How many Sacramento residents identify as Christian? Study charts capital faithful for first time

Only one in five adults in the Sacramento region attend church services each week, while only one in three consider religion as very important in their lives, according to a new study.

The Pew Research Center last week released its “Religious Landscape Study,” one of the most comprehensive surveys about religion in America. It was the first update to the study in more than a decade.

For the first time, the study broke out answers from residents in the capital region, where almost 275 people were polled on their religious beliefs and practices.

In several respects, the survey found that Sacramento adults were less religious than Americans as a whole. (Caveat: The survey results for the region came with a margin of error of plus or minus 9 percentage points.)

▪ About 54% of Sacramento adults identify as Christian, compared to 62% of adults nationwide.

▪ About 32% of Sacramento said they were religiously unaffiliated, compared to 29% of adults nationwide.

▪ About 12% of Sacramento adults claimed affiliation with another religion like Islam or Buddhism, including about 3% of residents who identified as “new age” or “spiritual but not religious.”