Bible readership in the U.S. 2021

A survey from 2021 found that 11 percent of Americans read the Bible daily. Trends in reading habits over four years showed that the majority of Americans never read the Bible, however in 2021 this number dropped to 29 percent of respondents.

Bible readership demographics

Bible readership varies across each demographic, with Millennials most likely to have never read the Bible, whereas the most frequent readers were those aged over 70 years old. Looking at the preferences of the older readers, traditional books were favored, with 91 percent opting for a print version of the Bible to read over other formats.

Although figures show that fewer people are reading the Bible, there is still a genuine desire to read the Bible amongst the American population, with 56 percent of those asked in 2019 expressing a wish to read it. Changes in attitudes have not been drastic, but rather it seems that disengagement with the Christian scripture has been a gradual process.

Why are fewer people reading the Bible?

Certainly, it is no small undertaking, as with approximately 1,200 pages the Bible is of comparable length to the popular epic ‘Lord of the Rings’ series by J.R.R. Tolkien. Other possible frustrations with the Bible and reasons for disengagement could come from complexities in language or simply not knowing when to use it. However, despite these challenges in reading the text, a significant proportion of the U.S. population consider their belief in God to be compatible with the representation in the Bible.

Frequency of reading the Bible among adults in the United States from 2018 to 2021

Characteristic	2018	2019	2020	2021
Every day*	15%	16%	-	11%
Four or more times a week	-	-	3%	5%
Several times/4+ times a week	13%	14%	10%	9%
Once a week	9%	9%	9%	9%
Once a month	6%	7%	9%	8%
Three or four times a year	7%	6%	8%	8%
Once or twice a year	8%	8%	11%	8%
Less than once a year*	12%	10%	-	13%
Never	30%	31%	34%	29%