After years of regular decline, Bible engagement within the United States has ticked upward for the primary time in 4 years, driven largely by a surprising demographic: younger men.
According to the 2025 State of the Bible report, published by the American Bible Society (ABS), roughly 11 million more Americans are reading the Bible this yr in comparison with 2024. The rise is very pronounced amongst millennials, Gen Xers, and men—groups that had previously shown diminished engagement with Scripture.
“We were incredibly encouraged,” said Dr. John Plake, Chief Innovation Officer on the American Bible Society, in an interview with Christian Daily International following his presentation on the recent Evangelical Press Association (EPA) annual convention in Branson, Missouri. “It’s not yet a trend, nevertheless it’s a major step in the correct direction.”
The State of the Bible report, now in its fifteenth yr, surveys a representative panel of U.S. adults annually to evaluate their relationship with Scripture, church involvement, and faith. The latest findings, collected in January 2025, suggest a notable shift in how Americans are interacting with the Bible, especially in traditionally disengaged regions and demographics.
Bible Use Rebounds from Pandemic Decline
In 2021, 50 percent of American adults qualified as “Bible users”—defined by ABS as individuals who read Scripture outside of non secular services at the least three to 4 times a yr. But after the pandemic’s transient spiritual bump, the number plummeted: 40 percent in 2022, 39 percent in 2023, and 38 percent in 2024.
Then got here a 3 percentage point rebound in early 2025. The ABS team was stunned. “That amounts to 11 million people picking up the Bible who didn’t last yr,” Plake said.
This uptick wasn’t uniform. Among women and older adults—the normal backbone of Bible readership—engagement remained flat. But men registered a 21 percent increase, millennials surged by 30 percent, and Gen Xers rose by 14 percent.
“This tells us something is stirring, particularly amongst young adult men,” Plake noted. “And that’s not what we expected to see.”
Geographically, probably the most striking increases occurred in among the country’s most secular areas.
In the Northeast, Bible users rose from 28 percent to 33 percent—a statistically significant 18 percent increase. The Western U.S. saw an analogous 18 percent increase, while the Midwest experienced a 15 percent jump. In contrast, Bible use within the Southern states—often called the Bible Belt—held regular.
The San Francisco Bay Area, long known for low religious affiliation, also yielded surprising results. A special regional evaluation by ABS found that while only 19 percent of Bay Area residents aged 61 and older are Bible users—in comparison with 46 percent nationally in that age group—millennials and Gen Z residents in the world were more engaged than their counterparts nationwide.
Among Bay Area millennials, 40 percent were identified as Bible users, barely edging out the national average of 39 percent. For Gen Z, the difference was 37 percent within the Bay Area versus 36 percent nationally.
“These findings challenge the idea that places just like the Bay Area are spiritual deserts,” Plake said. “It’s not that younger generations are closed to Scripture—it’s often their elders who’re more disengaged.”
Cultural Shifts and a “Movable Middle”
The report’s authors are cautious to not over-interpret the findings, but Plake believes this might signal deeper cultural undercurrents.
Last October, the Wall Street Journal reported a 22 percent year-over-year increase in Bible sales, with evidence that many purchases were by first-time buyers—particularly younger individuals. That, paired with ABS’s own data, suggests spiritual curiosity could also be growing.
“There are 71 million Americans in what we call the ‘movable middle,’” Plake explained. “They’re interested in the Bible, but uncertain. They need someone to return alongside them, answer their questions, and help them discover the larger story of Scripture.”
ABS’s research also shows that almost half of all Americans who discover as Christians but will not be actively practicing—termed “non-practicing Christians”—are open to re-engaging with the Bible and learning more about Jesus.
“They could also be disenchanted with church or the way in which the Bible was presented to them,” Plake said. “Often, they’ve been taught Bible stories as morality tales—Samson, Jonah, Noah—but they’ve missed the grand narrative that points to Jesus. That’s where we’d like to do higher.”
While the report highlights 52 million Americans identified as “Bible engaged”—those that consistently interact with Scripture in ways in which shape their relationships and life selections—many don’t feel equipped to share their faith.
“These people love God’s Word and have been deeply transformed by it,” Plake said. “But they don’t all the time know methods to advocate for it. That’s the following challenge for churches and ministries: helping them share that message naturally and effectively.”
Plake sees this not only as an institutional opportunity, but a private one.
“If you care concerning the Bible, now’s the time to talk up,” he said. “Your friends, neighbors, coworkers—they’re asking spiritual questions. Many of them are open, even in the event that they’re not in a pew on Sunday. And you might be the one to walk that road with them.”
In addition to domestic trends, ABS has began comparing its findings with global data. Chapter Two of the 2025 State of the Bible report includes insights from the PATMOS World Bible Engagement Study, a recent international survey conducted by the British and Foreign Bible Society in partnership with Gallup.
Released on April 30, the PATMOS study provides a comparative snapshot of Bible engagement across 85 countries. ABS’s chapter draws connections between U.S. trends and global spiritual movements.
“We’re seeing how the U.S. matches into this larger spiritual ecosystem,” Plake said. “It’s fascinating to see where Americans align with or diverge from other parts of the world in terms of Scripture engagement, human flourishing, and faith identity.”
Another upcoming chapter will explore human flourishing in additional depth, using data from a worldwide study also published in April 2025.
Connecting Text to Context
Plake, who joined ABS in 2017, brings a novel combination of pastoral experience, academic research, and missiological insight to his work. He sees data not only as numbers, but as stories waiting to be understood.
“My goal has all the time been to assist connect the text of Scripture to the context of individuals’s lives,” he said. “Numbers don’t change lives, but they assist us understand the world we’re trying to achieve.”
Plake hopes the 2025 report will encourage churches and Christian leaders—each within the U.S. and globally—to lean into the opportunities, not only the challenges, of our current moment.
“Yes, fewer individuals are reading the Bible than we would really like,” he said. “But the proven fact that the number is rising, especially amongst those that’ve traditionally been disengaged, means the bottom is more fertile than we expect.”
A Word to the Global Church
Speaking to those outside the U.S., Plake emphasized that while the State of the Bible report focuses on the United States, its implications extend far beyond American borders.
“The global church can learn from what’s happening here—and we will actually learn from what’s happening abroad,” he said. “The spiritual hunger we’re seeing amongst younger Americans might mirror trends elsewhere. That’s why these international comparisons matter a lot.”
Plake pointed to the importance of collaboration between Bible societies worldwide and noted that ABS stays committed to global Scripture access, translation, and digital innovation.
“Whether it’s through apps, print, trauma healing programs, or oral storytelling, we wish people in all places to come across God through His Word,” he said.
With future chapters of the 2025 State of the Bible report set to unpack topics like trauma recovery, Scripture and mental health, and the role of religion in public life, Plake believes the research will proceed to equip Christians to serve more faithfully and compassionately.
“The data isn’t the mission,” he said. “It’s only a tool. But it’s a robust one when it helps us understand where the Spirit is already at work—and the way we will take part.”
For more information on the 2025 State of the Bible report, visit AmericanBible.org.
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