Survey: Half of Ohioans almost never attend religious services

Data: Household Pulse Survey ; Note: Adults who say they never attend a service or attend less than once a year; Map: Alice Feng/Axios

Around half of Ohio adults say they never or seldom attend church or religious services, per a new Axios analysis of Household Pulse Survey data.

Why it matters: More than three-quarters of Americans say religion's role in public life is shrinking, per a recent Pew Research Center survey — the highest level since the group first started tracking such sentiment in 2001.

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By the numbers: 49% of Ohioans report attending services zero or one time per year.

• That matches the national average of 49% and is relatively in line with our neighboring states.
• 13% of Ohioans attend 1-3 times per year, 5% attend 4-11 times per year and 20% attend 12 or more times.

The big picture: Religious service attendance has been dropping for decades, per a separate Gallup survey published this week.

• This is driven largely by "the increase in the percentage of Americans with no religious affiliation — 9% in 2000-2003 versus 21% in 2021-2023."

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