Religious service frequenters more satisfied with life than other US adults, poll finds
Americans who attend weekly religious services are more likely to say they are satisfied with their personal life than other U.S. adults, a new poll found.
Fifty-five percent of religious service frequenters say they are very satisfied with how things are in their personal lives — 11 percentage points higher than the average of U.S. adults (44%), according to a Jan. 23 Gallup poll.
The poll of 1,005 U.S. adults was conducted Jan. 2-15 and has a margin of error of 4 percentage points. The poll grouped Americans by gender, age, education, religious service attendance, income and party identification.
Those who said they never attend religious services had more similar rates of satisfaction as the American general public, with 45% saying they were very satisfied with their personal lives, the poll found.
Americans who attend a religious service monthly or almost weekly said they were very satisfied with life at lower rates than any other category included in the poll, with 34% saying so.
The poll recorded the lowest percentage of personal satisfaction in the general population of Americans since 2001 and a pattern of decline since January 2020. Adults who attend a religious service monthly or almost weekly have one of the steepest declines, from 69% in 2020 to 34% in 2025.
Other high ranking groups
Wealthy adults, Democrats, college graduates, and Americans ages 65 and older were among the groups who registered having a higher personal satisfaction, the poll found.
According to the poll, the same amount of wealthy adults — those who have an annual household income of $100,000 or more — as religious service frequenters (55%) said they were satisfied with their personal lives.
While the percentage recorded by those who identify as Democrats changed little over the past five years — 56% to 51% — those who identify as Republicans had the biggest gap, the poll found.
Eighty percent of Republicans said they were very satisfied with their personal lives in 2020, but in 2025 only 37% said so, according to the poll.
College graduates and Americans ages 65 and older recorded their personal satisfaction at similar rates in 2020 and 2025, according to the poll.
Fifty-one percent of college graduates said they were personally satisfied in 2025 and 50% of Americans ages 65 and older said the same. In 2020, 69% of both groups said they were satisfied with their personal lives, according to the poll.
This story was originally published January 29, 2025 at 1:47 PM with the headline "Religious service frequenters more satisfied with life than other US adults, poll finds."
