Secular Population Becoming More Racially Diverse

The secular population in the United States is becoming more racially diverse over the years. 

In 2007, the Pew Research Center found that 72% of the secular population was white, about one in ten were Black or Latinx, and just under 10% combined were Asian American or multi-racial. Today, the secular population is just 63% white. A (9 percentage point decline), eight percent Black,  15% Latinx, seven percent Asian, and four percent multiracial or other.

In that regard, the secular population looks much more like the general US adult population. It is a very diverse cohort, and its growth in recent years has been fueled in large part by people of color who are considered to be “naturally religious” (especially Black and Latinx people).

We can also see the increased secularity among people of color by looking at the share of each racial cohort that identifies as secular over time. What is striking is that among most major racial/ethnic cohorts, the proportion of secular people within those groups has nearly doubled between 2007 and 2024.

For example, 16% of white Americans in 2007 identified as secular, and this increased by about 50% or eight percentage points to 24% by 2014. Today, it stands at 31%, so nearly one in three white adults is non-religious. Between 2007 and 2024, that represents a 94% increase. Among Black adults, about one in ten (12%) were non-religious in 2007, which also grew about 50% or six percentage points by 2014 to 18%, and today it has a slower growth of four percentage points or about 22%. Between 2007 and 2024, the share of secular adults among Black adults grew 83%, from just over one in ten to over one in five.

 Among Latinx, the secular cohort was 14% in 2007. It grew slightly less than 50% some six percentage points by 2014. Still, it has nearly doubled since 2007 and stands at 27%. More than one in four Latinxs are now non-religious, a 93% growth in their share of the Latinx population since 2007. Asian adults have been generally more likely to be non-religious; 23% of adults were in 2007, and today one in three (33%) are. The slower growth rate (34%) may be related to their higher initial numbers and the fact that Asian adults have lower adherence to Christian religions, which most formerly religious adults have defected from.