Religion and Race
Ethnicity and race are at the heart of American experience, and both are deeply rooted in the nature of religious communities, religious faith, and religious practice in the United States. As shown by the tables below, there is much variation between religious and racial groups. Some races are concentrated in a few religious traditions; some religions are concentrated in a few races. The tables below present percentages of total population. Some categories provide subgroup percentages.
When studying individual congregations, the racial composition is much more homogeneous. Using the definition of a multiracial congregation, as one in which no one racial group comprises 80% or more of the people (Emerson, 2006), nine out of every ten congregations in the United States is racially homogeneous, based on data from the National Congregation Survey, 1998. More on multiracial congregations.
Race by Religious Traditions
| White |
| Evangelical Prot | 33% |
| Catholic | 22% |
| Mainline Protestant | 18% |
| Unaffiliated | 16% |
| • Spiritual 10% | |
| • Agnostic 3% | |
| • Atheist 1% | |
| • Other 3% | |
| Other Affiliated | 4% |
| Protestant – Other | 4% |
| Jewish | 2% |
| Black Protestant | <1% |
| African Americans |
| Black Protestant | 48% |
| Unaffiliated | 18% |
| • Spiritual 13% | |
| • Other 4% | |
| • Agnostic 1% | |
| • Atheist <1% | |
| Evangelical Prot. | 15% |
| Catholic | 6% |
| Protestant – Other | 5% |
| Other Affiliated | 4% |
| Mainline Protestant | 3% |
| Jewish | 1% |
| Hispanic |
| Catholic | 71% |
| Evangelical Prot. | 11% |
| Unaffiliated | 11% |
| • Spiritual 7% | |
| • Other 4% | |
| Other Affiliated | 3% |
| Protestant – Other | 2% |
| Mainline Protestant | 2% |
| Asian |
| Other Affiliated | 46% |
| • Hindu 28% | |
| • Buddhist 10% | |
| • Muslim 6% | |
| • Other 2% | |
| Catholic | 26% |
| Unaffiliated | 11% |
| • Spiritual 4% | |
| • Other 7% | |
| Evangelical Prot. | 8% |
| Mainline Protestant | 7% |
| Protestant – Other | 2% |
Religious Traditions by Race
| Total Population |
| White | 70% |
| Hispanic | 13% |
| African American | 11% |
| Asian | 5% |
| Native American | 1% |
| Black Protestant |
| African American | 95% |
| White | 5% |
| Evangelical Protestant |
| White | 87% |
| African American | 6% |
| Hispanic | 6% |
| Asian | 1% |
| Native American | <1% |
| Mainline Protestant |
| White | 92% |
| African American | 3% |
| Asian | 3% |
| Hispanic | 2% |
| Native American | 1% |
| Catholic |
| White | 58% |
| Hispanic | 35% |
| Asian | 5% |
| African American | 2% |
| Native American | 1% |
| Jewish |
| White | 95% |
| African American | 5% |
| Muslim |
| Asian | 50% |
| White | 43% |
| African American | 7% |
| Buddhist |
| White | 55% |
| Asian | 41% |
| African American | 3% |
| Spiritual |
| White | 74% |
| African American | 14% |
| Hispanic | 9% |
| Asian | 2% |
| Native American | 1% |
| Atheist |
| White | 76% |
| Hispanic | 14% |
| Asian | 7% |
| African American | 3% |
| Agnostic |
| White | 80% |
| African American | 7% |
| Hispanic | 4% |
| Asian | 4% |
| Native American | 4% |
Emerson, Michael. 2006. People of the dream: Multiracial congregations in the United States. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press.
landscape of the United States, all the way down to the neighborhood level. You can even generate a summary report using a variety of options.
Explore congregational membership across the United States. These data are provided by the