For over two decades, the Pew Research Center has tracked how thousands of American couples factor their faith into their relationships with its Religious Landscape Study. 

Its newest findings show that a majority (74%) of surveyed religious Americans are married to someone with the same religious beliefs, though this number has decreased slightly since 2014. Nowadays, 26% of those surveyed say their spouse has a different religion than they do.

As for unmarried couples, including those who are living together, 62% of survey participants said they share the same religion, while 38% say they have different religions. Whether religion was a dealbreaker for married or unmarried couples with the same faith is more difficult to conclude. 

Although the majority of each group is still in a relationship with people of the same faith, this number has slowly but surely decreased since the first Religious Landscape Study was published in 2007. 

Meanwhile, niche dating platforms like ChristianMingle, SawYouAtSinai, JDate, and Mutual — not to mention the many other religious dating apps on the internet —  have gained prominence in the dating app industry. After all, they exist to help singles who adhere to a faith denomination find partners who share their beliefs and values. 

The RLS suggests that religious Americans prioritize faith when choosing a partner, and may seek out the aforementioned apps to help them find a suitable match. It also suggests that more non-religious Americans are open to marrying religious people than you may think.

Most Married Americans Adhere to The Same Faith, And Some Connect on Apps 

Christianity still takes the cake as the most common religion among married adults (68%), and other branches of Christianity prioritize marrying people of the same faith. 

A whopping 87% of surveyed Latter-day Saints are married to someone with the same religion, making it the religious group most likely to have couples of the same faith, according to Pew Research. 

In its 2024 annual dating report, the dating app Mutual, which is specifically geared toward LDS singles, revealed that members are most likely to filter searches based on church activity, temple recommendations, and relationship goals. 

“Thousands of Mutual profiles are created each week,” according to the app, which also claims to be one of the most popular dating apps in Utah. 

Clearly, LDS singles are looking for love within their own religious community, mainly because they hope to share religious values with their spouse. 

Meanwhile, 81% of Protestants surveyed say they are married to fellow Protestants. The margin widens a bit with Catholic respondents: 75% are married to fellow Catholics, while 12% of surveyed Catholics are married to Protestants. 

It’s reasonable to assume that people who sign up for a religious dating app like ChristianMingle do so because they want their partner to share their religious values. ChristianMingle claims that, of its 14 million members, 29% of Christian marriages originated on the platform, making it a prominent force in the industry. 

Perhaps surprisingly, only 65% of Jewish respondents said they were married to someone of the same religion, making it the religious group least likely to marry people of the same faith. Fifteen percent of respondents said they are married to people who are religiously unaffiliated, and 11% said they are married to Catholics. 

These may seem like small percentages of intermarriage — 15% here, 12% there — but the gap widens every passing year. The number of Christians married to fellow Christians has decreased by 13 points since 2007, suggesting that intermarriage — and dating apps and platforms that cater to those open to it — may only get more popular in the coming years. 

Religion Is Not A Dealbreaker For Many Agnostics and Atheists 

It’s common for people of certain faiths, namely Latter-day Saints and some other branches of Christianity, to share the same religious beliefs. But is it just as common for people who are religiously unaffiliated?

The answer isn’t black and white, according to Pew Research. Although 68% of agnostic or atheistic respondents married people with similar views, a not-insignificant 15% married Protestants, 12% married Catholics, and 4% married people of unspecified faiths. 

Contrary to popular belief, people who don’t follow a particular religion don’t always avoid relationships with religious singles. They also don’t necessarily try to “convince” their religious spouses to give up their faith. 

If the RLS proves anything, it’s that the opposite may be true. “Unaffiliated respondents whose spouses identify with a religion are less likely to exhibit low levels of religious engagement than are unaffiliated respondents whose spouses also are unaffiliated (60% vs. 72%),” according to the RLS.

In other words, just because someone’s spouse is agnostic or atheistic doesn’t mean they don’t support their partner’s religiousness, or even participate in it. “People who aren’t particularly religious may be more inclined to enter into a religiously mixed marriage,” the RLS concluded. 

Outside of the religious niche, Americans are prioritizing other factors in their marriages. In 2016, fewer than half of respondents — 47% — told Pew Research that having the same religious beliefs as one’s spouse is “very important” for a successful relationship. But religion didn’t top the list. Instead, similar interests, a satisfying sexual relationship, and even sharing household chores were all considered to be even more crucial to a successful marriage than shared religious beliefs.  

Yes, some religious people prioritize finding matches who share their lifelong religious beliefs. But widening the search to include people who are religiously unaffiliated, but still open to respecting and sharing in their spouse’s faith, may be beneficial to religious singles and to dating apps. 

Religion continues to loom large in the lives of millions of Americans, making religious dating apps one of the more prominent niches in the industry. 

But the niche could still use further diversification, especially when it comes to appealing to slightly less religious people who remain open-minded, including some agnostics and even some atheists.