Mormons in the USA

by Larry Richman (07/29/2009 04:43 am)

The PEW Forum on Religion and Public Life just released a study titled A Portrait of Mormons in the U.S. which has some very interesting facts about members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (”Mormons”).

Key findings:

Mormons make up 1.7% of the American adult population, a proportion that is comparable in size to the U.S. Jewish population.
The Mormon population in the U.S. is heavily concentrated in the West (76%). In fact, roughly one-third of all American Mormons (35%) live in Utah, the state founded by its early leaders. An additional 13% live in California while 7% reside in Idaho, 5% in Nevada and 4% each in Oregon and Arizona.
Mormons make up 58% of Utah’s population.
As a group, Mormons are among the most devout and conservative religious people in the country.
Mormons tend to be slightly younger than the general population. Two-thirds (66%) are under age 50, compared with 59% of the public as a whole.
A majority of Mormons are women (56%), although women make up more than half of other major Christian traditions as well.
Nearly three-quarters of Mormons (71%) are married, compared with 54% among the general population.
Mormons (83%) and Hindus (90%) are the most likely of all the major religious traditions to be married to someone of the same faith.
Nearly nine-in-ten Mormons in the U.S. (86%) are white, compared with 71% of the general population. Just 3% of US Mormons are African-American and 7% are Latino.
Mormons are significantly more likely than the population overall to have some college education. 61% have at least some college education, compared with half of the overall population. However, the proportion of Mormons who graduate from college (18%) or receive postgraduate education (10%) is similar to the population as a whole (16% and 11%, respectively).
US converts to the Church tend to be older than lifelong Mormons. 48% are over age 50, compared with 29% lifelong members. Converts also tend to be less educated than nonconverts (16% did not graduate from high school, compared with just 6% of lifelong members) and they earn decidedly lower incomes (40% make less than $30,000 a year, compared with 21% among nonconverts).
US converts are more likely than lifelong members to come from minority racial and ethnic groups. One-in-ten converts to Mormonism are black. An additional one-in-ten are Hispanic. Just 72% are white; by contrast, 91% of lifelong Mormons are white.
Converts also are less likely than lifelong members to be married (64% vs. 74%)
Mormons are remarkably observant in their religious practices, with three-quarters attending church and reading Scripture outside of services at least once a week and more than eight-in-ten praying daily.