A record majority of Americans now say that it isn’t necessary to believe in God to be moral and have good values, but this view is primarily held by individuals who already don't believe in God, according to new data from the Pew Research Center.
The research, published earlier this month, also highlights a growing share of people around the world who say belief in God isn’t necessary to be moral and have good values.
Data for the United States portion of the research was collected from 3,605 adults between March 24-30, 2025, as part of the American Trends Panel Wave 166 Survey. It shows that the question of whether or not people need God to be moral and have good values was asked 18 times since 2002, and in 2025, 68% of U.S. adults agreed that “It is not necessary to believe in God in order to be moral and have good values.”
It's the largest share of U.S. adults to agree with that statement since 2002. In 2014, that share was 58%.
“From 2002 through 2011, Americans were split fairly evenly or tilted toward the view that people need to believe in God to be moral and have good values. Starting in 2014, however, Americans have been more likely to say the opposite — that belief in God is not necessary to be moral,” Jonathan Evans, senior researcher at the Pew Research Center, said in a statement.
The data show that since 2020, approximately two-thirds of U.S. adults have held the position that belief in God isn’t necessary to be moral and have good values.
Researchers also posed the question to adults in 24 other countries from Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas in the spring of 2025. Significant majorities in half of those countries, mostly in Europe, agree that belief in God isn’t necessary to be moral and have good values.
Only India and Indonesia saw growth in the share of adults who say it’s necessary to believe in God to be moral and have good values.
“Indians today are 6 points more likely than in 2019 (85% vs. 79%) and 15 points more likely than in 2013 (85% vs. 70%) to say belief in God is necessary to be moral,” Evans stated. “In Indonesia, 96% of adults or more have connected belief in God with morality all five times we’ve asked the question since 2007.”
Still, the data show “a strong correlation between believing in God and saying that belief in God is necessary to be moral,” according to Evans.
Unlike many countries in Europe, the research found that in places like Brazil, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and Turkey, a clear majority of adults linked morality and good values to belief in God.
“In Hungary, for instance, two-thirds of adults who say religion is very important to them also say that belief in God is necessary to be moral,” Evans noted. “Among Hungarians who place less personal importance on religion, by comparison, just 19% connect belief in God with morality.”
The latest findings on America’s ideas on morality come as recent Gallup data show that Americans with no formal religious identity, popularly known as the “nones,” reached a record share of the population in 2025. It also showed that fewer than 50% of U.S. adults say religion is “very important” in their lives.
Less than half (47%) of American adults say religion is “very important” in their lives, while another 25% said it is “fairly important” to them.
The share of Americans who say religion is “very important” in their lives has been in gradual decline from 70% to 75% in the 1950s and 1960s, to 58% in 2012, according to Gallup.
“Americans’ relationship with religion continues to evolve, marked by fewer adults describing religion as central to their lives,” Megan Brenan, a senior editor at Gallup, concluded.
