A new Gallup poll released this month shows more young men in the United States say religion is very important in their lives compared to young women.
This marks the first time young men have surpassed young women on this measure of religiosity in 25 years of tracking, dating back to 2000. Gallup reports aggregate findings every two years to ensure the estimates are stable.
The study from 2024 and 2025 found 42% of men in the U.S. between ages 18 and 29 said religion is very important to them. This is a notable increase from 28% in 2022 and 2023.
Over the same time, young women’s attachment to religion has remained at about 30%.
Dr. Christy Cobb, an assistant professor of Christianity at the University of Denver, reviewed the data.
"I was very surprised," Cobb said.
"Especially the idea that young men are interested in religion at higher numbers than young women," Cobb added. "That is a very clear reversal than what we've seen in previous years."
Several decades ago, young women were much more attached to religion than young men, but that shifted over the years. More recently, young men and women’s religiosity was roughly similar.
The new increase in young men’s religiosity is also in contrast to the minimal change seen since 2022 and 2023 among older men and women. The gender gap reversal is only happening among adults under 30. Among adults aged 30 and older, women remain more religious than men.
The Gallup survey found that much of the growth in religiosity is happening among young Republicans.
"The young men who indicated a curiosity about religion also indicated an affiliation with the Republican Party," Cobb said. "So I do think those two are very much connected."
Since 2022 and 2023, religious attendance has increased among Republican young men and women compared to Democratic men and women. The percentage of young Republican men who attend church, synagogue, mosque or temple at least weekly has been rising since 2019, while young Democratic men’s attendance has largely fallen.
A similar pattern exists among women. Only about a quarter of Democratic women under 30 attend church at least monthly, compared to about six in 10 young Republican women.
"I think there has been a connection between, say, right-wing parties and Christian nationalism," Cobb said.
"So there's been this connection between that. So if you love your country, you also love God in a very specific kind of religious way, which I would call Christian nationalism," Cobb said. "There has been more of that rhetoric surfacing and I think young men are picking up on it."
Ryan Burge, a political scientist at Washington University in St. Louis and a leading researcher into religious trends and a longtime pastor in the American Baptist Church, said seeing the gender gap with religion reversed in Gen Z adults represents a seismic change in society and the future of the church.
"It could change the way children are raised," Burge said.
Burge said this could affect the future of the country’s religious landscape if more men are raising religious children. He added that young men are more drawn to religion now because it is a space where they feel more accepted in a world where other institutions are less interested in white men compared to women and people of color.
"It’s the only place where you don’t have to apologize for being a white man," Burge said. "American religion is very white male dominated and young men are drawn to institutions that elevate them and give them influence and power."
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
Denver7 is committed to making a difference in our community by standing up for what's right, listening, lending a helping hand and following through on promises. See that work in action, in the videos above.