One-third of Gen Z adults identify as religious, more than millennials, Generation X or baby boomers in a new Harris Poll that also found strong interest among young adults in spirituality, in-person communities and greater control over their futures.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom.
Generation Z adults are more likely than older generations to describe themselves as religious, according to new Harris Poll findings that also show young Americans increasingly seeking spirituality, face-to-face community and a greater sense of control over their lives.
The September 2026 Harris Poll report found that 33% of Gen Z adults identified as religious, compared with 22% of Generation X, 19% of millennials and 18% of baby boomers. Gen Z also had the smallest share identifying as neither religious nor spiritual, at 19%.
The survey was conducted online from July 1 through July 4 among a nationally representative sample of 2,136 U.S. adults, including 372 Gen Z adults ages 18 to 29, 736 millennials ages 30 to 45, 532 Generation X respondents ages 46 to 61 and 496 baby boomers age 62 and older.
The findings suggest the trend extends beyond self-identification.
Eighty-eight percent of Gen Z respondents said they regularly participated in at least one religious or spiritual practice, the highest rate among the generations surveyed. Those practices included prayer, reading religious texts, attending religious services, meditation or ritual, manifestation, astrology or tarot and energy work.
Gen Z was more likely than baby boomers to report regularly reading scripture or other religious texts, 54% to 43%, and attending religious services, 49% to 42%. Sixty-seven percent of Gen Z respondents said they regularly prayed on their own.
At the same time, young adults were also participating in spiritual practices outside traditional organized religion.
Fifty-one percent reported regularly engaging in meditation or ritual, 49% practiced manifestation, 32% engaged in energy work and 30% participated in astrology or tarot.
The Harris Poll described that combination as evidence that traditional religious participation and newer forms of spirituality are coexisting among younger adults rather than one simply replacing the other.
The findings also point to a search for greater personal agency.
Fifty-seven percent of Gen Z respondents said, “I’ve turned to manifestation practices or spirituality to feel I have greater control over my future.”
Libby Rodney, chief strategy officer at The Harris Poll, connected that response to a broader pattern of young adults attempting to exercise greater control over circumstances they often perceive as uncertain or beyond their influence.
“There’s a control element,” Rodney told Fortune. “That’s the reason that they are spiritual—they’re looking for some sense of agency and control.”
That desire is also reflected in how Gen Z respondents said they were building their lives.
Sixty-nine percent said they had learned a new skill or pursued additional education or training during the previous year. Sixty-two percent started a creative project, hobby or other form of self-expression, while 59% restructured their work to better fit the life they wanted.
Another 58% started a new income stream or side hustle, 57% became more involved in their local community and 56% began a spiritual or meaning-making practice.
In-person relationships were particularly important.
Sixty percent of Gen Z respondents said they now belong to more real-world, face-to-face communities than they previously did, including faith communities, clubs, volunteer organizations and hobby groups.
Seventy percent said they wanted to belong to more such communities in the future.
Seventy-one percent said they had reached out for help or leaned on other people when they needed assistance during the previous year, the highest share among the generations surveyed.
“Religion is coming back because it’s a couple of things,” Rodney said. “It’s physical spaces, but it’s people who help, and it’s community that comes together.”
Fortune examined those findings alongside another development involving younger Americans: growing local resistance to the massive data centers being constructed to support artificial intelligence.
The Harris Poll research did not establish that religious Gen Z respondents are themselves the people opposing data centers, and the two trends should not be interpreted as a demonstrated causal relationship. Rodney, however, said they may reflect a similar desire for community participation and greater influence over changes affecting people’s lives.
“This idea that the world—the narrative that’s out there from tech companies—is like this AI world is happening whether you like it or not,” Rodney said. “And so there’s this lack of consent.”
That resistance has become increasingly visible.
Data Center Watch reported that 45 U.S. data center projects valued at approximately $68 billion were blocked or delayed by local opposition between April and June 2026. That followed approximately $130 billion in projects affected during the first quarter.
The research group counted 843 active opposition organizations across 49 states by the second quarter. Fortune reported that more than 500 localities in 39 states had adopted bans, moratoriums or other restrictions affecting data center development and that projects worth more than $228 billion had been blocked or delayed since the beginning of 2025.
Rodney said physical data centers can generate a different public reaction than artificial intelligence in the abstract because residents can see where the facilities will be built and participate in local decisions involving zoning, utilities, land and infrastructure.
“The real thing that you can see is there’s just no consent,” Rodney said.
Harris Poll findings cited by Fortune showed 73% of Americans said they did not want AI imposed on their communities, while 68% said AI could be useful but “feels forced.”
Economic insecurity may also provide context for the broader unease among young adults.
Seventy percent of Gen Z respondents said the future they had been promised had not materialized, while 61% reported skipping medical care because of cost.
Separate Harris Poll research conducted with the Milken Institute found a substantial divide between business leaders and workers over expectations for AI.
Sixty-eight percent of business leaders said they expected the technology to leave them financially better off within five years, compared with 27% of workers — a 41-percentage-point gap.
“They’re on two completely different journeys,” Rodney said, “and really no one’s been talking to the American worker.”
She said warnings about job displacement and other risks can dominate the discussion when workers hear relatively little about how they personally might benefit.
“In this messaging void, the only things that they’re hearing are… you might lose your job. Humanity might die,” Rodney said. “It’s very logical and rational to not be down with that.”
The religious findings, meanwhile, indicate that Gen Z’s search for stability is not limited to formal worship.
The Harris Poll found young adults combining prayer, religious services and scripture with meditation, manifestation and other spiritual practices while also investing more heavily in physical communities and personal relationships.
“In this time of change, it’s like, ‘Okay, how can I reach for control?’” Rodney said.
For the 33% of Gen Z adults who identified specifically as religious, that search is unfolding at a higher rate than among any of the older generations included in the Harris Poll survey.
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