http://www.gc.cuny.edu/press_information/current_releases/october_2001_aris.htm-- Catholic adults increased from 46.0 million to nearly 50.8 million, but their proportion in the population fell by nearly two percentage points.
-- Although Protestant and other non-Catholic denominations remain the majority, with more than 105.4 million adult adherents, their proportion slid sharply from 60% to 52%.
-- 2.8 million adults give their religion as Jewish, down from about 3.1 million in 1990. Another 2.5 million, who say they have no religion or identify with another religion, are of Jewish parentage, were raised Jewish or consider themselves Jewish.
-- The number of adults who identify with a non-Christian religion rose sharply, from about 5.8 million to 7.7 million. However, their proportion remains small, 3.7% up from 3.3% in 1990.
-- Muslim/Islamic adults total 1.1 million -- nearly double the number in 1990. Those identifying their race as black are 23% of the group; the others overwhelmingly identify as white or Asian.
One of the most striking 1990-2001 comparisons is the more than doubling of the adult population identifying with no religion, from 14.3 million (8%) in 1990 to the current 29.4 million (14.1%). The 1990 figure may be downwardly biased due to a slight change in the wording of the key survey question in 2001. In seeking a more accurate measure of identification, the clause "if any" was added this year to the question, "What religion do you identify with?" The prior wording may have subtly prompted respondents to name some religion.
ARIS 2001 goes further than its predecessor in investigating such new territory as membership in a place of worship, change of religious identification over one's lifetime, and religion of the spouse or partner of respondents. Findings reveal, among other things, a huge gap between religious identification and affiliation with a place of worship. Although 81% of America's adults identify with a religion, only 54% reside in a household where anyone belongs to a church, temple, synagogue, mosque or other place of worship. About 20% of those who say they have no religion (including many atheists and agnostics) nevertheless report that they or someone else in their household is a member of a religious congregation. About 40% of adults who describe themselves as "religious" report no membership in any religious congregation.
Other noteworthy findings:
-- Catholics are the majority in Rhode Island (51%) and the largest single category in Massachusetts (44%); Mormons are the majority in Utah (51%) and Baptists are the majority in Mississippi (55%).
-- New York is home to more of America's Jews (25%) and Muslims (24%) than any other state. New York is also home to the largest percent of the nations Taoists (26%), and Greek Orthodox (17%).
-- California has the highest percent of the nations Jehovah's Witnesses (17%) as well as of Hindus (30%). California also has the nations largest cluster of those with no religion (15%).
-- Pennsylvania has the largest number of the nation's Mennonites (18%) while Wisconsin has the largest clustering of Lutherans (10%).
-- The median age of all adults is 43 years. For Catholics it is 42, for Jews its is 51, and for Muslims it is 28. The median age of those who identify with no religion is 36 years.
-- Married adults and others living in a couple relationship are most likely to have a spouse or a partner of a different faith if they are Episcopalian (50%) or Buddhist (47%).
-- Jehovah's Witnesses have the highest proportion of female adherents (68%), followed by Church of God (64%); the highest proportion of male adherents is among Muslims (62%) and Buddhists (61%).
-- Adherents of Assemblies of God are the most apt to describe themselves as Republicans (59%); Jews are the most Democrat-leaning (56%), and Buddhists are the most independent with respect to political party preference (48%).
-- Black adults are most likely to give their religion as Baptist (47%) or as no religion (11%); Native Americans are most likely to give their religion as Baptists (20%) or as no religion (19%).
-- Hispanics are most likely to give their religion as Catholic (57%), followed by no religion (13%).