Younger Catholic adults in the United States are more likely to be Hispanic or Latino, and just over half of Gen-Z individuals raised Catholic keep that identity into adulthood, according to an analysis released on Mar. 24 by Mark Gray of the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University.
The findings highlight ongoing demographic shifts within the U.S. Catholic population, with generational changes affecting both ethnic composition and religious retention rates among young adults.
Gray shared these insights through a March 23 post on Nineteen Sixty-four, CARA’s blog, drawing from data sets such as the Comparative Election Survey (CES) from 2023 and the General Social Survey (GSS), which has surveyed American adults since 1972. According to CARA’s research using Pew Research Center’s generational definitions, Baby Boomers make up one third of adult Catholics nationwide (17.2 million), while Gen-X and Millennials each represent about a quarter (13.1 million and 12.7 million respectively). The Silent Generation comprises just five percent (2.8 million) of adult Catholics.
Gen-Z adults currently account for about 13%—or roughly 7.1 million—of adult Catholics in survey data, though only those aged eighteen or older can be measured at this time. Gray said there is considerable interest in how this youngest cohort differs from previous generations: “It’s with these youngest Catholics that there seems to be the greatest interest in data.” He cautioned against overinterpreting fluctuations seen in recent surveys: “Surveys are always blurry images rather than picture portraits,” he wrote.
While some reports suggested Millennial and Gen-Z Catholics might now match or outnumber their Protestant peers based on certain years’ CES results, Gray said such findings were likely due to statistical margins of error rather than actual shifts: CES data before and after did not show similar trends, nor did GSS results reflect a comparable increase.
Retention rates among Gen-Z who were raised Catholic have declined each year since they became statistically visible; by 2024 only about half remain Catholic as adults—a rate lower than previous generations at similar ages but one Gray expects could rise as some return later in life: “Only about half of Gen-Z who are raised as Catholic remain Catholic as adults,” he said.
Mass attendance remains relatively stable across generations; thirty-nine percent of Gen-Z adult Catholics attend Mass monthly compared with thirty-five percent for Baby Boomers and thirty percent for Gen-Xers. However, younger cohorts report lower weekly prayer rates and less frequent identification of religion as very important compared with older groups.
Ethnic diversity has increased notably among younger generations: forty percent of Gen-Z self-identify as Hispanic or Latino versus eighteen percent among Baby Boomers; less than half identify themselves as white non-Hispanic compared with much higher proportions among older cohorts.
Conversions into Catholicism after age sixteen remain low but consistent across all age groups—about two to three percent—with recent increases bringing Gen-Z conversion rates closer to those observed among other generations prior to pandemic disruptions impacting initiation programs like OCIA classes.
Looking ahead, Gray said it is too early for definitive conclusions regarding overall growth within U.S. Catholicism but noted optimism remains: “It could be true. We hope it’s true; we hope that there’s this big influx of new Catholics,” he said.
