Only 54 of Every 100 Americans Raised Latter-day Saint Still Identify, Down From 70 in 2007
This decline aligns with what is happening across a broader cross-section of US adults. 35% of all US adults have moved on from the religious practices they grew up with. Meanwhile, 56% say they still identify with the religion they were raised with, while 9% were raised without any religious practices and remain that way.
Key Takeaways
- 54% of people raised Latter-day Saint still identify as one, down from 70% in 2007.
- 28 of every 100 now have no religion, double that of the 2007 share.
- For every convert, 2.5 people raised Latter-day Saint have left.
Of every 100 raised in each group, how many stay?
In Pew’s study, retention is referred to as all the persons raised in a group who still identify as part of that group.
| Childhood Religion | Still Identify with as Adults |
| Hindu | 82 |
| Muslim | 77 |
| Jewish | 76 |
| No religion | 73 |
| Protestant | 70 |
| Catholic | 57 |
| Latter-day Saint | 54 |
| Buddhist | 45 |
Source: Pew Research Center, 2023 - 2024 Religious Landscape Study(RLS)
In the table above, the Protestant group includes evangelical, mainline churches, and historical black protestant traditions. The smaller groups, Hindu, Muslim, and Buddhist, have wider margins of error due to the smaller sample sizes.
The Latter-day Saint Decline
In three landscape studies conducted by Pew, here are the retention rates for the persons raised Latter-day Saint.
| Survey Wave | Still Identify as Latter-day Saint |
| 2007 | 70 per 100 |
| 2014 | 64 per 100 |
| 2023-2024 | 54 per 100 |
The most recent study, 2023 to 2024, included interviews with 565 current Latter-day Saint and 316 former members. In that study, Pew described their retention rate as having “steadily declined since 2007, when it stood at 70%”. Its levels are now among the lowest measured among religious groups in the US that are large enough to be analyzed.
So what about the other 46? Where did they go?
- 28 now identify with no religion, double the 14 per 100 in 2007.
- 11 per 100 now identify as protestants.
- 2 in every 100 now identify as Catholic.
- The remainder have either identified with another Christian denomination, another religion, or did not respond at all.
For Every Convert, About 2.5 People Raised Latter-day Saint Have Left the Faith
Pew’s figures show the church losing more people than it gains. About 1.0% of all U.S. adults were raised Latter-day Saint and have left, while 0.4% joined after being raised in another religion or none. By Omni’s calculation, that’s about 2.5 people leaving for every convert.
The Bigger Picture: About a Third of All Americans Have Switched Faith
The pattern displayed among Latter-day Saint is a reflection of a wider pattern of religious switching among Americans. About 35% of all Americans no longer identify with the religion of their youth. A large portion of this group, 20% of all US adults now say they have no religion at all.
Among the adults surveyed, age was also a factor in the retention rate. Among older adults in the 65 and older category raised in a religion, 74% still identify with it. Among adults under 30, however, the figure is 55%. Pew’s December 2025 study found that most Americans who leave their childhood religion do so by age 30.
Yes, the Latter-day Saint's number is low on Pew’s list, but there is a bigger story in the list itself. While the retention rate ranges from 82 in every 100 for people raised Hindus to 45 in every 100 among people raised Buddhist, most groups sit between 54 and 77. The Latter-day Saint group has had a 16-point documented decline in the report.
Methodology
The figures have been rounded. “54 in every 100” is a rate not a literal head count.
Each wave represents a different survey. Pew 2023 - 2024 religious landscape study was conducted from July 2023 to March 2024 with 36,908 adults. It has an overall margin of error of 0.8 percentage points.
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