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Wisconsin Watch partners with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. Read our methodology to learn how we check claims.

No.

About 5% of Americans identify as atheists, though one poll shows about 1 in 5 don’t believe in God.

Atheists believe God doesn’t exist.

According to recent polls (2023 and 2024):

Pew Research Center: Asked about their religion, 5% said they are atheists.

Asked if they believe in God or a universal spirit, 16% said no.

Pew also found that 29% of Americans (including atheists) said they are not religiously affiliated, up from 16% in 2007. The largest affiliation was Christian — 62%, down from 78%.

PRRI: 5% atheist (8% in Wisconsin). 

AP-NORC: 7% atheist. 7% agnostic (believe God’s existence is unknown). 16% “nothing in particular.” Overall, 79% professed belief in God or a higher power, including 4% of atheists.

Republican U.S. Rep. Glenn Grothman, who represents part of eastern Wisconsin, said Oct. 13 that over 18% of Americans are atheists. His office didn’t reply to comment requests.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

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Tom Kertscher joined Wisconsin Watch as a full-time reporter in October 2024. He started as a fact checker in January 2023 and contributes to our collaboration with the The Gigafact Project to fight misinformation online. Kertscher is a former longtime newspaper reporter, including at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. He is a contributing writer for Milwaukee Magazine and sports freelancer for The Associated Press.