Denominational Profile

Notes

The Roman Catholic Church first colonized what was to become the United States in 1565. Through processes of immigration and evangelism it became the largest denomination in America in the late nineteenth century and remains so today.

Membership Data

Year	Clergy	Churches	Members
1925	24,352	17,380	16,047,914
1929	26,925	18,166	17,173,148
1931	-	-	14,441,011
1933	-	18,085	20,199,594
1935	31,029	18,242	20,609,302
1937	-	18,428	21,322,688
1940	-	18,733	21,284,456
1943	-	18,976	22,945,248
1944	-	14,791	23,419,700
1945	-	14,523	25,286,178
1946	-	-	24,402,124
1950	43,889	15,533	28,634,878
1951	44,459	20,443	29,241,580
1952	45,064	15,723	30,253,428
1953	45,271	20,618	31,476,260
1954	46,785	20,794	32,403,332
1955	48,165	21,086	33,396,648
1956	49,725	21,121	34,563,852
1957	50,881	21,327	35,846,476
1958	52,953	21,617	39,509,508
1959	53,796	23,346	40,871,304
1960	54,945	23,393	42,104,900
1961	55,858	23,374	42,876,664
1962	56,818	23,412	43,847,936
1963	57,616	23,541	44,874,372
1964	58,930	23,490	45,640,620
1965	59,491	23,668	46,246,176
1967	59,979	23,734	46,864,912
1968	60,123	23,814	47,468,332
1969	59,525	23,812	47,872,088
1970	58,510	23,708	48,214,728
1971	57,778	23,796	48,390,992
1972	57,332	23,880	48,460,428
1973	57,070	23,998	48,465,440
1974	59,287	23,753	48,701,836
1975	59,234	24,135	48,881,872
1976	58,713	24,158	49,325,752
1977	58,903	24,468	49,836,176
1978	58,856	25,542	49,602,036
1979	59,059	24,161	49,812,176
1980	58,845	24,188	50,449,840
1981	58,534	24,277	51,207,580
1982	57,870	24,071	52,088,776
1983	57,891	24,260	52,392,936
1984	57,317	24,275	52,286,044
1985	57,183	24,251	52,654,908
1986	53,382	23,561	52,893,216
1987	53,522	23,552	53,496,864
1988	52,948	23,091	54,918,948
1989	53,111	23,500	57,019,948
1990	53,088	23,685	58,568,016
1991	52,277	19,971	58,267,424
1992	50,907	19,863	59,220,724
1993	50,320	19,787	59,858,040
1994	49,947	19,723	60,190,604
1995	49,009	19,726	60,280,456
1996	49,071	22,728	61,207,912
1998	47,199	19,584	62,018,436
1999	46,063	-	62,391,484
2000	46,075	-	63,683,032
2001	45,713	-	65,270,444
2002	44,487	19,484	66,407,105
2003	44,212	19,431	67,259,768
2004	43,422	19,297	67,820,833
2005	42,271	18,992	69,135,254
2006	42,307	19,044	67,515,016
2007	57,814	18,479	67,117,016
2008	57,897	18,674	68,115,001
2009	41,361	18,372	68,503,456

Data were taken from the National Council of Churches' Historic Archive CD and recent editions of the Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches. Denomination descriptions provided by Dr. J. Gordon Melton, Director, Institute for the Study of American Religion (ISAR). [More information on data sources]