Among Latter-day Saints, Religiosity Has Declined

In 2008, more than three-quarters of U.S. Latter-day Saints said that religion was "very important" to them, but by 2020 that had declined to just under 62%, according to the national Cooperative Election Study as analyzed by sociologist Ryan Burge of Eastern Illinois University. This finding, drawn from nearly 7,000 Latter-day Saint respondents over the course of 12 years, is in line with what is happening to other religious groups in the United States. More people are leaving religion, and many of those who stay are characterizing themselves as less religious than they once did. In terms of long-term trends in America, here's a telling factoid: in 1952, Gallup found that 72% of Americans ranked religion as "very important" in their lives, and by 2018 that had dropped to 51%.