Where the church stands in the United States
More Christians live in the United States than in any other country, and it still sends more cross-cultural missionaries than anywhere else. For decades the Christian share of the population fell steadily; Pew Research's 2023–24 Religious Landscape Study found that decline appears to have levelled off since around 2019, with roughly six in ten adults still identifying as Christian.
The mission field has also moved in. Hundreds of people groups from the least-reached parts of the world now live in American cities — Somali communities in Minnesota, Arab neighbourhoods in Michigan, South Asian families in every suburb — often unreached in their homelands and largely unnoticed by the churches around them.
Signs of hope
The world's largest sending base, and a decline in Christian identity that has — for now — stopped falling.
The honest difficulty
A generation drifting from the church, a faith often confused with politics, and unreached diaspora peoples living next door to congregations that have never met them.
What "Reached" means
There is an established church large enough to reach the rest of the nation without outside help. That does not mean the work is finished — it means the work now belongs mainly to believers who live there.
In the United States the majority religious context is Christianity (~62%), religiously unaffiliated (~29%). The largest population still considered without meaningful Gospel access is the Diaspora communities from South Asia, the Middle East and North Africa — Arab, Persian, Somali, Punjabi and others.
How to pray for the United States
Prayer is not a substitute for going; it is how going begins. Take one of these for a week rather than all of them for a day.
- Thank God for generations of American believers who carried the Gospel to the nations.
- Pray for young adults to find a faith that is owned rather than inherited.
- Ask God to open churches' eyes to the unreached peoples now living in their own cities.
- Pray for a church known more for the love of Jesus than for its politics.
Questions people ask about the United States
Is the United States an unreached nation?
The United States is classified as reached. There is an established church large enough to reach the rest of the nation without outside help. That does not mean the work is finished — it means the work now belongs mainly to believers who live there. Roughly 62% of the population identifies as Christian and about 25% as evangelical, with an estimated 60 of its 480 people groups still considered unreached. Figures are rounded estimates and vary by source and year.
How many Christians are there in the United States?
About 62% of the United States's roughly 340 million people identify as Christian — approximately 211 million people. Around 25% are evangelical. Identification is high, though active faith is usually lower than the figure suggests.
How can I pray for the United States?
Thank God for generations of American believers who carried the Gospel to the nations. Pray for young adults to find a faith that is owned rather than inherited. Pick one of these, pray it for two minutes a day for a week, and ask one other person to pray it with you.