Seattle has long been known as one of the least religious parts of the country. A new survey shows it’s gotten even less religious in the past 10 years.
Among the nation’s largest metro areas, Seattle tied for the highest share of residents who have no religious affiliation — that is, they are atheist, agnostic, or “nothing in particular.” Also, for the first time, the number of adults with no religious affiliation in Seattle equaled the number who are Christian.
The data comes from the Pew Research Center.
The U.S. Census Bureau does not collect data on religious identification, so the Pew study is one of the best sources for data on this topic.
In the Seattle metro area, which includes King, Pierce and Snohomish counties, the share of adults who identified as Christian was the same as the share who had no religious affiliation: 44%.
Roughly 11% identified with a non-Christian religion.
Statewide in Washington, 51% identified as Christians, while 38% were unaffiliated. Ten percent of Washington adults identified with other religions. The totals do not add up to 100% due to rounding.
In the latest survey Seattle ties with Portland for the highest percentage of non-religious residents among 34 large U.S. metro areas.
Three cities tied for the highest percentage of religion affiliated residents, Dallas, Detroit and Miami at 28 percent.