Church attendance statistics: Patterns & emerging trends for 2024

‍

The COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath disrupted the traditional church attendance model around the globe. Perhaps indefinitely.

Between 2016 and 2019, an average of 34% of U.S. adults reported they had attended religious services in the past week. However, that average dropped to 30% in 2023. 

Across the board, recent church attendance levels are nearly 10 percentage points lower than the previous decade. 

If you are a pastor or church leader trying to have a bigger impact on your community, explore the latest macro and micro church membership trends to gain insights and put together a strategy. Let’s take a look at the following snapshot of emerging church attendance statistics.

Average U.S. church attendance statistics 

The majority of American churches maintain a small to mid-sized congregation. 39% of American churches have a congregation with 50 members or less. And nearly one-third (27.4%) maintain a congregation with fewer than 100 members.  

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, average church attendance had already begun to wane: 

• 36% of Christians attended a worship service less than once a month before the pandemic. [Lifeway Research]
• Prior to the pandemic, 47% of Americans belonged to a church, synagogue, or mosque. That’s a 50% decrease from 2018 and 70% from 1999. [Barna]

On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a pandemic. There has been a pronounced impact on church attendance ever since. 

• In-person church attendance was down to 63% of January 2020 pre-COVID congregation sizes. [Lifeway Research]

As pastors led their congregations into 2022, the majority of churches and parishes still saw a downward trend in attendance: 

• By November 2022, U.S. churches reported current attendance at 85% of their typical pre-pandemic Sunday morning crowds. [Lifeway Research]
• This meant fewer churches than ever before have 100 or more congregants in attendance on a typical weekend. [Lifeway Research]

However, it’s not all bad news—2023 did bring an increase in general attendance among current and newfound congregants alike: 

• 36% of U.S. adults attend a worship service at least once a week, while 33% attend once or twice per month or a few times per year. [Pew Research Center] 

Online vs. in-person church attendance statistics

In April 2020, just weeks after the pandemic was declared, 27% of U.S. adults said they had attended religious services virtually, while 4% attended in person.

Online versus in-person church attendance have continued to evolve: 

• By May 2021, following the introduction of the COVID-19 vaccine, overall church attendance was 30%. 10% attended virtually and 20% attended in-person. [Gallup]
• In June 2023, 27% of U.S. adults said they watch services online, which includes 17% of those who attend religious services both online and in-person, and 10%  who exclusively watch religious services online or on TV. [Pew Research Center]  

As it turned out, during the pandemic, 15% of churches offered exclusively in-person services, 5% exclusively online services, and 80% congregations offered offered hybrid services (online & in-person.) Overall, online services and resources became more important than ever before:

• 33% of church attendees first found their church online. [Reach the Lost]
• Over half (53%) of practicing Christians say they have streamed their regular church online within the past four weeks. [Barna]
• ​​Three in 5 pastors (60%) say they are encouraging online worshipers (who are able) to resume or begin to attend in person. [Lifeway Research] 
• 34% of practicing Christians admit to streaming a different church service online other than their own, a practice known as “digitally church hopping.” [Barna]
• 21% of Americans also use mobile apps or websites to help with reading scripture. [Pew Research Center] 
• 20% of church-goers attend exclusively online, while another 26% use a hybrid model of online and in-person church attendance. [Barna]
• 61% of Christians who attended church pre-pandemic have continued to attend the same house of worship, either digitally or in person. [Barna]

How many Christians attend church regularly?

If you’re concerned that attendance at your church is on the decline, you’re not alone. Weekly church attendance has been at the lowest recorded rate since 1992 for the past two years: 

• Just 11% of American adults attend church once per month. [Gallup]
• However, 20% of American adults attend church weekly and 10% attend church almost every week. [Gallup]
• 84% of adults who pray also attend church at least once per week, compared to 58% of adults who attend a prayer group that attend church at least once per week. [Pew Research Center]
• Two out of five church-goers report regularly attending two or more churches. [Barna]
• Post-pandemic, over a third (35%) of practicing Christians attend the same church strictly in-person than they did pre-pandemic. [Barna]

Church dropout statistics

A staggering 14% of pastors in the U.S. claim that the pandemic has caused considerable damage to the church’s ministry. Some of that damage comes in the form of members who have left the church:

• American churches may still be missing as many as 1 in 4 attendees. [Lifeway Research]
• Since the COVID-19 pandemic, Boomers are the most likely generation to drop out of the church entirely (22%). [Barna]
• Two-thirds (66%) of American young adults who attend church regularly drop out for at least a year between the ages of 18-22. [Lifeway Research]
• 30% of American young adults who attend church regularly for at least a year in high school move to college and stop attending church. [Lifeway Research]
• However, among American young adults who drop out for at least a year, 31% are currently attending twice a month or more. [Lifeway Research]

Church attendance by age statistics

Despite shifts in regular church attendance, it appears that attendance trends are impacting church-goers of all ages quite similarly. Take a look at how congregant age influences attendance:

• The Silent and Boomer generations combined make up over half of the practicing Christian population in the U.S. (56%). [Barna]
• Almost half (45%) of young adults, who attended church as a kid, currently attend at least twice a month, including 27% who attend once a week or more. [Lifeway Research]
• 39% of American young adults say they continue to regularly attend church because church activities are a big part of their lives. [Lifeway Research]

Check out this chart showing church attendance by age statistics. [Pew Research Center] 

Millennial church attendance statistics

As older generations are becoming more likely to decline in church attendance, it is important to pay attention to Millennial attendance trends.

• Millennial church attendance is up 22% since the COVID-19 pandemic. [Barna]
• 11% of younger Millennials attend church once per week. [Pew Research Center]
• 36% of Millennials belong to a church. [Gallup]
• 50% of Christian Millennials who attended church online pre-pandemic did not continue streaming services during the pandemic. [Barna]
• 25% of Millennials who attended church regularly for at least a year as a teenager say they stopped attending because they disagreed with the church’s stance on political or social issues. [Lifeway Research]
  

Religious attendance by ethnicity & race

America is a very diverse country, and there are some interesting insights from studying U.S. religious attendance by ethnicity and race. Here is a high-level overview:: 

• 34% of White adults attend religious service at least once per week. [Pew Research Center]
• 47% of Black adults attend religious service at least once per week. [Pew Research Center]
• 26% of Asian adults attend religious service at least once per week. [Pew Research Center]
• 39% of Hispanic adults attend religious service at least once per week. [Pew Research Center]
• 58% of Indian Americans who identified as Christian said that they attended religious services at least a week. [Statista]
• 16% of American immigrants attend a religious service at least once per week. [Pew Research Center]

The future of church attendance

Though church attendance in the United States is far from its all-time high, the future is still bright for congregations nationwide. Between a surge in virtual attendees who are gradually entering in-person services and a rise in Millennial congregants, the future may trend upwards for churches.

If you are looking for additional ways to engage your congregation, discover how Subsplash helps 17,000 churches and organizations reach and engage more congregation members through powerful church tech tools. [.blog-contact-cta]Request a free demo today! [.blog-contact-cta]

More resources you may find helpful

• New ebook with Carey Nieuwhof—The Thriving Church Checklist
• Top 10 challenges facing pastors in 2023
• Church giving statistics & trends every pastor should know
• 5 church problems that technology can tackle
• Pastor burnout: Causes, symptoms & how your church can help