Which US religious groups are most highly educated?

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Hindus and Jews are much more likely to have a four-year college degree than Americans in other religious groups, according to Pew Research Center’s 2023-24 Religious Landscape Study (RLS).

Seven-in-ten Hindus and 65% of Jews have a bachelor’s degree or more education. That compares with 35% of U.S. adults overall.

	group	Have a bachelor’s degree or more
All U.S. adults	all	35
Hindu	other groups	70
Jewish	other groups	65
Orthodox Christian	other groups	45
Muslim	other groups	44
Buddhist	other groups	41
Mainline Protestant	other groups	40
Religiously unaffiliated	other groups	37
Latter-day Saint (Mormon)	other groups	36
Catholic	other groups	35
Evangelical Protestant	other groups	29
Historically Black Protestant	other groups	24

On the other end of the spectrum, lower shares of evangelical Protestants (29%) and members of historically Black Protestant denominations (24%) hold college degrees. The shares of college graduates for several other religious groups range from 35% to 45%.

Educational differences by Christian subgroups

Because the RLS is a huge survey, with 36,908 respondents, we can also look at differences within larger religious traditions. For example, we can look at 11 types of evangelical Protestantism, seven groups within mainline Protestantism and two denominations in the historically Black Protestant tradition.

However, the survey did not have enough people in some smaller denominations to show their results separately. For instance, we do not have enough respondents to show separate results for the Church of the Nazarene (in the evangelical tradition), the Disciples of Christ (in the mainline tradition) or the African Methodist Episcopal Church (in the historically Black Protestant tradition).

About this research

This Pew Research Center analysis looks at the shares of college graduates in different religious groups in the United States. We compare those shares across religious groups and with the U.S. general population.

Why did we do this?

Pew Research Center conducts high-quality research to inform the public, journalists and leaders. Studying religion in the United States is a key part of the Center’s long-standing research.

Learn more about Pew Research Center.

How did we do this?

This analysis uses findings from 36,908 U.S. adults who participated in the Center’s 2023-24 Religious Landscape Study. We conducted the survey from July 17, 2023, to March 4, 2024.

The RLS was made possible by The Pew Charitable Trusts, which received support from the Lilly Endowment Inc., Templeton Religion Trust, The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations and the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust.

Evangelical Protestants

Among all evangelical Protestants, 29% have a college degree or more, which is slightly below the national average.

Among the evangelical denominations we could analyze, those with the highest shares of college graduates were the Global Methodist Church (57%) and the Presbyterian Church in America (57%). At the other end of the spectrum, 18% of people in the Assemblies of God have a college degree.

	other	College degree or more
All U.S. adults	all	35
All evangelical Protestants	other groups	29
Global Methodist Church*	other groups	57
Presbyterian Church in America	other groups	57
Nondenominational evangelical	other groups	44
Interdenominational in the evangelical tradition	other groups	42
Nondenominational charismatic	other groups	39
Nondenominational fundamentalist	other groups	36
Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod	other groups	35
Churches of Christ	other groups	25
Southern Baptist Convention	other groups	23
Independent Baptist in the evangelical tradition	other groups	20
Assemblies of God	other groups	18

Mainline Protestants

Four-in-ten mainline Protestants are college graduates. That’s slightly higher than the share among U.S. adults overall.

The share of college graduates is especially high among members of the Episcopal Church (67%). Far fewer people who identify with the American Baptist Churches USA are college graduates (13%).

	group	College degree or more
All U.S. adults	all	35
All mainline Protestants	other groups	40
Episcopal Church	other groups	67
Presbyterian Church (USA)	other groups	58
Interdenominational in the mainline tradition	other groups	50
United Church of Christ	other groups	48
United Methodist Church	other groups	42
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA)	other groups	39
American Baptist Churches USA	other groups	13

Members of Historically Black Protestant Churches

	group	College degree or more
All U.S. adults	all	35
All members of historically Black Protestant churches	other groups	24
National Baptist Convention, USA	other groups	24
Church of God in Christ (COGIC)*	other groups	10

About a quarter of members of historically Black Protestant Churches (24%) hold a college degree or more. That’s lower than the national average.

Looking at some of the largest denominations in the historically Black Protestant tradition, about a quarter of members of the National Baptist Convention, USA, are college graduates (24%), as are 10% of adults in the Church of God in Christ (COGIC).

Catholics

	group	College degree or more
All U.S. adults	all	35
All Catholics	other groups	35
White Catholics	other groups	43
Hispanic Catholics	other groups	20
Asian Catholics*	other groups	53

Among U.S. Catholics, 35% are college graduates, matching the share for all U.S. adults. Our previous research has found that Catholics’ social and political views and religious practices tend to vary by race and ethnicity, and the same is true when it comes to education.

For example, 53% of Asian Catholics have a bachelor’s degree or more education, as do 43% of White Catholics. That compares with 20% of Hispanic Catholics.

While the RLS did not include enough Black Catholics to show their results separately, analysis of 2019-20 Pew Research Center survey data shows that 38% of Black Catholics (defined as those who report being one race and are not Hispanic) were college-educated.

Educational differences among the religiously unaffiliated

	group	College degree or more	Some college	High school degree	Less than high school
All U.S. adults	all	35	30	28	7
All religiously unaffiliated	unaffiliated	37	31	26	6
Agnostic	unaffiliated	53	33	13	1
Atheist	unaffiliated	48	30	21	1
Nothing in particular	unaffiliated	29	31	31	8

Among religiously unaffiliated Americans, there are notable differences between those who say they are atheists or agnostics and those who describe their religion as “nothing in particular.”

Agnostics (53%) and atheists (48%) are more likely than U.S. adults overall to have completed college. By contrast, people who describe their religion as “nothing in particular” (29%) are less likely than Americans overall to have a bachelor’s degree.

Note: Refer to our detailed table for more information on educational attainment by religious group. This is an update of a post originally published Nov. 4, 2016. That post was written by former senior researcher Caryle Murphy.

RECOMMENDED CITATION:

Tevington, Patricia. 2026. “Which U.S. religious groups are most highly educated?” Pew Research Center. doi: 10.58094/3e09-yq16.

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