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Demographics

Demographic characteristics, such as age, race and gender, are often used to examine a particular segment of the population. Explore Pew Forum publications—including public opinion polls, research studies, event transcripts and interviews—about differences that exist within and across religious traditions based on various demographic characteristics:

 

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ANALYSIS May 17, 2013
The Religious Affiliation of U.S. Immigrants: Majority Christian, Rising Share of Other Faiths
A Pew Research Center report looks at how the religious makeup of legal immigrants to the U.S. has changed over the past 20 years. While Christians continue to make up a majority of new legal permanent residents, a growing share belong to other faiths.   
ANALYSIS March 8, 2012
Faith on the Move
This study focuses on the religious affiliation of international migrants, examining patterns of migration among seven major groups: Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Jews, adherents of other religions and the religiously unaffiliated.
ANALYSIS January 27, 2011
The Future of the Global Muslim Population
A new Pew Forum report on the size, distribution and growth of the global Muslim population finds that the world’s Muslim population is expected to increase by about 35% in the next 20 years, but it is expected to grow at a slower pace in the next two decades than it did in the previous two decades.
ANALYSIS January 26, 2010
A Brief History of Religion and the U.S. Census
This brief history of religion and the census explains why the census no longer includes questions on religion, even though it once did.
ANALYSIS December 17, 2009
Little Support for Terrorism Among Muslim Americans
Recent events such as the Fort Hood shootings and the arrest of five Muslim American students in Pakistan have raised questions about the threat of homegrown terrorism in the U.S.  
ANALYSIS December 9, 2009
Many Americans Mix Multiple Faiths
The religious beliefs and practices of Americans do not fit neatly into conventional categories. A new poll by the Pew Forum finds that large numbers of Americans engage in multiple religious practices, mixing elements of diverse traditions.
ANALYSIS December 1, 2009
GOP Seen as Friendlier To Religion Than Democrats
The number of Americans describing the Democratic Party as friendly toward religion returned to levels similar to those seen in 2005 through 2007, according to a recent survey report. The Obama administration, however, is seen as friendly toward religion by more people (37%) than the Democratic Party as a whole (29%).
ANALYSIS October 7, 2009
Mapping the Global Muslim Population
A comprehensive demographic study of more than 200 countries finds that there are 1.57 billion Muslims of all ages living in the world today, representing 23% of an estimated 2009 world population of 6.8 billion.
ANALYSIS February 26, 2009
The Stronger Sex -- Spiritually Speaking
An analysis of data from the U.S. Religious Landscape Survey, conducted by the Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion & Public Life, finds that women are more religious than men on a variety of measures.
ANALYSIS January 30, 2009
A Religious Portrait of African-Americans
While the U.S. is generally considered a highly religious nation, African-Americans are markedly more religious on a variety of measures than the U.S. population as a whole, including level of affiliation with a religion, attendance at religious services, frequency of prayer and religion's importance in life.
ANALYSIS January 30, 2009
Income Distribution Within U.S. Religious Groups
Surveys conducted by the Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion & Public Life find that income varies greatly within and across American religious groups.
ANALYSIS September 12, 2008
Palin V.P. Nomination Puts Pentecostalism in the Spotlight
From the time she was a teenager until 2002, Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin attended a church affiliated with the Assemblies of God, the largest Pentecostal Christian denomination in the U.S.
ANALYSIS September 4, 2008
Survey Finds Alaskans Less Religious Than Other Americans
GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin is a self-described  "Bible-believing Christian," but statistics show that compared with the nation as a whole, Alaska is home to a higher-than-average number of people who are unaffiliated with any particular religion.
ANALYSIS July 10, 2008
Running on Faith
Study finds media coverage of religion in primary campaign rivaled that of race and gender combined.
ANALYSIS July 6, 2006
Do the Democrats Have a 'God Problem'?
How Public Perceptions May Spell Trouble for the Party by Gregory A. Smith, Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life and Peyton M. Craighill, Pew Research Center for the People & the Press In the immediate aftermath of George W. Bush's 2004 vic...
ANALYSIS March 22, 2006
Prospects for Inter-Religious Understanding
Will Views Toward Muslims and Islam Follow Historical Trends? Download this analysis (164K .pdf) Although tolerance is an American ideal and freedom of religion is enshrined in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, American history has oft...
ANALYSIS January 26, 2005
Religion & Public Life: A Faith-Based Partisan Divide
religion and politics report: religion and presidential elections
ANALYSIS November 1, 2003
Lifting Up the Poor: A Dialogue on Religion, Poverty, and Welfare Reform
Mary Jo Bane and Lawrence M. Mead Pew Forum Dialogues on Religion & Public Life E.J. Dionne Jr., Jean Bethke Elshtain, Kayla Drogosz, Series Editors Executive Summary (.pdf) Order the book Save 20% with discount flyer People who participate in...