Upscale Americans are less religious than those with lower levels of education and income, but better-off Americans attend religious services just as often.

The Story: A new survey finds that 69 percent of American adults are very or moderately religious, based on self-reports of the importance of religion in their daily lives and attendance at religious services.

The Background: Based on the results, the survey finds that the United States remains a largely Christian nation, although one in which an increasing percentage of adults say that they don’t have a formal religious identity.

However, Gallup predicts that religion may be set to become increasingly important to Americans:

Although it is always difficult to predict the future, certain trends in the age composition of the American public suggest that religion may become increasingly important in the years to come. This is mostly the result of the fact that the number of Americans who are 65 and older will essentially double over the next 20 years, dramatically increasing the number of older Americans. As long as these aging baby boomers become more religious as they age—following the path of their elders—the average religiousness in the population will go up.

The report is based on more than 320,000 interviews conducted by Gallup between January 2 and November 30, 2012. Gallup asked, “Is religion an important part of your daily life” and, “How often do you attend church, synagogue, or mosque—at least once a week, almost every week, about once a month, seldom, or never?”

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