Metro-Area Religious Demographics

New York City Metro Area

New York-Newark-Jersey City metropolitan statistical area (MSA) • New York / New Jersey / Pennsylvania

👥 Population: 20,112,448 (2025 MSA estimate)📉 Unaffiliated: 26% (2023-24)

Metropolitan Religious Landscape

The New York City metropolitan area is one of the most religiously diverse major population centers in the United States. Its religious landscape reflects centuries of immigration and migration, with large Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Orthodox Christian, and religiously unaffiliated populations. The region includes New York City and extensive communities in New Jersey, as well as Pike County in Pennsylvania under the federal metropolitan statistical area definition. Current Pew Research Center data for adults in the New York City metro area estimates 56% as Christian, 15% as belonging to other religions, 26% as religiously unaffiliated, and 2% as not answering the religious-identification question; figures may not total exactly 100% because of rounding.

Religious-Affiliation Breakdown

Pew RLS 2023-24

Percentages represent adult population survey estimates for the metropolitan area.

Religious Group	Share (%)	Subgroups & Community Context
Catholic	32%	Roman Catholic adults Catholicism is the largest single religious affiliation in the Pew metro estimate
Evangelical Protestant	8%	Includes evangelical Baptist, Pentecostal, nondenominational and other evangelical traditions Pew separately classifies evangelical Protestant families
Mainline Protestant	8%	Includes Episcopalian/Anglican, Presbyterian, Methodist, Lutheran and other mainline traditions
Historically Black Protestant	6%	Includes historically Black Baptist, Methodist, Pentecostal and other Protestant traditions
Jewish	8%	The New York region has major Orthodox, Conservative, Reform and other Jewish communities UJA-Federation's 2023 study identifies 1.372 million Jewish people in its eight-county New York study area
Muslim	3%	Muslim communities include South Asian, Arab, African, African American and other backgrounds Pew's 2023-24 metro estimate is 3% of adults
Hindu	2%	Hindu communities are especially visible in parts of Queens and New Jersey Pew's 2023-24 metro estimate is 2% of adults
Buddhist	1%	Includes Chinese, Southeast Asian, Tibetan, Japanese and other Buddhist traditions Pew's 2023-24 metro estimate is 1% of adults
Orthodox Christian	1%	Includes Greek, Russian and other Orthodox Christian traditions Pew's 2023-24 metro estimate is 1% of adults
Other Religions	1%	Pew separately reports other world religions and other forms of religious identification Individual categories below 1% are not shown as precise percentage estimates here
Religiously Unaffiliated	26%	Atheist (5%) Agnostic (5%) Nothing in particular (16%)
Did Not Answer	2%	Pew reports 2% did not answer the religious-identification question

📈 10-Year Demographic Trend (2014 vs. 2023-24)

Pew Research Center estimates that religiously unaffiliated adults made up 24% of the New York City metro area in 2014 and 26% in 2023-24. The comparison should be interpreted cautiously because Pew changed the survey mode in 2023-24 from telephone interviewing to a predominantly online and paper survey.

Regional & Geographic Distribution

New York City

The five boroughs contain large Catholic, Protestant, Jewish and Muslim populations, along with Hindu, Buddhist, Orthodox Christian and other religious communities. Queens, Brooklyn and Manhattan each contain a wide range of congregations serving different ethnic and religious traditions.

Northern and Central New Jersey

New Jersey is an important part of the metro area's Hindu, Sikh, Muslim, Jewish and Christian landscape. Communities around Middlesex, Mercer, Bergen, Passaic and Morris counties include numerous houses of worship serving South Asian, Middle Eastern, Jewish and Christian populations.

Jewish Community Geography

UJA-Federation's 2023 eight-county Jewish Community Study counted about 1.372 million Jewish people in Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, the Bronx, Staten Island, Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester counties. About 960,000 were in New York City and about 412,000 were in Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester.

Notable Houses of Worship & Faith Centers

Major active community institutions, historic landmarks, and diaspora centers across the metropolitan area:

🛕 Hindu Temples

BAPS Swaminarayan Akshardham – Robbinsville, New Jersey
Sri Maha Vallabha Ganapati Devasthanam (Ganesh Temple) – Flushing, Queens

🕌 Mosques

Islamic Cultural Center of New York – Manhattan
Bangla Bazar Jame Masjid – Bronx

✡️ Synagogues

Central Synagogue – Midtown Manhattan
Park Avenue Synagogue – Manhattan
The Jewish Center – Upper West Side

⛪ Churches

St. Patrick's Cathedral – Midtown Manhattan
The Riverside Church – Morningside Heights
Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine – Manhattan

Verified Address & Facility Notes

• BAPS Swaminarayan Akshardham is located at 112 North Main Street, Robbinsville, New Jersey. BAPS describes the site as a Hindu mandir campus and provides current visitor information.

• Sri Maha Vallabha Ganapati Devasthanam is operated by the Hindu Temple Society of North America at 45-57 Bowne Street, Flushing, New York.

• The Islamic Cultural Center of New York's main center is at 1711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10029. The organization provides mosque, educational and community services.

• Bangla Bazar Jame Masjid is a Bangladeshi-community mosque in the Bronx offering daily prayers, Friday prayer and Islamic educational programs.

• Central Synagogue is a Reform Jewish congregation in Midtown Manhattan with its sanctuary at 652 Lexington Avenue and community facilities at 123 East 55th Street.

• The Jewish Center is a Modern Orthodox synagogue and community center at 131 West 86th Street on Manhattan's Upper West Side.

• St. Patrick's Cathedral is a Roman Catholic cathedral on Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan and remains an active worship site with regular Masses.

• The Riverside Church is located at 490 Riverside Drive in Morningside Heights, Manhattan, near Columbia University.

Key Demographic & Cultural Facts

Pew's 2023-24 Religious Landscape Study estimates that 26% of adults in the New York City metro area are religiously unaffiliated, including 5% atheist, 5% agnostic and 16% who say their religion is 'nothing in particular'.
Catholicism is the largest single religious affiliation in the Pew metro-area estimate at 32% of adults.
Jewish adults represent 8% of adults in the Pew New York City metro estimate.
The 2023 UJA-Federation Jewish Community Study estimated 1.372 million Jewish people in its eight-county New York study area, including about 960,000 in New York City.
BAPS Swaminarayan Akshardham in Robbinsville, New Jersey is identified by BAPS as the largest Hindu temple in the United States.
The Islamic Cultural Center of New York operates its main center at 1711 Third Avenue in Manhattan and provides mosque, educational and community services.
The New York metropolitan area spans multiple states under the federal MSA definition, so metro-area religious statistics should not be confused with New York State or New York City statistics alone.

Frequently Asked Questions

Pew Research Center's 2023-24 estimate for adults in the New York City metro area is approximately 56% Christian, 15% affiliated with other religions, and 26% religiously unaffiliated, with 2% not answering. Among named affiliations, Catholics are 32%, Jewish adults 8%, Muslims 3%, Hindus 2% and Buddhists 1%.

Pew estimates that religiously unaffiliated adults represented 24% of the metro area in 2014 and 26% in 2023-24. Pew cautions that the comparison is affected by the change in survey methodology between the two studies.

UJA-Federation's 2023 Jewish Community Study estimated about 1.372 million Jewish people in its eight-county study area: New York City's five boroughs plus Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester counties. About 960,000 were in New York City.

Hindu communities are prominent in parts of Queens and New Jersey, including areas around Middlesex and Mercer counties. Robbinsville, New Jersey is home to BAPS Swaminarayan Akshardham, while Flushing, Queens is home to Sri Maha Vallabha Ganapati Devasthanam.

The metropolitan area has many mosques and Islamic centers. Examples include the Islamic Cultural Center of New York in Manhattan and Bangla Bazar Jame Masjid in the Bronx. Muslim communities in the region include people from South Asian, Middle Eastern, African, African American and other backgrounds.

No. Pew's New York City metro-area estimate refers to the metropolitan area, not only the five boroughs. The federal New York-Newark-Jersey City MSA spans New York and New Jersey and includes Pike County, Pennsylvania, so metro-wide figures should not be presented as New York City-only statistics.

Academic & Survey Sources

• Primary Religion Survey: Pew Research Center, 2023-24 U.S. Religious Landscape Study, New York City metro area

• Population Benchmark: U.S. Census Bureau metropolitan population estimates, New York-Newark-Jersey City MSA

• Community Studies: UJA-Federation of New York, 2023 Jewish Community Study of New York

Methodology & Survey Notes:

Pew's 2023-24 New York City metro-area estimates have a margin of error of approximately ±3 percentage points.
The Pew figures are estimates for adults, not a census count of religious adherents or children.
Pew warns that comparisons with 2014 should be made cautiously because the 2023-24 survey changed from telephone interviewing to a predominantly online/paper methodology.
The U.S. Census Bureau does not collect religious affiliation in the decennial census, so religion-specific population estimates require specialized surveys and studies.

Verified Reference Links: