After climbing for many years, the share of People with no faith has leveled off. For the previous few years, the share of adults who establish as atheist, agnostic or “nothing specifically” has stood at about 29%, in keeping with a significant examine the Pew Analysis Middle launched Feb. 26, 2025.
However this hardly signifies that the “nones,” or their affect on American life, are going away. Actually, their sheer measurement makes it possible that they are going to enhance in political prominence.
It should presumably come as no shock that many secular voters lean to the political left. It could, nevertheless, be shocking to study that a reasonably large variety of nonreligious voters supported President Donald Trump within the 2020 and 2024 elections.
If the above paragraph is a head-scratcher, that’s as a result of “nonreligious” and “secular” are sometimes handled as two methods of claiming the identical factor. However as political scientists who examine faith – and the dearth thereof – we’ve got discovered that there’s a elementary distinction between the 2. Whereas standard knowledge holds that non secular voters are Republicans and nonreligious voters are Democrats, the fact is extra difficult.
Nonreligious vs. secular
So, what’s the distinction between people who find themselves nonreligious vs. those that are secular?
The nonreligious are likely to outline themselves by what they aren’t: for instance, not belonging to a faith, not attending worship companies, not believing in God. In our surveys, many individuals with no non secular affiliation don’t cite any explicit worldview or philosophy when requested what guides their life.
Secular individuals, alternatively, outline themselves by what they’re: somebody who has embraced a humanistic and even scientific worldview. That’s, when requested about the place they discover fact, they flip to sources similar to science and philosophy as an alternative of scripture and spiritual teachings. Typically, they establish as atheist, agnostic or humanist.
There are secular individuals, nevertheless, who additionally embrace some points of religion. Religiosity and secularity are usually not in a zero-sum relationship: extra of 1 doesn’t essentially imply much less of the opposite. In our analysis, we discovered many instances of people that belong to a spiritual congregation but have a secular worldview: This describes many Jews, mainline Protestants and even Catholics, for instance.
4 teams
To get a greater sense of People’ views, for over a decade we’ve got labored on creating inquiries to establish individuals with a secular outlook, whereas additionally asking about non secular dedication, similar to how typically somebody attends companies. Our findings culminated within the 2021 e-book “Secular Surge: A New Fault Line in American Politics.”
Primarily based on the outcomes, we will divide the U.S. inhabitants into 4 teams: Religionists, Nonreligionists, Secularists and Spiritual Secularists.
The Religionists class consists of individuals of all faiths. At 41%, that is the biggest group in america, however they don’t type a majority.
Secularists make up 27% of the inhabitants – bigger than the share of any single non secular custom. Evangelical Christians, for instance, are 23% of the U.S. inhabitants, in keeping with Pew, and Catholics are 19%.
One other 14% of People are what we name Spiritual Secularists: individuals who establish with and take part in a spiritual group, but have a secular worldview. They may attend worship companies however think about their faith extra as an expression of their tradition than a supply of teachings to tell their every day decision-making. Some Spiritual Secularists could describe themselves as agnostic and even atheist.
Lastly, 18% of People are Nonreligionists: These are individuals we described above as not having any faith of their lives, however neither have they got a secular worldview. They’re outlined by what they aren’t, not what they’re.
Political beliefs
These 4 teams differ in whether or not they’re politically engaged – and in that case, whom they help.
In our e-book about America’s “secular surge” we used information from a nationwide survey in 2017. In 2021, we performed a second wave of that survey.
In accordance with information from that survey that we analyzed for this text, Religionists and Secularists are about equally more likely to become involved in politics: roughly 30% of each teams reported doing one thing political prior to now 12 months, similar to attending a rally, volunteering for a candidate or donating cash. Nonreligionists have been a lot much less possible: solely 17%.
Actually, irrespective of the type of civic engagement – voting, volunteering – Nonreligionists have been constantly the least more likely to be concerned. Solely 30% of Nonreligionists report belonging to any form of membership or group, whereas for the remainder of the inhabitants, it’s nearer to 50%.
In the identical 2021 survey, we requested individuals to price numerous politicians on a 0-100 scale, with a better quantity which means a extra constructive view.
On common, Religionists rated Trump a 61, the very best of the 4 teams; Secularists give him the bottom rating, at 14. Nonreligionists gave Trump 47 factors.
It might be mistaken, nevertheless, to name the Nonreligionists an ideologically conservative group.
Take into account their rankings of Bernie Sanders, who caucuses with the Democratic Social gathering however describes himself as a democratic socialist. For 3 of the teams, help for Sanders was the mirror reverse of their emotions towards Trump, a Republican. Secularists, for example, gave the Vermont senator a comparatively excessive rating of 66, on common; Religionists’ emotions towards him are a lot cooler, at 32 factors.
In contrast, Nonreligionists gave a virtually similar ranking to Trump and Sanders. On condition that the 2 males are at reverse ideological poles, how might Nonreligionists price them the identical? We suspect it’s as a result of each figures problem the established order.
In 2024, the Trump marketing campaign labored to mobilize “low-propensity voters”: political jargon for individuals with the low ranges of civic engagement typically discovered amongst Nonreligionists. Not solely are they politically disengaged, they’re the most certainly to mix being younger, male, white and with no school diploma.
A ‘secular left’?
Secularists, too, are disproportionately younger and white. However in different methods they’re very completely different from Nonreligionists. Secularists sometimes have a university diploma and are evenly balanced between men and women. Sometimes, they’re additionally liberal and extremely engaged in politics.
So how will they form American politics? The reply could depend upon whether or not Secularists cohere right into a motion – a secular left to parallel the non secular proper.
At the moment, extremely non secular conservatives are a vocal group inside American politics, the core of the Republican Social gathering. A era in the past, nevertheless, they have been a disparate group of individuals from completely different Christian denominations, from Baptists to Pentecostals. Lots of the non secular teams that now march in widespread trigger as soon as had sharp disagreements.
It stays to be seen whether or not secular voters will manage in an analogous manner. Both manner, it’s secure to say America’s non secular composition has modified considerably.
Don’t assume, nevertheless, {that a} flip away from faith essentially means a pointy flip towards the political left. We’d warning that the story is extra difficult. For now, secular voters lean to the left – however nonreligious voters are up for grabs.
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