US religious membership drops below 50 per cent for first time, poll reveals

Americans’ membership to houses of worship across the country has dropped below 50 per cent for the first time since records began, a new poll has revealed.

The Gallup survey released on Monday revealed that in 2020, 47 per cent of Americans said they belonged to a church, synagogue or mosque, down from 50 per cent in 2018 and 70 per cent in 1999.

When the survey was first conducted in 1937 the percentage of those with membership to a place of worship was 73 per cent, marking a 30 per cent difference to 2021.

The data also revealed that church membership decreased in younger generations with 66 per cent of adults born before 1946 belonging to a church compared with 58 per cent of baby boomers, 50 per cent of those in Generation X and 36 per cent of millennials.