, and two percent identify as Reconstructionist. Approximately one-third (34%) do not claim any denominational affiliation. Measuring Evangelical Protestant Identity The size of the white evangelical Protestant population in the U.S. has often been misunderstood in recent years. The primary source of confusion stems from researchers employing differing definitions of “evangelical” and their published findings often failing to clearly distinguish between the group as a whole and the distinct racial and ethnic subgroups within it. In this report, “evangelicals” are defined as those who self-identify as Protestant Christians who also identify as evangelical or born again.5 Self-identified evangelical Protestants account for more than one-quarter (26%) of the public, but whites make up only a subset of this larger group. Fewer than two-thirds (64%) of all evangelical Protestants are white. Nearly one in five (19%) are black, one in ten (10%) are Hispanic, and six percent identify as some other race or mixed race. Thus, among the public overall, white evangelical Protestants account for fewer than one in five (17%) Americans. Five percent of Americans are black evangelical Protestants, two percent are Hispanic evangelical Protestants, and other or mixed-race evangelical Protestants make up one percent of the public. Like all Christians in the U.S., evangelical Protestants are experiencing a substantial racial and ethnic transformation. Young evangelical Protestants are far more racially and ethnically diverse than previous generations. Only half (50%) of evangelical Protestants under the age of 30 are white, compared to more than three-quarters (77%) of evangelical Protestant seniors (age 65 or older). Twenty-two percent of young evangelical Protestants are black, 18% are Hispanic, and nine percent identify as some other race or mixed race. 
 
 III. America’s New Religious Landscape: Three Major Trends The National Decline in White Christian Identity Demographically, the U.S. historically has been an overwhelmingly white Christian country, with white Protestants alone constituting a clear cultural majority.6 In 1976, roughly eight in ten (81%) Americans identified as white and identified with a Christian denomination. At that time, a majority (55%) of Americans were white Protestants. Much of the decline has occurred in the last few decades. As recently as 1996, white Christians still made up nearly two-thirds (65%) of the public. By 2006, that number dropped to 54%, but white Christians still constituted a majority.8 But over the last decade, the proportion of white Christians in the U.S. has slipped below majority. Today, only 43% of Americans identify as white and Christian—and only 30% as white and Protestant. Although white Christians have experienced substantial losses nationally, there are notable divisions in the size of the white Christian population by state. Today, the states with the highest concentrations of white Christians are generally found in the Midwest and Appalachia, including North Dakota (71%), South Dakota (68%), Iowa (64%), West Virginia (61%), Kentucky (61%), Utah (61%), Minnesota (59%), Missouri (58%), and Arkansas (58%). Conversely, white Christians are least plentiful in Hawaii (20%), California (24%), New York (30%), New Mexico (30%), and Maryland (32%). In total, fewer than half (23) of all 50 states have majority white Christian populations. This represents a significant drop from 2007, when 39 states had majority white Christian populations.9 Notably, between 2007 and 2016, the proportions of white Christians have declined in every state but one (Hawaii), though the amount of decline varies widely by state. Many of the states that experienced the greatest losses are concentrated in the Northeast. Massachusetts, for example, experienced a 20-point decline in the number of white Christians living in the state over the last decade. Hawaii, the only state to experience an increase in the proportion of white Christians, saw an increase of six percentage points. The Decline of White Evangelical Protestants Although much of the research on religious decline has focused on losses among white mainline Protestants and white Catholics—groups with well-documented declines—much of the public discussion on religious change has missed one of the most important stories of the last decade: The decline of white evangelical Protestants.10 White evangelicals managed to avoid the first wave of white Christian decline in the 1990s and into the early years of the 21st century. But between 2006 and 2016, the proportion of white evangelical Protestants has fallen six percentage points, from 23% to 17%. White Catholics experienced a similar decline in membership, dropping five percentage points from 16% in 2006 to 11% in 2016.11 White mainline Protestants also experienced significant losses during this period, dropping from 18% in 2006 to 13% in 2016. The Aging of White Christians White Christians are not only declining, they are aging. Only slightly more than one in ten white evangelical Protestants (11%), white Catholics (11%), and white mainline Protestants (14%) are under the age of 30. Approximately six in ten white evangelical Protestants (62%), white Catholics (62%), and white mainline Protestants (59%) are at least 50 years old. No religious group has older members than white evangelical Protestants and white Catholics. The median age of white evangelical Protestants and white Catholics is 55 years old, slightly higher than white mainline Protestants at 54 years old. Unitarian-Universalists are also much older than members of other religious groups: The median age is 54 years. Four decades earlier, the median age of these white Christian groups was much lower. In 1976, the median age of white Catholics was just 40 years old, while the median age of white Protestants was 45 years old.12 In contrast, about one in three Hispanic Protestants (32%), religiously unaffiliated Americans (34%), Buddhists (35%), and Hindus (36%) are under the age of 30. More than four in ten (42%) Muslim Americans are under the age of 30. The median ages of Hindus (32 years), Muslims (32 years), Buddhists (36 years), religiously unaffiliated Americans (37 years), and Hispanic Protestants (37 years) are below 40. The Mormon Exception Although Mormons are a predominantly white Christian religious tradition, there is little evidence to suggest that they are experiencing similar declines.13 Currently, 1.9% of the public identifies as Mormon, a number identical to findings from a 2011 study of Mormons in the U.S.14 Mormons are also much younger than other white Christian religious traditions. Nearly one-quarter (23%) of Mormons are under the age of 30. Fewer than half (41%) are age 50 or older. The Growth of Nonwhite Christians Increasing Racial and Ethnic Diversity Among Protestants Today, three in ten (30%) Americans are white Protestant. This is a considerable decline over the past couple of decades; in 1991, white Protestants represented half (50%) the public.15 Not only have white Protestants experienced a substantial decline as a proportion of the general population, they also represent a shrinking proportion of all Protestants. In 1991, 83% of all Protestants were white, compared to two-thirds (67%) today. One-third (33%) of all Protestants are now nonwhite. However, the degree of racial and ethnic diversity among Protestants varies considerably between denominational families. More than nine in ten Lutherans (92%) and roughly eight in ten Methodists (83%), Presbyterians (83%), and Episcopalians (80%) are white, non-Hispanic. In contrast, fewer than six in ten (58%) Baptists are white, and a sizeable share of members are black (30%) or Hispanic (5%). Similarly, only half (50%) of Pentecostals are white, while one-quarter (25%) are Hispanic, and 17% are black. Protestants who belong to non-denominational Protestant churches are also somewhat diverse: Two-thirds (67%) are white, 13% are black, and 10% are Hispanic. The Ethnic Transformation of the U.S. Catholic Church For most of the past 25 years, American Catholics have been overwhelmingly white. In 1991, more than eight in ten (87%) U.S. Catholics were white, non-Hispanic.16 Today, 55% of Catholics identify as white, non-Hispanic, and more than one-third (36%) are Hispanic. Notably, much of the shift in the ethnic composition of the American Catholic community occurred over just the last couple of decades. Generational differences in the ethnic and racial make-up of American Catholics also suggest that a substantial cultural shift is underway. Fewer than four in ten (36%) Catholics under the age of 30 are white, non-Hispanic, compared to a majority (52%) who are Hispanic. In contrast, more than three-quarters (76%) of Catholic seniors (age 65 or older) are white, while only 17% are Hispanic. Demographic differences between Hispanic and white Catholics also suggest that the Hispanic Catholic community is poised to make further gains. First, Hispanic Catholics are nearly twice as likely as white Catholics to be parents of children under the age of 18 (30% vs. 16%, respectively). The discrepancy in parental status is driven largely by age differences between Hispanic Catholics and white Catholics. Second, Hispanic Catholics are more likely to have larger families: Close to three in ten (28%) Hispanic Catholic parents have at least three children under the age of 18 living at home, while 21% of white Catholic families report the same. The Shifting Cultural Center of the Catholic Church Historically, the U.S. Catholic Church was centered in the Northeast, where European immigrants from predominantly Catholic countries, such as Italy and Ireland, first settled. Even today, Catholics represent a disproportionate size of the population in many states in the region, including Rhode Island (41%), Massachusetts (34%), New Jersey (34%), Connecticut (31%), and New York (31%). However, due to recent patterns of immigration from predominantly Catholic countries in Latin America, particularly Mexico, the Catholic population is experiencing growth across the Southwest. In 1972, roughly seven in ten Catholics lived in either the Northeast (41%) or the Midwest (28%).17 Only about one-third of Catholics lived in the South (13%) or West (18%). Today, a majority of Catholics now reside in the South (29%) or West (25%). Currently, only about one-quarter (26%) of the U.S. Catholic population lives in the Northeast. Regional age differences among Catholics also indicate that Catholicism’s center of gravity is shifting. American Catholics residing in the Northeast and Midwest are substantially older than Catholics in the Southwestern United States. Fewer than half of Catholics in the Northeast (47%) and Midwest (44%) are less than 50 years of age. In contrast, a majority (58%) of Catholics living in the Western U.S. are under the age of 50. Rise of the Religiously Unaffiliated The religiously unaffiliated—those who identify as “atheist,” “agnostic,” or “nothing in particular”—now account for nearly one-quarter (24%) of Americans. Since the early 1990s, this group has roughly tripled in size. Religious identity is highly stratified by age, with younger Americans (age 18-29) most likely to be religiously unaffiliated and seniors (age 65 or older) least likely to identify this way. However, the relationship between age and unaffiliated status is not completely linear. While there is considerable variation at the youngest and oldest ends of the age spectrum, there is less variation in the rate of unaffiliated identity among Americans in their 40s (23%), 50s (18%), and 60s (16%). Although unaffiliated Americans tend to be younger than religiously affiliated Americans on average, the group collectively is older today than it was a generation ago. Today, about one-third (34%) of unaffiliated Americans are under the age of 30, while nearly three in ten (29%) are at least 50 years old. In the 1970s, half (50%) of all unaffiliated Americans were under 30 years old, and only 17% were age 50 or older. The median age of someone who was unaffiliated during that decade was also seven years younger than it is today: 29 vs. 36, respectively. Atheists, Agnostics, Seculars, and the Religiously Unattached There are notable differences among the unaffiliated in terms of their religious identity. Only about one-quarter of the unaffiliated identify as atheist (14%) or agnostic (13%), while fewer than one in five (16%) identifies as a “religious person.” The majority (58%) of Americans who are not religiously affiliated do not identify as a religious person.18 Younger unaffiliated Americans are only somewhat more likely than unaffiliated seniors to identify as atheist or agnostic (31% vs. 24%, respectively), while unaffiliated seniors are twice as likely as younger unaffiliated Americans to identify as a religious person (20% vs. 10%, respectively). A majority of unaffiliated young adults and seniors say they are secular (59% vs. 56%, respectively). 
 
 IV. Demographic Comparisons of Major Religious Groups The Enduring Gender Divide Women continue to make up the majority of most religious groups—including most Christian groups. A majority of black Protestants (58%), white evangelical Protestants (56%), Hispanic Catholics (55%), white mainline Protestants (54%), white Catholics (53%), and Hispanic Protestants (53%) are women. Among Mormons and Jewish Americans, the gender split mirrors that of the general public—48% male, 52% female—while the gender divide among Buddhists and Orthodox Christians is exactly even (50% male, 50% female). Men make up a majority of religiously unaffiliated Americans (55%), Muslims (59%), and Hindus (66%). Fewer than half of unaffiliated Americans (45%), Muslims (41%), and Hindus (34%) are women. Atheists and agnostics are more heavily male-dominated than the unaffiliated overall: Men account for 64% of atheists and 63% of agnostics. The gender imbalance is also quite prominent among Unitarian Universalists, among whom nearly two-thirds (64%) are women. Only 36% are men. Educational Attainment Levels of educational attainment vary widely between religious groups, even among white Christians. Unitarian-Universalists and Hindus are, on average, the most educated, while Hispanic Catholics are the least formally educated. Close to half (48%) of white evangelical Protestants have a high school education or less, compared to fewer than four in ten white mainline Protestants (38%), white Catholics (37%), and Mormons (34%). Roughly one-third of Mormons (32%) and more than one-third of white mainline Protestants (36%) and white Catholics (39%) have a four-year college degree, compared to only one-quarter (25%) of white evangelical Protestants. Among Protestants, there are substantial variations by denominational family. Presbyterians and Episcopalians have the highest levels of educational attainment. Roughly half of Presbyterians (48%) and Episcopalians (52%) have at least a four-year college degree. In contrast, significantly fewer Methodists (36%), Lutherans (34%), Baptists (19%), and Pentecostals (15%) graduated from a four-year college or university. A majority (55%) of Baptists and six in ten (60%) Pentecostals have no more than a high school education. Nearly half (49%) of Catholics have a high school education or less, while more than one in five (21%) have some college education, and 29% report having at least a four-year college degree. However, levels of educational attainment vary considerably by ethnicity. Seven in ten (70%) Hispanic Catholics have a high school education or less, compared to 37% of white Catholics. White Catholics are about three times as likely as Hispanic Catholics to have at least a four-year college degree (39% vs. 12%, respectively). Nonwhite Christian religious groups have considerably lower levels of education. A majority of black Protestants (52%), Hispanic Protestants (65%), and Hispanic Catholics (70%) report having a high school education or less. Fewer than one-quarter of black Protestants (22%), Hispanic Protestants (14%), and Hispanic Catholics (12%) have a college degree. Among non-Christian religious groups, Muslims have the lowest levels of educational attainment. More than four in ten (44%) Muslims have a high school degree or less, compared to 37% of Buddhists and about one in five Jews (22%) and Hindus (19%). Jewish and Hindu Americans are highly educated; strong majorities have a four-year college degree (61% vs. 69%, respectively), including more than one-third of each group who have post-graduate degrees (34% vs. 38% respectively). However, among Jewish Americans, there are considerable differences in educational background by denomination. Orthodox Jews are far more likely than Reform Jews to have no more than a high school education (44% vs. 14%, respectively). No religious group has a higher proportion of members with post-graduate degrees than Unitarian-Universalists. Nearly two-thirds (65%) have a college education, including more than four in ten (43%) who have an advanced degree. Religiously unaffiliated Americans are less educated than many religious groups. More than four in ten (44%) have a high school education or less. One-quarter (25%) have some college experience, such as an associate’s degree, and roughly three in ten (31%) have a four-year college education. However, self-identified atheists and agnostics have significantly greater educational experience. About one-third of atheists (34%) and agnostics (31%) have no more than a high school education, while 42% of each group have at least a four-year college degree. Economic Status Household income Religious groups with the lowest levels of household incomes tend be Christians from racial and ethnic minority groups. More than four in ten black Protestants (43%), Hispanic Protestants (45%), Jehovah’s Witnesses (45%), and Hispanic Catholics (49%) report household earnings of less than $30,000 per year. White Christian groups report higher levels of income. Fewer than one-third of white evangelical Protestants (28%), Mormons (26%), white mainline Protestants (22%), and white Catholics (19%) have household incomes of less than $30,000 per year. Among non-Christian groups, Muslims report the lowest levels of household income. Nearly four in ten (38%) Muslims have household incomes of less than $30,000 per year, compared to fewer than one-third of Buddhists (31%), Hindus (20%), and Jews (16%). One-quarter (25%) of Hindus and 30% of Jewish Americans have annual household incomes in excess of $100,000. Unitarians-Universalists are also fairly well off financially. Only 18% report living in households making less than $30,000 annually, and 22% report having incomes exceeding $100,000. The income levels of religiously unaffiliated Americans closely mirror Americans overall. Home Ownership Patterns of homeownership vary considerably among religious groups. Roughly three-quarters of white Catholics (78%), white evangelical Protestants (75%), and white mainline Protestants (75%) report they own their home. About two-thirds (66%) of Mormons say they own rather than rent. Nonwhite Christians are far less likely to report owning their home. Fewer than half of Jehovah’s Witnesses (48%), black Protestants (46%), Hispanic Catholics (38%), and Hispanic Protestants (38%) are homeowners. Among non-Christian groups, Jewish Americans (69%) are much more likely than Buddhists (54%), Muslims (36%), or Hindus (31%) to own their home. More than seven in ten (72%) Unitarian-Universalists own their home. A majority (54%) of religiously unaffiliated Americans are homeowners. Health Insurance Status A slim majority (51%) of white Catholics and close to half of Mormons (48%) and white mainline Protestants (46%) report they receive health insurance through their employer. More than four in ten (43%) white evangelical Protestants say they have employer-based health insurance. Three in ten (30%) white evangelical Protestants have government-sponsored health care such as Medicare or Medicaid, while fewer white mainline Protestants (27%), white Catholics (25%), and Mormons (22%) report the same. Nonwhite Christians are much less likely to have employer-based health insurance than white Christians, but there are notable differences in patterns of coverage among these groups. About one-third of black Protestants (35%), Hispanic Protestants (31%), Jehovah’s Witnesses (31%), and Hispanic Catholics (29%) report having health insurance through their employer. Jehovah’s Witnesses (33%) and black Protestants (30%) are more likely to receive health insurance through government programs than Hispanic Protestants (21%) and Hispanic Catholics (23%). But nearly one-third of Hispanic Protestants (29%) and Hispanic Catholics (32%) report they have no health insurance coverage at all. No group is more likely to receive health insurance through their employer than Hindus. More than six in ten (62%) Hindus have employer-sponsored health care coverage. Fewer than half (47%) of Jewish Americans, four in ten (40%) Buddhists, and nearly three in ten (29%) Muslims receive health insurance through an employer. Hindus are also far less likely to receive health care through government programs, such as Medicare or Medicaid, with only six percent reporting they receive this type of coverage. In contrast, at least one in five Buddhists (21%), Muslims (25%), and Jews (25%) have government-sponsored health insurance. Nearly one in five (19%) Muslims report having no health insurance coverage. The health care insurance status of religiously unaffiliated Americans closely resembles that of Americans overall. Four in ten (43%) receive it through an employer, while 19% report receiving it through the government. Fifteen percent have no health insurance. Approximately four in ten (43%) Unitarian-Universalists also receive their health insurance through an employer, while close to one-third (29%) have government-sponsored coverage. Only four percent of Unitarian-Universalists report having no health insurance at all. Race and Ethnicity The patterns of religious identity among major racial and ethnic groups are quite distinct. Nearly seven in ten (68%) white Americans are Christian and nearly half (47%) are Protestant. Twenty-seven percent of whites are evangelical Protestant, while 20% are mainline Protestant. An additional 18% of whites are Catholic. One-quarter (25%) of all whites are religiously unaffiliated. Black Americans are also predominantly Christian. Three-quarters (75%) of black Americans are Christian, although a much greater proportion are Protestant (67%), and only six percent identify as Catholic. Roughly one in five (19%) black Americans are religiously unaffiliated. Hispanic Americans are also predominantly Christian, although they are about twice as likely to identify as Catholic (48%) than Protestant (25%). One in five (20%) Hispanics are unaffiliated. Unlike other racial and ethnic groups, fewer than one in three (30%) Asian and Pacific Islander (API) Americans are Christian, with roughly equal numbers identifying as Protestant (16%) and Catholic (13%). More than one-third (34%) of API Americans are religiously unaffiliated, with significant numbers identifying as members of non-Christian traditions, such as Hindu (15%), Buddhist (7%), or Muslim (7%). Marital Status and Family Size Divisions in marital status among American religious communities largely occur along racial lines. At least six in ten white mainline Protestants (60%), white Catholics (61%), white evangelical Protestants (64%), and Mormons (68%) are married. In contrast, members of nonwhite religious traditions are much less likely to be married. Only 37% of black Protestants, 45% of Hispanic Protestants, and half (50%) of Hispanic Catholics report being married. Notably, among non-Christian groups, Hindus (66%) are far more likely than Muslims (49%) and Buddhists (35%) to be married. More than six in ten (62%) Jewish Americans also report being married, although there are some differences by denomination. Nearly three-quarters (74%) of Orthodox Jews are married, compared to about six in ten who belong to Conservative (64%) and Reform (59%) denominations. Roughly four in ten (42%) religiously unaffiliated Americans are married. White Christians stand out in that they do not have young children living at home. Nearly three-quarters of white evangelical Protestants (73%), white mainline Protestants (73%), and white Catholics (75%) do not have children under the age of 18 living at home. Roughly seven in ten Jews (71%) and Buddhists (72%), and approximately two-thirds of religiously unaffiliated Americans (68%), black Protestants (67%), and Hindus (67%), also report that they have no children living in their household. In contrast, only about half (50%) of Hispanic Catholics and Hispanic Protestants (52%) have no children in their households. Among Americans who report living with children in their household, Mormons have by far the largest families. More than four in ten (42%) Mormon parents say they have at least three children in their household under the age of 18. Only 28% of Mormons living with children report having only one child. By comparison, fewer than one-quarter of white evangelical Protestants (24%), white mainline Protestants (23%), and white Catholics (21%) with children say they have at least three kids in their household. Nearly three in ten (29%) Jewish parents report having at least three children in their household, although family size varies dramatically by denomination. More than six in ten (62%) Orthodox Jewish parents say they have at least three children living in their household, compared to 17% of Jewish parents who identify as Reform who say the same. Hindus have some of the smallest families. A majority (55%) of Hindus with children say they have only one child in their household, while only four percent say they have three or more. Muslim families are larger, with more than one-quarter (26%) of those with children in their household reporting three or more. The Religious Identity of LGBT Americans LGBT Americans are far less likely to identify with any religious group than the public as a whole. Nearly half (46%) of Americans who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) are religiously unaffiliated. Fewer identify as Christian. Only six percent of LGBT Americans are white evangelical Protestant, while similar numbers identify as white mainline Protestant (8%) and white Catholic (6%). Fewer than one in ten identify as black Protestant (6%), Hispanic Catholic (5%), or Hispanic Protestant (3%). LGBT Americans are somewhat overrepresented among non-Christian religions. Six percent identify as Jewish (2%), Buddhist (2%), Muslim (1%), or Hindu (1%). There are stark generational differences among LGBT Americans in their religious identity. A majority (56%) of LGBT young adults (age 18 to 29) are religiously unaffiliated, compared to one-quarter (25%) of LGBT seniors (age 65 or older). There are no significant gender differences in the religious profile of LGBT people. Notably, Buddhists and Unitarian-Universalists have a much higher proportion of LGBT members than other religious traditions. One in seven Buddhists (14%) and Unitarian-Universalists (14%) identify as LGBT. ||||| Religion in white America is dying, while religion in non-white America is holding strong. 
 
 A new, sweeping report from the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) that surveyed 101,000 people across all 50 states reveals that a falling percentage of Americans now identify as white and Christian. Whereas in 1976, 81% of Americans described themselves as white and part of a Christian denomination, in 2016, only 43% said the same. 
 
 What’s particularly noteworthy from the report is that religion is faring much better among non-white populations. In the US, the religions and denominations with the highest proportion of members aged 18 to 29 are Hinduism and Islam, whose members hail from communities generally not considered white. Meanwhile, white Catholics and Protestants have far fewer young people, which bodes poorly for these groups’ longevity. 
 
 Over the past 10 years, a sinking number of Americans have described themselves as white and members of a Christian denomination. Between 2006 and 2016, the number of people who identify as white evangelical Protestant, white mainline Protestant, and white Catholic have dropped by roughly 5 percentage points. The drop among evangelicals is particularly surprising. While that subset was once thought to be “exempt” from a mass abandonment of organized religion among white Americans, the effect merely happened later for white evangelical Protestants, according to PRRI CEO Robert P. Jones. 
 
 This decrease in “white Christian” identification has occurred in every state except Hawaii. States in the Northeast saw the most significant drops, but the decline has happened throughout the South and Midwest as well. Across the entire country, 39 states had white Christian majorities in 2007, but only 23 did by 2016, according to PRRI. 
 
 Meanwhile, more and more Americans are aligning themselves with no particular religion at all. In 1976, just 7% of the population described themselves as religiously “unaffiliated”; 30 years later, 24% of the population did. ||||| Over the last few decades, religious disaffiliation has been rising relative to earlier points in the 20th century. In 2014, Pew Research Center found that the share of unaffiliated adults in the U.S. had grown from 16 to 23 percent over a seven-year period. While roughly 70 percent of American adults identify as Christians, the so-called nones—people with no religion in particular—have been growing as a share of the population. 
 
 The new PRRI data shows that this is happening more noticeably in some places than others. Roughly 41 percent of Vermonters and 33 percent of those from New Hampshire aren’t affiliated with any particular religion, carrying the banner of secularism for the Northeast. This was also true in the Pacific Northwest, where more than one-third of residents in Oregon and Washington didn’t claim a specific faith. 
 
 But there were some surprises in the geographic break-down, too, including states that don’t fit regional stereotypes about secular, coastal elites or hippie-ish mountain terrain. Non-religious people compose the largest share of the populations of Hawaii and Alaska compared to other faith groups. In general, the non-religious states of America are concentrated west of the Mississippi River, according to PRRI, spanning Arizona to Nebraska to Wyoming. 
 
 Non-religious Americans are often portrayed in stereotypical fashion. They’re the white, yuppie city dwellers of Portland; the blue-haired atheists who attend Skeptic conferences; or the godless youth at progressive political rallies. While these images aren’t necessarily wrong, they’re incomplete. Non-religious Americans come from a range of income, education, and racial backgrounds. 
 
 According to PRRI, religiously unaffiliated Americans are neither particularly rich nor particularly poor, and their income mirrors that of the country overall. As I wrote last spring, the effects of religious disaffiliation show up prominently among members of the white working class, many of whom don’t attend church very often. Religiously unaffiliated Americans are also less educated, on average, than many of their faithful peers: Less than one-third have a college or post-graduate degree, placing them below Muslims, white mainline Protestants, white Catholics, Jews, Hindus, and other groups. 
 
 Not identifying with a religion doesn’t necessarily determine whether or not people believe in God. According to PRRI, atheists and agnostics account for only 27 percent of all religiously disaffiliated people. Most people without a particular faith tradition say they’re secular—their defining quality is a lack of religion, rather than a particular belief. Meanwhile, among those who say there are religiously disaffiliated, 16 percent say they are a “religious person,” suggesting that institutions, not beliefs, may keep them away from religion. ||||| (RNS) — The future of religion in America is young, non-Christian and technicolor. 
 
 Almost every Christian denomination in the U.S. shows signs of growing diversity as white Christians, once the majority in most mainline Protestant and Catholic denominations, give way to younger members, who tend to be of different races, according to a study released Wednesday (Sept. 6) by the Public Religion Research Institute. 
 
 And American evangelicals — once seemingly immune to the decline experienced by their Catholic and mainline Protestant neighbors — are losing numbers and losing them quickly. 
 
 Americans are also continuing to move away from organized religion altogether, as atheists, agnostics and those who say they do not identify with any particular religion — the group known as the “nones” — hold steady at about one-quarter (24 percent) of the population. 
 
 The study, “America’s Changing Religious Identity,” contacted 101,000 Americans in 50 states, and has an overall margin of error of plus or minus 0.4 percentage points. And while the survey spotlights transformations afoot in many religious groups, it also shows a seismic shift for a long-standing American religious powerhouse: white evangelicals. 
 
 “This report provides solid evidence of a new, second wave of white Christian decline that is occurring among white evangelical Protestants just over the last decade in the U.S.,” said Robert P. Jones, PRRI’s CEO and author of “The End of White Christian America.” 
 
 “Prior to 2008, white evangelical Protestants seemed to be exempt from the waves of demographic change and disaffiliation that were eroding the membership bases of white mainline Protestants and white Catholics,” he said. 
 
 “We now see that these waves simply crested later for white evangelical Protestants.” 
 
 Among the survey’s chief findings: 
 
 White Christians, 81 percent of the population in 1976, now account for less than half the public — 43 percent of Americans identify as white Christians, and 30 percent as white Protestants. 
 
 92 percent of Lutherans are white, more than in any other denomination. 
 
 White Christians are aging. About 1 in 10 white Catholics, evangelicals and mainline Protestants are under 30, compared with one-third of all Hindus and Buddhists. 
 
 Muslims and Mormons are the youngest faith groups in the U.S., with 42 percent of all Muslims under 3o, and nearly a quarter of all Mormons. 
 
 Daniel Cox, PRRI’s director of research, said senior citizens generally have cohorts who look a lot like them — “nominally white Protestant, and that has been normal throughout their lives.” But the under-30 crowd tends to rub elbows with a more diverse group — including the religiously unaffiliated and people of different races and religions. 
 
 “The young are much less likely to believe this is a ‘Christian nation’ or to give preference to Christian identity,” he said. “Young people and seniors are basically inhabiting different religious worlds.” 
 
 And while the decline of white mainline Protestants and Catholics has been documented in earlier surveys, the new PRRI survey shows a similar and relatively recent decline among evangelicals — from 23 percent to 17 percent of the public from 2006 to 2016. 
 
 “There is no one explanation, but you can’t answer why without looking at the rise of Christian conservatives, ” Cox said. 
 
 Christian activism for many has come to mean conservative activism, working against gay marriage, abortion access and the legalization of marijuana — and young people may be turned off by such positions, Cox said. 
 
 “It is no longer the case among young people that being religious is necessarily a positive attribute.” 
 
 The survey also shows that religious folks are realigning, both geographically and politically: 
 
 The Catholic Church is headed south. A majority of Catholics now live in the American South (29 percent) or West (25 percent). That’s a reverse from four decades ago, when 7 in 10 Catholics lived in the Northeast or the Midwest. 
 
 White Christians are a minority in the Democratic Party. Fewer than 1 in 3 Democrats are white Christians, down from almost half 10 years ago. And Democrats under 30 are increasingly less religious — only 14 percent identify as white Christian, while 40 percent are nones. 
 
 While white evangelical Protestants are losing adherents, they remain the dominant religious force among Republicans — more than one-third (35 percent) of Republicans are white evangelicals, a stable proportion for the last 10 years. 
 
 The PRRI survey is broad in scope but also reveals much about the slender slices of American religiosity: 
 
 The religious profile of Asian or Pacific-Islander Americans is unusual compared with other racial or ethnic groups, with roughly equal numbers spread across the Christian, non-Christian and no-religion categories. 
 
 Though atheists and agnostics account for about one-fourth of all the religiously unaffiliated, 16 percent of the unaffiliated identify as “a religious person.” 
 
 Almost half (46 percent) of LGBT Americans are religiously unaffiliated — about twice as many as the general population (24 percent). 
 
 Rabbi Denise Eger, founding rabbi of the Kol Ami synagogue in West Hollywood and an LGBT activist, said the high numbers of unaffiliated LGBT persons should surprise no one. She blames fundamentalism, especially in Christianity, Islam and, to a lesser extent, Judaism. 
 
 “The truth is that all of religion becomes tainted, even though there are many denominations that welcome them, that it becomes ‘why bother?'” she said of many LGBT people’s encounters with religion. 
 
 The study also found: 
 
 Mississippi is the most homogeneous state in terms of religion (60 percent are Baptist) while New York is the most religiously diverse. 
 
 There are now 20 states in which the religiously unaffiliated outnumber adherents of any other single religious group. Most of those states sit on or near a coast; they include Vermont (41 percent unaffiliated), Oregon (36 percent), Washington (35 percent) and Hawaii (34 percent). 
 
 The rise in the religiously unaffiliated means people must now ask old questions in new ways, said Jennifer W. Davidson, an associate professor of theology and worship at the American Baptist Seminary of the West. 
 
 “We need to begin asking people, ‘How do you make meaning in your life? What sustains you when you suffer? How do you cultivate a sense of wonder?'” she said. 
 
 “It is fully possible to answer these questions from a secular perspective, and if we asked them, we might be able to see abundantly fruitful connections among people who are religiously affiliated, religiously unaffiliated, secular, agnostic and atheist.” 
 
 .4 ||||| Faith & Freedom Coalition Chairman Ralph Reed speaks during a rally in front of the Supreme Court on April 19, 2017, in Washington. Reed has long been a champion of Christian causes in the Republican Party. (Photo: Mark Wilson, Getty Images) 
 
 White Christians are no longer a majority in America, but they still make up nearly three-quarters of the Republican Party, according to a sweeping new study of faith in America being released Wednesday. 
 
 White Christians accounted for 80% of the U.S. population when Jimmy Carter was president; that number had dropped to 54% by 2006, and white Christians now make up only 43% of the U.S. population, as the number of people unaffiliated with any religion has swelled. 
 
 But the GOP remains about 73% white Christian — down slightly from 10 years ago — and 35% evangelical, despite the fact that white evangelical protestants now make up only 17% of the U.S. population, according to the yearlong survey of more than 100,000 people by PRRI, a public policy research firm that specializes in issues of faith. 
 
 By contrast, fewer than one-third of Democrats are white Christians, down from about 50% a decade ago. 
 
 “We are seeing this widening gap between the two political parties,” said PRRI CEO Robert P. Jones. 
 
 “If you think about some of the big worries the founding fathers had about political parties, it was that they would accentuate factionalism rather than smoothing it over,” Jones said. “I think we are really seeing that. We are seeing increasingly the Republican Party becoming more and more a white Christian party that is heavily rooted in the South and Midwest and the Democratic Party kind of following along these demographic changes, becoming less white and less Christian.” 
 
 As race and religion become strong predictors of party affiliation, Jones said, “this looks more and more like a tribal identity than a political affiliation.” 
 
 Outside politics, the PRRI survey shows a dramatic shift in the nation’s religious views, with a big increase in the number of people — especially young people — declaring themselves “unaffiliated.” About 24% of Americans are now religiously unaffiliated, up from about 10% in 1995. Among people aged 18-29, that number rises to just shy of 40%. 
 
 The PRRI survey found 20 states where the “unaffiliated” make up a larger percentage population than other single faith group, including Democratic strongholds like Vermont, Oregon and Washington along with traditional “red” states like Montana, Idaho and Wyoming. 
 
 But these unaffiliated Americans are not much of a political force. PRRI reported in September that the unaffiliated make up only about 12% of the vote in any national election. And the Pew Research Center on Religion and Public Life reported in January that the 115th Congress is a little over 90% Christian, a number that has remained largely unchanged for decades. 
 
 John Green, director of the Bliss Center of Applied Politics at the University of Akron, said the numbers in the PRRI survey largely reaffirm long-developing trends in American politics, but that does not mean they are without concern for both parties. 
 
 "There are real costs for political parties becoming too closely identified with one religious group or cultural group," Green said. Some Republicans voiced concern in the 1980s, as the party began to emphasize a strong faith-based agenda, that it would be at risk of alienating moderates and non-religious people. 
 
 By the same token, he said, "there are Democratic leaders today worried about becoming a non-religious party or an anti-white-Christian party." 
 
 But Green noted that ethic identity has always been a significant component of American political parties, and "a kind of tribal pattern is not a new thing at all." 
 
 Neither the Republican nor the Democratic Party seemed interested in discussing the faith of their members. 
 
 "There is no doubt that we must be present in every single community around the clock – not just during an election season," said Democratic National Committee spokesman Michael Tyler. "That’s exactly why we’re rebuilding the Democratic Party into an organization that organizes 12-months a year in every single ZIP Code. It’s not enough to show up at a church every fourth October – we want to be a presence every month, every year." 
 
 “As evidenced by President Trump’s election, Republican policies and candidates are resonating in a way that Democrats’ simply are not,” said Republican National Committee Press Secretary Cassie Smedile. “This is why Americans continue to elect Republicans across all levels of government, and why the RNC will continue to engage with them and share our message at every possible opportunity.” 
 
 Read or Share this story: https://usat.ly/2xOKJIG ||||| Both Republicans and Democrats are facing dramatic long-term realignments in the religious composition of their base, and it will be a challenge for the parties to weather this shift gracefully. 
 
 Glance at the data from a new report from the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) and you’ll see why doubling down on white identity politics could be a winning strategy for President Trump and the Republicans in the short term, but it might not be successful for long. The PRRI report, which is based on a poll of more than 101,000 Americans from all 50 states, makes clear that white Christians, traditionally a large portion of the Republican base, are, as a group, both declining and aging. Younger white Christians are abandoning their churches in droves, leaving behind increasingly middle-aged and elderly congregations. 
 
 Democrats, meanwhile, have something of the opposite problem. Their base is increasingly religiously varied, and while this is certainly reflective of where the country is going as a whole, Democrats must craft a message that speaks to pretty much every faith tradition — as well as people who have no religion at all. And young black Protestants and Hispanic Catholics, two groups that have historically been loyal Democratic constituencies, are less likely to affiliate with the party than their parents and grandparents. 
 
 So far, having a base that’s composed overwhelmingly of one demographic group hasn’t doomed Republican candidates — white, conservative Christian voters have been the bedrock of the GOP base since the 1980s and helped deliver President Trump to the White House last year. In 2016, a whopping 35 percent of Republicans were white evangelical Protestants, 18 percent were white mainline Protestants, and 16 percent were white Catholics; together, those groups account for nearly 70 percent of the Republican base. 
 
 The religious gap between Democrats and Republicans Share of Democrats and Republicans by religious affiliation 2006 2016 REPUBLICANS DEMOCRATS REPUBLICANS DEMOCRATS White evangelical Protestant 37% 17% 35% 8% White mainline Protestant 22 16 18 11 White Catholic 20 16 16 10 Mormon 2 1 4 1 Black Protestant 2 18 1 17 Hispanic Protestant 3 3 3 4 Hispanic Catholic 3 8 3 10 Other Christian 5 6 5 6 Jewish 1 3 1 2 Other world religions 1 2 1 3 Unaffiliated 4 9 11 26 “Other world religions” includes non-Western religious groups such as Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Sikhs and Jains. “Other Christian” category is composed of ethnic Christians (such as Asian Christians, mixed-race Protestants, black Catholics) and other Christian religious groups like Jehovah’s Witnesses. SOURCE: PRRI 2016 American Values Atlas, Pew Research Center 
 
 But since 2006, the proportion of Americans identifying as white evangelical Protestant, white Catholic, and white mainline Protestant have all dropped by 5 or 6 percentage points, according to the just-released PRRI report. 
 
 “Republicans will have to widen their net to attract more supporters who aren’t white Christian — in the long run, they just won’t have a choice,” said Daniel Cox, director of research at PRRI. White evangelical Protestants and white Catholics have the highest median age — 55 — of any religious group, with white mainline Protestants following close behind at a median age of 54. And the median age of people who don’t identify with any religion (also called the “religiously unaffiliated”) is rising, which suggests that people who have left their faith tradition aren’t returning to the fold as they get married, start families or hit other major life milestones. 
 
 So where are these young people going? The religious groups with the youngest membership map neatly with the Democratic Party’s coalition. Religious minorities like Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists; the religiously unaffiliated; and Hispanic Protestants and Catholics all have significant numbers of followers under the age of 30. And all of these groups disproportionately identify as Democrats. 
 
 This youth and diversity might seem like a gift to the Democratic Party, but it also presents a serious challenge for politicians hoping to present a compelling vision to voters who have a wide range of values and priorities. White Christians, especially white evangelical Protestants, have been a political powerhouse for the Republicans because of their enthusiasm and ideological unity. The religiously unaffiliated, according to the PRRI report, now constitute more than one-quarter of the Democratic base. “It’s really hard to find a message that speaks to someone who’s not religious at all and a devout Catholic or evangelical Protestant,” Cox said. “The danger for Democrats is that they don’t find ways to motivate all of these diverse groups, and those voters just stay home.” 
 
 And the religiously unaffiliated — a plurality of whom don’t consider themselves part of any political party — are also less politically engaged than other religious groups and less likely to vote. “That’s partly because they’re younger,” Cox said, “but also because they’re not attached to formal institutions like churches.” Those institutions — especially churches — have been key for unifying voters around shared values and issues, and for motivating them to vote, according to Cox. 
 
 There’s also evidence in the report that young religious voters of color in particular may feel less loyalty to the Democrats than older generations did. Only 35 percent of Hispanic Catholics under the age of 30 identify as Democrats, compared to 56 percent of Hispanic Catholic seniors. Similarly, just 58 percent of black Protestants under 30 say they’re Democrats, compared to 79 percent of black Protestants over the age of 65. 
 
 Cox cautioned, though, that political affiliation tends to solidify over time, with young people often identifying as independents in their twenties but choosing a party affiliation as they grow older. And although the number of people who identify as political independents has been rising in recent years, most independents also lean toward a party, which means the balance of party affiliation may not be shifting as much as it seems. However, other polls have shown that millennials have some of the highest levels of political and religious disaffiliation of any generation in years, so it’s unclear if that pattern will apply to them as they grow older. 
 
 It’s important to remember that demographic changes don’t manifest overnight. White mainline Protestants, for example, have been steadily hemorrhaging members for decades, but they still account for a sizeable chunk of the country’s religious landscape. Younger voters — especially the religiously unaffiliated — tend to hold liberal views on cultural issues like same-sex marriage, abortion and the legalization of marijuana, Cox said, but strong conservative positions on these topics still reliably drive conservative white Christians to the polls. 
 
 That dynamic is perhaps the thorniest challenge for politicians looking to embrace younger generations’ changing values: Both major parties, but especially Republicans, will have to continue to appeal to their traditional voter base while the country slowly shifts around them. “It’s not like we’re going to wake up tomorrow and say, ‘Oh my goodness, we live in a different country,’” Cox said. “But 20 years from now, it’s going to seem like it was inevitable.”
– A major new survey on the religious beliefs of Americans is out, and the Public Religion Research Institute sees a "dramatic transformation" taking place across the country. Two big takeaways from the 2016 survey of 101,000 people: White Christians no longer make up a majority of Americans, with their percentage now at 43%, down from 81% in 1976; and fewer than half of US states have a majority population of white Christians. More details being emphasized: No affiliation: In 20 states, people with no religious affiliation outnumber those of any single religious affiliation, with Vermont (41%), Oregon (36%), and Washington (35%) leading the way. But the Atlantic is surprised to see that Alaska and Hawaii are on this list, too: "In general, the non-religious states of America are concentrated west of the Mississippi River." Racial trend: Quartz sees one major theme: "Religion in white America is dying, while religion in non-white America is holding strong." Expect that to continue: The religions with the highest percentage of members ages 18 to 29 are Islam (42%) and Hinduism (36%), far higher than white Catholics (11%), white evangelical Protestants (11%), and white mainline Protestants (14%). Still small numbers: Non-Christian religious groups may be growing, but they still represent less than 10% of Americans. Jewish Americans are at 2%, with Muslims, Buddhists, and Hindus each at 1%. All other non-Christian religions amount to another 1%. Politics: USA Today notes that white Christians still make up nearly three-quarters of the GOP. In contrast, they constitute less than one-third of Democrats, down from about half 10 years ago. Both parties face big challenges with the religious shift taking place, and FiveThirtyEight looks at the challenges for both. For example, Democrats have an increasingly varied base, which means they must craft a message that appeals to all, including those with no affiliation. Mississippi: The PRRI summary calls this state the least diverse in the nation in terms of religion. Mississippi is mostly Protestant, and six in 10 of those Protestants are Baptist. New York is the state with the most diversity. Bottom line: "The future of religion in America is young, non-Christian, and technicolor," sums up Religion News Service. It finds the decline in American evangelicals, a group previously immune from falling numbers, particularly striking. About 17% of Americans are white evangelical Protestant, down from 23% in 2006.