Atheism in the United States
A 2023 poll by the Pew Research Center found that 4% of Americans in the United States self-identified as atheists.[4] This is an increase from 3.1% of Americans in 2014.[3] However, in 2014, 9% of Americans agreed with the statement "Do not believe in God" while 2% agreed with the statement "Do not know if they believe in God".[3] According to a poll by non-profit PRRI in 2023, 4% of Americans were atheist and 5% were agnostic.[5] Polling by Gallup in 2022 showed that 17% of respondents replied "No" when asked "Do you believe in God?" in a binary fashion, but when worded differently in 2023, Gallup found that 12% of respondents replied they "Do not believe in" God and 14% replied they were "Not sure about" the existence of God.[6] According to Gallup, there are variations in their polling results because they ask about God in three different wordings, each with a different result.[7]
According to the 2014 General Sociological Survey, the number of atheists and agnostics in the U.S. grew over the previous 23 years. In 1991, only 2% identified as atheist, and 4% identified as agnostic; while in 2014, 3.1% identified as atheists, and 5% identified as agnostics.[8]
According to the 2008 ARIS, only 2% the US population was atheist, while 10% were agnostics.[9]
One 2018 research paper using indirect methods estimated that 26% of Americans are atheists, which is much higher than the 3%-11% rates that are consistently found in surveys.[10] However, methodological problems have been identified with this particular study; in particular, it has been posted that many people might not have a binary outlook to the question of the existence of God.[11]
Accurate demographics of atheism are difficult to obtain since conceptions of atheism and self-identification are context dependent by culture.[12] In 2009, Pew stated that only 5% of the US population did not have a belief in a god and out of that small group only 24% self-identified as "atheist", while 15% self-identified as "agnostic" and 35% self-identified as "nothing in particular".[13] In 2023, Pew stated that 23% of atheists believe in a higher power, but not a god.[14]