A majority still say religion is important in their lives. A majority of Americans (53%) say that religion is “very important” in their lives. This is down marginally from recent years, but the trend over time has shown less of a decline than have other religious indicators such as religious identification or church membership. In 1965, 70% said that religion was “very important” in their lives, but figures have since ranged from 52% to 61%. The percentage reporting that religion is “very important” hit the low end of this range in the 1980s and has done so again in more recent years. The 53% who say religion is “very important” this year is low on a relative basis but is similar to what Gallup measured in 1978 and 1987.
A different question included on Gallup Daily tracking since 2008 offers two choices, asking if religion is “important in your daily life” or not. Sixty-four percent of those interviewed in 2016 say that religion is important, down two points since 2008.
Via Gallup