The Latino religious landscape, according to the latest Pew Research data, shows that 27% of all Latinos have no religious affiliation, nearly doubling from 14% between 2007 and 2024. In the case of Pew surveys, the secular (or religiously unaffiliated) is a composite of three answers to the question “What is your religion?”: atheist, agnostic, and nothing in particular. Most secular people have no religion in particular; this specific cohort of the nonreligious accounts for 21% of Latino adults and 76% of secular Latinos. For Hispanic/Latino Heritage Month I will be publishing some analysis of recent data about Latino demographics, beliefs and behaviors, and politics with a focus on secular Latinos. Today we focus on age and gender.

While the largest group among Latinos continues to be Catholics, they account for a plurality (42%) of Latino adults. This is a  far cry from the nearly universal hold the religion had in the community a few decades ago. After Catholics and seculars, evangelical Christians at 17% are the other substantial cohort. Non-evangelical Christians, such as mainline historical and historically black churches, account for 5% of Latinos, while 3% belong to other Christian denominations such as Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses. Overall, 67% of Latinos identify as Christian, and 5% belong to other religions. 

A Youth Revolution

Notably, secular Latinos are the youngest demographic. The data publicly released by Pew does not have a variable of birth year or pre-defined age categories; instead, the variables divide respondents by decade of birth. I have combined all the decades into three major groups: born before 1970 (55 or older), born between 1970 and 1989 (35-54 years), and born on or after 1990 (18-34). A majority (55%) of secular Latinos were born after 1989, compared to 39% of all Latinos, 32% of evangelical Latinos, and 29% of Catholics. This indicates that Latinos are almost twice as likely to be under the age of 35 compared to Catholics and significantly younger than those born before 1970.

Looking at the same data a little differently also shows interesting age patterns. Among Latinos born before 1970, a majority (56%) are Catholic. Other non-Catholic Christians account for 25%, led by evangelicals (17%). Only 13% of Latinos born before 1970 are secular. The cohort born between 1970 and 1989 is plurality Catholic (43%), while secular (25%) and non-Catholic Christians (27%) have similar proportions. The latter are primarily evangelical (19% of Latinos born between 1970 and 1989).

The youngest cohort is plurality secular. Nearly four in ten (39%) Latinos born after 1989 are nonreligious, 31% are Catholic, and 22% are non-Catholic Christians, among whom the largest cohort is evangelicals (14%). These numbers suggest that the secular cohort is not just growing at the expense of people who formerly identified as Catholic, but also from evangelicals. 

Gender Parity

The other significant demographic finding in the survey is the gender composition of Latino religious cohorts. Secular Latinos have a more balanced gender composition compared to the other major groups. Historically, secular groups have had more male representation, while religious groups like evangelicals and Catholics have had more women than men in their ranks. For example, the 2007 Religious Landscape Survey shows that a majority of Latino Protestants and Catholics were women (54% in both groups), but that secular Latinos were majority men (57%). 

The latest survey reveals that secular Latinos exhibit gender parity, with 47% identifying as men and 48% identifying as women (4% identifying with other identities). Women are the majority among evangelicals (56%) and Catholics (52%). Gender parity among secular Latinos is even more impressive when the survey has a gender imbalance in the Latino sample as a whole (51% are women and 45% are men). 

Looking Ahead

The growth of secular Latinos is fueled not just by young people, though young people today are more secular than the older cohorts; the move toward secularism started at least in the 1990s, back when just six percent of Latinos were nonreligious. In 1990 and in 2007, secular Latinos were predominantly men, but the gender parity achieved today indicates that Latinas have secularized at a rapid pace in the last 17 years. 

In the next entry, we will explore what it means to be secular as a Latino with an analysis of religious beliefs and behaviors. 

Secular and Christian Latinos in Presidential Elections

Join me and Sarah Levin on September 30 at 6:00 PM Eastern Time for a discussion about Secular and Christian Latinos in Presidential Elections. Event description below:

Today, nearly three in ten Latinos identify as nonreligious, representing a significant and growing segment of the community. Despite their size and increasing influence, discussions around religion in the Latino community often overlook this group, instead highlighting the diminishing numbers of Catholic and evangelical populations.

This presentation will focus on the changing demographics, beliefs, and electoral impact of secular Latinos. We will discuss how secular Latinos are shaping Latino electoral behavior and attitudes on important social and cultural issues.



Registration here.