Religion in America - Traditional…

The chart shows, as a percentage of the adult population, those who identify with a religious denomination⁴. The largest denominations are shown. As might be expected, these are also the oldest ones. Most are Christian religions, but Judaism is also in the top 10. No one denomination has a majority of the population. Many of the denominations shown have seen a decline in the percentage of adult adherents. Despite this, Catholics maintained the highest percentage of the population (24.5% in 2001), followed by Baptists (16.3%). The Churches of Christ was tenth in rank (1.2%). Adherents.com reports that Islam, the third-largest major religion in the United States "is smaller than about 15 of the country's largest Christian denominations."

The table on the next page shows gains and losses between 1990 and 2001. The table also shows the number of adults identifying with each of the denominations. Decline in a denomination's share of total population doesn't mean absolute decline. Many groups have gained adherents. Exceptions are Methodists/Wesleyans, Baptists, and the adherents of Judaism.

Change in Population by Denomination, 1990-2001 and Estimated Adult Population by Denomination, 1990 and 2001

	Change, 1990-2001	1990	2001
Catholic	4,869,000	46,004,000	50,873,000
Pentecostal/Charismatic	1,216,000	3,191,000	4,407,000
Churches of Christ	824,000	1,769,000	2,593,000
Presbyterian	611,000	4,985,000	5,596,000
Lutheran	470,000	9,110,000	9,580,000
Episcopalian/Anglican	409,000	3,042,000	3,451,000
Mormon/Latter-day Saints	210,000	2,487,000	2,697,000
Methodist/Wesleyan	-24,000	14,174,000	14,150,000
Baptist	-134,000	33,964,000	33,830,000
Judaism	-306,000	3,137,000	2,831,000

Why are many of the traditional religions experiencing a decline in the share of the U.S. adult population? Why are the numbers of adult members declining in some religious denominations? We look at this phenomenon in the next panel.

Source: "Largest Religious Groups in the United States of America." Online. Available: http://www.adherents.com/rel_USA.html. February 28, 2002. Tracey Rich. "Judaism 101." Online. Available: http://www.jewfaq.org. March 13, 2002.