Forty-nine percent of Americans say religion is “very important” in their life, with another 27% saying it is “fairly important” and 25% saying it’s “not very important.”

When Gallup first asked this question in 1965, 70% said religion was very important. That fell to 52% in a 1978 survey — though the percentage ticked up to near 60% between 1990 and 2005, before declining in the past 15 years.

Even though most Americans have a religious preference and say religion is at least fairly important to them, much smaller proportions regularly attend religious services.

Asked whether they personally had attended church, synagogue, mosque or temple in the past seven days, an average of 29% of U.S. adults in 2021 reported they had done so, either in person or virtually. In 2000, 44% had gone to church in the past seven days, and in 1958, 49% had.