The percentage of Coloradans who call themselves Christian has declined over the past decade and a half, as the percentage of Coloradans who define themselves as “religiously unaffiliated” increased by almost the same amount over the same time period.
It’s a trend that matches what’s happening across the country.
The Pew Research Center’s “Religious Landscape Study,” published February 26, found that in 2007, about a third of Coloradans (67 percent) identified as Christian. Last year, that number dropped to about half (52 percent).
Carl Raschke, a professor of philosophy of religion at the University of Denver, says this shift is based on some unique characteristics about the Centennial state.
“Colorado is one of the most educated states in the country …. Higher levels of education very much go hand in hand with higher levels of religious disaffiliation,” Raschke said. “Colorado has historically always been less religious than other parts of the country.”
The state of Colorado is 10 percent less Christian than the country as a whole, according to the study. The percentage of people who identified as Christian was 78% nationally in 2007 ( as compared to Colorado’s 67% at that time). The percentage of people nationwide self-identifying as Christian declined to 62 percent in 2024, 10 percent higher than Colorado’s 2024 Christian percentage at just over half (52 percent).
Religiously unaffiliated numbers increase in Colorado and nationally
Besides providing data on the decline of how many people identify as Christian, the report also found that the percentage of people in the U.S. who aren’t a part of any religion and describe themselves as “religiously unaffiliated” has gone up, and it appears that the people who are walking away from Christianity are not connecting with new faiths.
Indeed, the decline in the number of people who identify as Christian nearly mirrored the rise in the number of people who are “religiously unaffiliated” between 2007 and 2024. The number of people identifying as Christian declined nationally by 16%; those who defined themselves as religiously unaffiliated rose 13 percent.
In Colorado, the percentage of people who defined themselves as religiously unaffiliated In 2007 was a quarter of the state’s population, 25 percent. That percentage shot up 15 percentage points to 40 percent last year.
DU’s Raschke said age is a factor in the shift away from Christianity and religiosity in general.
“Most of the decline has been among the younger generation,” he said. “That's been a national trend.”
About 37,000 people participated in the Pew research study, which has been conducted for the past 17 years.
