Religion and Civic Life
Regular worshippers vote more, join more community groups, and know their neighbors better.
See which measures are verified, which are self-reported, and who each study compares.
Three anchor findings
Explore all
1. Voting
Say they always vote in national elections.
1.4× as likely
2. Community groups
Take part weekly in nonreligious groups.
2.8× as likely
3. Neighbors
Talk with neighbors a few times a week.
1.4× as likely
The case in brief
Congregations and civic life go together.
In the United States, religious Americans are more likely to vote, including in turnout checked against official records, and more likely to belong to community groups and know their neighbors. Across 22 countries, frequent attenders take part in nonreligious groups at nearly three times the rate of those who never attend. The voting link is weaker outside the U.S., and some civic measures show only small gaps.
Jump straight to the evidenceTesting the claim
Does church life crowd out civic life?
A common worry is that time spent in congregations comes at the expense of the wider community. The evidence points the other way, and it holds up in verified behavior, in secular groups, and in the same people over time.
The gap shows up at the ballot box.
Pew checked 2022 midterm turnout against official state voter records: 51% of religiously affiliated citizens voted, compared with 39% of the unaffiliated. In a separate survey, 69% of actively religious Americans said they always vote in national elections, compared with 59% of inactive members and 48% of the unaffiliated.
Outside the U.S. the link is mixed: actively religious adults reported voting more than the unaffiliated in 12 of 24 countries. Some civic actions show only small gaps, such as contacting an official or attending a government meeting (30% vs. 27%). In the records-checked turnout, atheists (50%) and agnostics (49%) voted at about the affiliated rate; the gap comes mostly from people who describe their religion as “nothing in particular” (32%).
Religious and secular groups go together.
Book clubs, sports, and political groups. The gap appears in all 22 countries.
Across 22 countries, adults who attend services more than once a week were nearly three times as likely as never-attenders to take part every week in groups that are not religious, and the gap appeared in every country. In the U.S., 58% of actively religious adults belonged to at least one nonreligious voluntary group, compared with 39% of the unaffiliated. Adults raised attending weekly were 54% more likely to join such groups weekly, after accounting for other childhood factors.
Global Flourishing Study, 2025 · Pew, 2019 · Chen et al., 2025
Neighbors notice the difference.
In a 2025 survey of 5,357 U.S. adults, weekly attenders were more likely to talk with neighbors often and to have worked with neighbors to fix a local problem. In a British panel that followed the same adults for years, trust in other people rose about 9 points as individuals moved from never attending to attending weekly.
Identity alone matters less. Religious Americans were more likely than nonreligious Americans to belong to a community group or neighborhood association (22% vs. 13%), but no more likely to belong to hobby or activity groups (19% each).
How strong is the evidence?
Verified votes and change within the same people.
Most civic measures here are self-reported, which can overstate behavior people see as admirable, like voting. Two kinds of evidence are sturdier: Pew’s turnout figures come from official voter records, and the British panels compare the same people before and after they change how often they attend. We do not average this page’s 13 rows because they mix percentages, ratios, and country counts.
All studies
Explore the full evidence
Compare the results at a glance. Open any finding for its methods and full summary.
Showing 13 of 13 findings
Voting 5 findings
Always vote in national elections
U.S. adults2019
Voted in the 2022 midterms
U.S. citizens2022
Follow public affairs closely
U.S. adults2023 survey
Contacted officials or attended meetings
U.S. adults2022 survey
Voting across countries
24 countriesSince 2010
Community groups 4 findings
Weekly in nonreligious groups
22 countries2023 data
Active in other voluntary groups
U.S. adults2019
Nonreligious groups after a religious upbringing
22 countries2023 data
Neighbors 4 findings
Talk with neighbors often
U.S. adults2025 survey
Worked with neighbors on a local problem
U.S. adults2025 survey
Attended a community event
U.S. adults2021 survey
Trust in other people
UK adults1991–2009
Comments
No comments yet. Be the first to share your thoughts.