Latter-day Saints are highly religious, though not uniformly so

About this research This project looks at the religious beliefs and practices, as well as the social and political views, of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (sometimes called Mormons) in the United States. Why did we do this? Pew Research Center has long studied the religiousness and political attitudes of Americans in different religious traditions. This project builds on our major 2011 survey of Latter-day Saints. Learn more about Pew Research Center and our other research on religion. How did we do this? This project is based mainly on data from the Center’s 2023-24 Religious Landscape Study (RLS), a survey of 36,908 randomly sampled U.S. adults conducted from July 17, 2023, to March 4, 2024. It included interviews with 565 people who currently identify as Latter-day Saints (414 lifelong church members and 151 converts), as well as 316 former Latter-day Saints. The RLS was made possible by The Pew Charitable Trusts, which received support from the Lilly Endowment Inc., Templeton Religion Trust, The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations and the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust. Here are more details about the landscape study’s methodology and information on the sample sizes and margins of error for subgroups of Latter-day Saints analyzed in this project. Latter-day Saints are among the most religious Americans. Their rates of religious engagement often rival evangelical Protestants and members of historically Black Protestant churches, and they far exceed those of many other religious groups. Latter-day Saints stand out from other Americans as highly religious % of adults who say they … Source: Religious Landscape Study of U.S. adults conducted July 17, 2023-March 4, 2024. “Tradition and Change Among Latter-day Saints in the U.S.” PEW RESEARCH CENTER Latter-day Saints stand out from other Americans as highly religious % of adults who say they … Pray dailyAttend religious services in person at least weeklyAll U.S. adults4425Latter-day Saint (Mormon)7369Historically Black Protestant7233Evangelical Protestant7250Muslim6739Orthodox Christian5323Catholic5129Hindu4618Mainline Protestant4523Buddhist226Jewish2215Religiously unaffiliated122 Source: Religious Landscape Study of U.S. adults conducted July 17, 2023-March 4, 2024. “Tradition and Change Among Latter-day Saints in the U.S.” PEW RESEARCH CENTER For instance, 73% of Latter-day Saint adults say they pray daily, according to data from Pew Research Center’s 2023-24 Religious Landscape Study (RLS). This is similar to the shares among evangelical Protestants and members of the historically Black Protestant tradition (72% each) but much higher than the shares of Catholics (51%) or Buddhists (22%) who say they pray daily. And 69% of Latter-day Saints report attending religious services in person at least weekly, compared with 29% of Catholics and 23% of mainline Protestants. About half of Latter-day Saints say they have become more religious during their lifetime % of adults who say that over the course of their lifetime, they have generally become … Note: Those who did not answer are not shown. Source: Religious Landscape Study of U.S. adults conducted July 17, 2023-March 4, 2024. “Tradition and Change Among Latter-day Saints in the U.S.” PEW RESEARCH CENTER About half of Latter-day Saints say they have become more religious during their lifetime % of adults who say that over the course of their lifetime, they have generally become … More religiousLess religiousSome of bothStayed about the sameLatter-day Saints (Mormons)48122612All U.S. adults28292121 Note: Those who did not answer are not shown. Source: Religious Landscape Study of U.S. adults conducted July 17, 2023-March 4, 2024. “Tradition and Change Among Latter-day Saints in the U.S.” PEW RESEARCH CENTER In the RLS, we also asked Americans to assess how their own religiousness may have shifted over their lifetimes. Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (often referred to as Mormons) are far more likely to say they have grown more religious than to say they’ve grown less religious (48% vs. 12%). This is different from the pattern among Americans overall, who are about as likely to say they’ve become more religious (28%) as to say they’ve become less religious (29%). In addition, most Latter-day Saints say they have become more spiritual over their lifetimes (58%). Few say they have grown less spiritual (8%). While Latter-day Saints as a whole are more religious than many Americans, some of the church’s members exhibit higher levels of religiousness than others. Latter-day Saints who live in the eight states of the country’s Mountain region (including Utah) and church members who have more education particularly stand out. This analysis is part of a larger project exploring Latter-day Saints’ demographic makeup, religious beliefs and practices, and political and social views, as well as how these characteristics have changed over time. Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are often called Mormons by other people, and for years the church used that term to refer to its members or related institutions, such as the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. However, the church stopped using “Mormon” in 2018 and discourages others from using the term to refer to the church or its followers. In this analysis, we primarily use the church’s full name and refer to members of the faith as “Latter-day Saints.” We include limited references to the term “Mormon” in parentheses for readers who are unfamiliar with the full name of the church or the term “Latter-day Saints.”13 Read on to learn more about the religious differences among Latter-day Saints in different parts of the country and among church members with different education levels. How Latter-day Saints in the Mountain region stand out religiously About half of American Latter-day Saints live in the Mountain region stretching from Montana to New Mexico.14 In several of these states, at least 5% of adults identify as members of the church – a share that rises to 50% in Utah. By comparison, Latter-day Saints comprise about 2% of the U.S. adult population. Latter-day Saints in the Mountain region are somewhat more religious than those who live elsewhere in the country % of Latter-day Saint adults (Mormons) in the __ who say … Note: The Mountain region includes Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. Statistically significant differences are in bold. Source: Religious Landscape Study of U.S. adults conducted July 17, 2023-March 4, 2024. “Tradition and Change Among Latter-day Saints in the U.S.” PEW RESEARCH CENTER Latter-day Saints in the Mountain region are somewhat more religious than those who live elsewhere in the country % of Latter-day Saint adults (Mormons) in the __ who say … Mountain regionRest of the U.S.Diff (pct. pts.)Statistically significant differenceReligion does more good than harm7964+15YesThey pray daily7966+13YesReligion is very important in their lives7866+12YesThere is something spiritual beyond the natural world, even if we cannot see it9888+10YesThey attend religious services in person at least weekly7463+11No Note: The Mountain region includes Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. Statistically significant differences are in bold. Source: Religious Landscape Study of U.S. adults conducted July 17, 2023-March 4, 2024. “Tradition and Change Among Latter-day Saints in the U.S.” PEW RESEARCH CENTER Church members living in this Latter-day Saint hub are, on average, a little more religious or spiritual than members living elsewhere in the country. For example, nearly all Latter-day Saints in the Mountain region (98%) say there is something spiritual beyond the natural world, even if we cannot see it, compared with 88% of church members living in all other regions. And while 79% of Latter-day Saints in Utah and the surrounding states report praying daily, 66% in other parts of the United States say the same. This higher religiousness of people in the Mountain region appears unique to Latter-day Saints. For instance, roughly six-in-ten Christians overall in both the Mountain region and other parts of the country say they pray every day. Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints living in the Mountain region (79%) also are more likely than members living elsewhere (64%) to view religion positively, saying it does more good than harm. Educational divides in religiousness among Latter-day Saints As we previously showed in our major 2011 survey of Latter-day Saints, church members with more education are typically more religious or spiritual than those with less education. Latter-day Saints with more education appear more religious, spiritual than those with less education % of adults who say … Among Latter-day Saints (Mormons)Among all ChristiansBachelor’s degree or moreLess educationDiff (pct. pts.)Bachelor’s degree or moreLess educationDiff (pct. pts.)There is something spiritual beyond the natural world, even if we cannot see it9791+69289+3They attend religious services in person at least weekly8659+274235+7Religion is very important in their lives8565+205356-3They pray daily8566+195861-3 Note: All differences are statistically significant. Source: Religious Landscape Study of U.S. adults conducted July 17, 2023-March 4, 2024. “Tradition and Change Among Latter-day Saints in the U.S.” PEW RESEARCH CENTER This pattern is different from what we see in the U.S. general public, where higher levels of education are typically linked with lower levels of religiousness. There are exceptions to this pattern, as Christians with bachelor’s degrees are often just as religious as Christians without college diplomas – and in some cases, slightly more religious. Still, on some measures, the gap between Latter-day Saints with different levels of education is notably large. For instance, there’s a 27 percentage point gap in weekly attendance at religious services between Latter-day Saints with a bachelor’s degree or more education (85%) and church members with less education (59%). The gap by education is much smaller among Christians overall (7 points). Latter-day Saints with bachelor’s degrees (82%) also are more likely than those with less education (67%) to express a favorable view of religion, saying that it does more good than harm in society. Among Christians overall, 57% with bachelor’s degrees take this view, compared with 60% of those without college degrees. RECOMMENDED CITATION:Evans, Jonathan and Rebecca Leppert. 2026. “Tradition and Change Among Latter-day Saints in the U.S.” Pew Research Center. doi: 10.58094/a124-c097.